Like Kai, Andrei’s cuss was more about surprise than pain. He pressed the heel of his palm to his nose. I heard the snap of bones as it reset right before my eyes. I got to my feet.
“If you ever come anywhere near my room again,” I said, “you’re going to be sorry.”
He started to laugh for real this time. A strangled laugh like he had forgotten how to do it and his lungs were rusty. “Oooh,” he said. “I’m quaking in my boots.”
I smiled at him in return. “You should be. Because I can’t for the life of me figure out why you haven’t just sacrificed yourself if you’re in such dire need to prove something. But I bet your family would be able to tell me.”
There it was. Something that flared in the back of his eyes. “You don’t know what you’re saying, squirt.”
“It’s funny,” I said, “everyone keeps telling me what I don’t know. But keep pushing me. I’ll bring back your whole family and let them tell me why Andrei Popescu, terrifying vampire badass, is so scared of living.”
I reached over and picked up the hardback that had fallen on the ground when he’d moved. “I’m keeping this,” I said. With that, I turned around and left.
Of course, when I returned to Bloodline soil, there was a pissed-off Nephilim waiting for me just inside the dorm entrance. Like Max, Kai was wearing only his pyjama bottoms. His expression was stony, but the tone was severely undercut by the sight of his bare chest. Unlike the bulky Nephilim of Michael’s line, Kai was built with speed in mind. Strong but nimble. Defined but graceful. Raphael’s line had been born to traverse through the horrific lines of battle, reaching those in greatest need of healing. Through terrible circumstance, Kai had shrugged off those limitations.
I’d seen him spar with the other Nephilim once or twice. Michael’s line used brute force to sickening effect. But when Kai fought with them, he outmanoeuvred them at every turn. Once upon a time, he had been the underdog. An underdog who wants to live never gives in to hubris.
My mouth went dry. I swallowed a couple of times as I tried to piece together two brain cells to convert into speech. Just when I remembered my own name, Kai latched onto my arm and hauled me up the staircase.
23
I would have screamed if it weren’t the middle of the night. The last thing I needed was for the whole dorm to wake up and see him dragging me towards the boy’s rooms. Wait…oh shit.
“Hey!” I whispered. “Hey! I’m not allowed in here. I’ll get in trouble.”
His voice dripped with condescension. “Max is already camped out in your room. I think we’re past the point of trouble.”
He bundled me into his and Max’s room and shut the door behind us. Leaning back, he crossed his arms over his chest, making his muscles bulge. “What were you doing in Nightblood at this time of night?”
I couldn’t concentrate on what he was saying. Their room smelt like pine needles trampled underfoot after a spring rain mixed with musky sweat. Max’s side was a riot of posters and figurines of predator cats in various poses. His bedspread was rumpled and thrown to one side.
Kai’s half of the room was military regulation neat. No posters or personal belongings except for a lone book on his bedside table. There was a bookshelf stacked with books. They too were neatly organised. I bet if I swiped my finger over the spines there wouldn’t be a speck of dust on them. Somebody had a touch of obsessive compulsiveness. His bedspread was a dull beige colour. It was still turned down.
He noticed my wandering gaze and stepped forward to jerk me back into the present. That continued to present an issue. I wore a long sleeve T-shirt, but the heat of his palm seared me all the way to my bones. Goosebumps feathered over my skin. I traced the tattoo on his left shoulder with a hungry gaze that made something snap tightly inside my gut.
“Blue,” he said, shaking me slightly. “Blue, are you okay? Why were you over there? Did he hurt you?” He turned my head up to look at me. His jaw was clamped shut, a savage darkness lurking behind his eyes.
“I…” I swallowed again, shaking my head. My throat felt parched.
“What?” he said. “Did he touch you?” In that instant, his concern morphed into a razorblade-sharp rage. He latched on to my arm again, and this time, his grip was immoveable. “It was a compulsion,” he said, his voice gone deadly flat. “Whatever you felt, whatever he made you feel, it wasn’t real.”
Green light sizzled over his skin. His image flickered in front of me. I realised at the last second, he was about to teleport. There was no way I’d let him kill Andrei. Not now that I knew that was what Andrei actually wanted. Without thinking, I drew a circle around him and anchored him to me. He tried to tug out of my hold, but I refused to let him go.
“Stop!” I said, finally finding my voice. “Nothing happened. I’m fine.”
After a few seconds of continued struggle, I felt him materialise. I flicked my wrist and the circle dissipated. He was all over me in a second. His fingers threaded through the hair at the nape of my neck. “He didn’t try and take advantage of you?”
I sputtered. “Take advantage? Why would you…oh.” It was then I remembered what Andrei had told me about Chanelle. “Trust me, if he tried to do that, I would have nailed him to a cross and set him on fire.”
Kai
