Chapter25
Xander
Kyra sat with Alice, eyes wide as they discussed ways to ostracise her excess energy. Xander had felt it even before she had walked out of the bathroom in nothing but that towel. Those spirits had been absorbed into her aura, and until they discharged out of her system she was dealing with a dangerous level of power. It seemed to vibrate the air around her, an intense charge that reminded him of an electrical storm, and that he was about to be struck by lightning.
She must have felt him staring because she paused her conversation and turned, her cheeks tinting at his unflinching gaze. Xander should have smiled then, put her at ease but instead all he could think about was the same pink shade had flushed across her whole body. He could remember the little mewling sounds she made before she came, and he only wished he had been able to taste it. Except he had been too impatient, needing to feel her around him. He had been too impatient the second time around too.
Kyra’s blush deepened, her lashes falling low as she turned back to her friend.
“You’re making me feel sick,” Titus muttered, crossing his arms as he watched from the corner. “I can scent your arousal from here.”
“Fuck off,” Xander growled, still unable to tear his attention away.
He thought he saw Titus shoot him the finger in his peripheral, but he wasn’t sure when Sythe appeared in his line of vision. His usually sickly happy face was creased into a scowl, his caramel eyes alert.
“What’s happened?” Xander asked, noting the bruise darkening across his left cheekbone. “You look like shit.”
Sythe’s lips tipped into a smirk. “Someone left Kyra a present.”
Xander cut off the growl that began low in his chest. “What sort of present?” He had sensed Kyra move at the mention of her name, her head appearing beside them a moment later. She eyed Sythe warily in such a way he couldn’t help but smile.
“Tell me,” she said, her tone like steel brushed with ice.
Xander moved to her side, crowding, pushing. She tensed beside him, flicking him a frustrated glare. He didn’t care, not when she turned instinctively toward him, her hand reaching out to touch his arm.
“Well?” Alice prompted at Sythe. “What was it?”
A curse came from the hall, voices raised as Kace appeared in the archway. In one hand he gripped a sword, the end covered in blood, while the other…
Kyra sucked in a pained breath, almost a cry.
Kace settled the woman on the table, or what was left of her, his sword clattering beside it a second later. He had no idea how Kyra was able to identify the blackened husk, the woman curled in on herself. The corpse looked delicate, as if a slight breeze would cause it to disintegrate. Her arms and fingers were twisted into impossible angles, those limbs scorched while her legs were missing entirely. Her face was turned towards her chest, eye sockets empty and a look of terror permanently scarring what was left.
Riley came in after, mouth set in a grim line. “What happened?” he demanded.
It was Sythe who spoke first, his voice a fraction too excited for the situation. “We were guarding Kyra’s place and this,“ he gestured loosely to the woman, “literally appeared out of thin air.”
“Adeline,” Kyra said quietly. “Her name was Adeline, she was a High Priestess.”
Xander pressed forward until she was flush against him, her hand hiding a slight tremble. “Thin air? Like a drift?” he asked.
“We didn’t sense anything, not until she was already on the ground. Two – whatever the fuck they were – appeared as soon as she hit the carpet.”
“Not many Breed can drift,” Kace added with a growl. “But I’ve never seen anything like these two. They were like shadows. I caught one with my sword, but barely.”
“Probably Fae,” Alice said, moving closer to examine Adeline. “You able to get anything from this?” Her question was direct, but her eyes were soft when she turned to face Kyra.
“Do what?” Xander asked as Kyra slowly nodded. Without a word she stepped out of his reach, moving until she was beside the corpse. Her shoulders were tight, tightening further when she noticed the attention she was receiving.
Alice blinked, her eyes glazing in the tell-tale sign she was looking through her third eye. It was something druids were not able to do, and it had never bothered him until then. “What’s happening?” he asked Alice quietly, not wanting to disturb Kyra whose shoulders hunched forward.
“She’s pushing her aura out from herself, concentrating it slowly over the body.” She shrugged, as if that was explanation enough.
The corpse held no spirit, or if anything was left it was nowhere in sight. It was the only time he sought after the dead, their knowledge on how they died something helpful from a gift that caused him such a headache.
“She was killed by a spell,” Kyra said, tears glistening on her cheeks when she turned. “The magic had reversed onto her because she wasn’t able to withstand it.” She reached up with a sleeve, rubbing at her cheeks.
“Not uncommon amongst Black witches,” Sythe commented. “Karma, I suppose.”
