Jax cleared his throat. “Kyra summoned a Daemon without his name.”
“She had a coven, and it almost killed her. It’s not worth the risk.” Titus shook his head. “Bishop and Gideon are going to make a mistake, and when they do, we’ll be there to take them out.”
Chapter35
Rae
To be a hired contractor, you needed patience. Rae had planned her assignments over days, weeks, and even months before. And yet as she sat at the kitchen counter, pencil in hand, drawing the guild layout from memory, she was out of her comfort zone.
She enjoyed the planning, but her patience was waning the longer she waited for Atlas to reply to her message. She couldn’t risk anything against Vivian without knowing all her options, and until he answered, she was stuck.
Eva peered over, her arm moving at lightning speed as she stirred the batter in her big red bowl. The entire situation was weird, being surrounded by Titus’s family, as if she were a part of it. Eva had welcomed her into the kitchen without hesitation, offering her a seat and a drink, and seemingly ignoring the fact Rae had tried to kill one of her family members numerous times.
Rae wasn’t sure what to feel, the pencil held so tightly she risked breaking it.
“Hunter, are you going with Kace to the Vault tonight?” Eva asked the boy sat beside her.
“Maybe,” Hunter sighed, drawing the hood further over his face. “I don’t want the attention, and you know what Marshall’s like. He’ll go overboard.” He sat in the stool beside her, seeming content to watch Eva bake.
Eva turned, and despite looking around the same age as Rae, she’d gotten the mother stare down pat. “They just want to celebrate, you only turn fifteen once.”
Hunter tensed beside her, hands curling into his lap.
Rae nudged him gently on the arm. “Fifteen huh?”
Hunter looked at her from beneath his hood, his eyes blue, guarded.
“I think I stole my first car at fifteen,” she continued, nibbling the end of the pencil.
“Really?” Eva muttered, but there was amusement there. “That’s the story you’re going with?”
“What? I was acting out.” Rae grinned, winking at Hunter. “My aunt tried to send me to some boarding school for deranged kids or something.” The idea hadn’t lasted long, not until Miles had threatened her for even the idea of sending Rae away. The thought of her brother soured her mood.
Hunter touched her hand, breaking her out of memories she would rather forget.
“You should celebrate every birthday. Eat every slice of cake, and surround yourself with people that love you enough they want to celebrate your life. I didn’t get that.”
Hunter’s nose wrinkled. “Where were your mum and dad?”
Rae looked towards Eva, but the vampire just leant against the kitchen counter, waiting as much as Hunter for the answer. “Dead,” she answered.
“Did you kill them?” he asked.
“Hunter!” Eva gasped. “That’s not –”
“Only my dad.”
Eva turned to pin Rae with a stare, fangs punching down to pierce her bottom lip.
Hunter burst into laughter, and the sound seemed to calm Eva. “That isn’t funny,” she said.
Rae shrugged. “He was a bad person who shouldn’t have ever been a parent.”
“And your mum?” Hunter asked, and Rae suspected there was more to the question.
“I didn’t kill her,” she said, ignoring the twinge in her chest. “But from what I remember, she was good. But sometimes, even good people shouldn’t be parents.” Her mum hadn’t been well, and could barely take care of herself, never mind two children.
It was Eva who broke the silence. “I’m sorry.”
