“I owe everything to Sylvia,” she said, those eyes flicking down to the table. “If it weren’t for her… I was burned out from the effort of trying not to snap again. I was dying. She saved me.”
Silas’ heart pinched. That was who he was here to take down. Her savior.
“Katherine Holt,” she said quietly. “My real name. It’s been a long time since I’ve said that.”
Now, Silas did reach for her, pulling her hand out of her napkin and wrapping her fingers in his. Her palm was soft, her grip light as her eyes lifted to meet his.
“Thank you,” Silas said. “For telling me.”
“Thanks for listening.”
“Anytime you need someone to listen, I’m here. You can be honest with me, Katherine. I promise I’ll do the same.”
She paused, and he thought he’d gone too far. Maybe this connection he felt was one-sided. She had every reason not to trust him.
But then, she spoke: “Okay.”
They finished their meals in silence. When they were done, Silas watched as she stood. Pictured wrapping his arms around her, feeling her head resting against his chest as he sank into the soft citrus scent of her hair. The sigh she would let out as she leaned further into him, the breath whooshing out of his chest at the same time, so any remaining distance between them completely disappeared.
He didn’t stand. He just let her walk out the door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Katherine knew this was a bad idea.
At the very least, she should take more time to plan before she tried the spell on Byron. Set up a distraction, bring him onto her turf where she could control the variables. But doing that would tip Sylvia off to what she was doing—and, more importantly, it would require patience, which was not Katherine’s strong suit. Why put off until later the bastards you can confront today? She had nothing to do right now, and Byron’s office happened to be right near her apartment. (Okay, it was a forty-minute drive even without traffic—but still, in LA, that was practically next door.) (She was reaching.) (How valuable was patience, anyway?)
She pressed the button for floor seventeen, where Byron’s entertainment law firm was located. Waited as the elevator rose up, then waited as the bored receptionist told her she’d go check if Mr. Chambers was free.
His smug face when he walked in and saw her scrunched into the world’s most uncomfortably deep armchair was infuriating.
“Katherine,” he said. “Come on back.”
He kept his eyes glued to her, amusement sparking as she struggled to push herself up. Damn fancy offices. Damn overpriced chairs. Damn her, for deciding to come here and give him the upper hand.
After finally making her way to her feet, Katherine followed Byron to his office. He had a corner office, of course, the fully glass wall givinga clear view of the city below. His parents had bought him his spot at Stanford Law, she reminded herself. She’d heard it cost them an entire building—that’s how unqualified their son was.
But she supposed that didn’t matter when he’d ultimately gotten it anyway. When he got to reap the rewards of it every day.
“So,” he said. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
Katherine had spent the drive over here debating how she was going to do this, and she had landed on having no fucking clue. She’d hoped something would come to her when she got here, but as she sat in this office that she never would have belonged in, magic or no, all of the words eddied out of her head. She dug her nails into her palm, trying to force herself back on track.
“Sylvia was inspired by Noctis’ yearly check-ins and thought we should start doing something similar with our members,” Katherine lied. “She sent me to see if you have any concerns about the coven that you’d like to share.”
“Concerns? Of course not.” Byron smiled. “Aestas is such a lovely, inclusive coven to be a part of.” The emphasis he put oninclusivemade his true thoughts clear.
Katherine couldn’t help her scoff. She hid it with a cough. “Could I get a glass of water?”
“Of course, Katherine.”
Katherine gave herself ten seconds after Byron left to gather her emotions before she pulled out her caster. She cut into her palm, pressing her hand against her leg and letting the black of her pants hide the blood. She slipped the knife back into her pocket as Byron returned.
He held the cup of water out to her, and she lifted her uncut hand to grab it. Their fingers brushed, and she knew this was her moment. As long as she kept it contained enough, he’d never see. All she had to do was blank out her mind, like Silas suggested.Just don’t think of anything. Don’t think of getting caught. Don’t think of how disappointed Sylvia would be if she knew you were doing this.
Come the fuck on, Katherine, stop being such a cowardly piece of shit and just do it.
She took a deep breath and focused on the spell. Just as the rune wasabout to crystallize, Byron’s gaze moved to the hand pressed against her leg, his lips curving up in a sly smile.
