Page 39 of Tethered Fates

Rolling my eyes, I drop my chin to the side and arch an eyebrow up at Kai.

“Oh yes, that’s exactly what you should do to discourage your little brother,” Elio grunts dryly.

“Teagan.” My gaze snaps back to Sen to see emotions swimming in his eyes, shining like moonlight slashed across a dark ocean. “Summer nearly took you away from m—....” He purses his lips. The air in my chest locks. “Summer nearly took you away. I don’t trust Elio. What if you get hurt again…”

Before, I pushed away. Now, I push towards Sen, tentatively placing my palm on his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart. It isn’t a glare when our eyes meet this time.

“Sen.”

He lets loose a shaky sigh and crosses both his palms over the one I rest on his chest. He’s warmer than I expected.

“I gotta know what’s happening with my body. My life. I’m allowed that. I’m not asking you to trust Elio. I’m asking…”

I close the distance by an inch, and Sen’s hold tightens.

And quietly, in my best impression of a noir dame, I whisper, “I’m asking you to trust me, slick.”

Sen’s Adam’s apple bobs, his forehead dropping onto mine. “Maybe I shouldn’t. But in this crazy town, you’re the only one I do trust, sweetheart.”

I fill my lungs with him; it’s soothing to be this close.

Then after a final glance, Sen moves away, taking his heat with him, to face Elio. “You will be careful with Teagan. Or you will die.”

“If you hurt him, I’ll—” Kai begins.

Elio looks Kai up and down. “You’ll what?”

Kai’s teeth pull back into a sneer. “I’ll get my bigass fucking boyfriend to break you into pieces, you cunt, then burn you the fuck alive!” A ball of purple fire bursts from Kai’s open palm.

I manage not to jump back, still not used to this new aspect of my brother. But I can admit it’s pretty fucking cool.

Elio snorts, the corner of his mouth ticking up. “Noted.”

With little fanfare, Elio pulls out a folding knife tucked into the back of his waistband. He flicks the shining blade open, grabs my hand—ignores the sounds of distress from Sen and Kai—and slices my finger quickly.

I hiss, more from surprise than pain.

Elio then folds the knife, tucking it back, before pressing his thumb to my bleeding finger, taking away a print of blood.

I glance down to find the cut is gone without a trace of red left behind. “There’s no cut?”

“Blood magic can heal,” Elio says offhandedly, distracted by studying his thumb from different angles.

“Since when?” Sen asks slowly, like he doesn’t believe a word out of Elio’s mouth.

“I dunno, since forever,” Elio murmurs, disinterested. He lets out a huff, then cleans his thumb on my shirt to leave a bloody stain. Something about it makes me smile.

“Summer is an idiot,” Elio begins. “She thought she knew better than Emma, who is a bitch, but has at least two brain cells. The spell was never gonna work, and now she’s tethered you two together in pain and blood. But there’s a bigger issue.”

“Sounds pretty big to me,” I mumble.

“The only way to cut the tether,” Elio starts, “is to kill the other person linked. Which comes to our second problem: if one of you dies, you both do.”

I reach for Sen without thinking, my fingers curling around his wrist.

Kai shakes his head as he grabs my forearm and squeezes tight enough to leave bruises. “No…”

Vidar is suddenly by his side, cupping Kai’s jaw and tilting his face towards his. “We’ll fix this, little prince,” he promises, without a hint of doubt.