Page 64 of Tethered Fates

I climb up on his back, holding onto his shoulders.

“Fuck, you’re heavier than you look. Why am I even doing this…”

“I was wondering the same thing,” I chuckle, to which Elio makes an indignant sniff, but before he can insist I get off, I say, “Can you stand up?”

Elio grumbles some more, but in the end, he just grunts and heaves us up. My hand extends towards the ceiling so I can grab hold of the pulley string, which I was too short to reach, and give it a sharp tug, causing a ladder to tumble down and making Elio jolt.

“Holy shit!”

Awkwardly, I climb off his shoulders. “Do you know how to paint?”

Elio stares at me like he’s starting to wonder if he actually fell asleep and is dreaming. “How is it in a mansion full of vampires and a blood mage, you’re the strangest thing here?”

I offer a smile, then begin to climb up the metal rungs.

“This would be the perfect place for a murder…”

“Like I’d need to do all this to murder you.” I get up to the top, then hang my head down, my curls falling into my face. “I bet I could get Sen to take you out without much effort.”

Elio grumbles, then after a moment, begins to climb.

“Why is that, by the way?”

“What do you mean?” Elio snarks as he reaches the top, face scrunched and dusting his palms by slapping them on his jeans.

I find a light switch and tap it on. The loft is spacious, the red brick walls doing little to keep out the draft whistling through the walls.

“Why don’t vampires and blood mages get along?” I ask, ducking under a heavy support beam to get a better look at the space.

Elio’s feet scratch against the rough wooden floor as he reluctantly follows. “Blood mages have hunted vampires because their blood makes our spells incredibly potent. As you can imagine, that doesn’t make vampires very friendly.”

“So you hunt vampires?”

“I don’t,” he replies, sounding offended. “The only vampire blood I’ve ever used was Bran’s.”

I turn back and scout out the other direction. The loft is completely bare. “Bran is the creepy white guy, right? Sen told me he’s like, super old.”

Elio doesn’t say anything, but when I look him over, his shoulders are back up to his ears.

“You know…” I trail off when I find the perfect wall. “It’s cool if you’re afraid of him.”

“I am not!” Elio insists, as if he’s a little kid demanding he’s not scared of the dark. Elio must read my amusement, because he quickly adds, “He’s just… a lot.”

“No kidding,” I remark. I drop my bag with a thud and pull out a pink spray can.

Now that I’ve told Sen and Kai about my past, I have a growing need to use pink to make up for lost time.

I toss a can to Elio, who fumbles the catch, and I let out a small chuckle as it rolls off and he scrambles after it, his face scowling and mumbling to himself. I pull out another can of pink. “So vamps and blood mages are mortal enemies. Yet an old ass vampire is working with you?”

Elio comes up beside me. “What exactly do you want from me?”

I shrug.

He waits. When I say nothing, he throws up his hands.

I scan the brick wall over. “Being scared sucks, right?”

“I’m not—”