Page 83 of Tethered Fates

My gaze darts to the corner to find a familiar elfin figure sulking. “Hey, Elio.”

I smile, Elio glares, and I can already tell we’re gonna be great friends.

The fridge door opens, and I look to the last person in our group—Bran. “Now we just need Rurik for this to be a real party.”

I haven’t met Rurik yet. Sen tenses in a way that makes me think he’s concerned, yet he remains silent, as do the other vampires.

“Who?” Apollo spits out.

Bran looks over all the fresh meats, veggies and fruit chilling inside the fridge. Along with milk bottles filled with blood that make me squirm. “Rurik is your soulmate.”

Apollo flips him off. “Fuck off. He ain’t my anything.”

“Enough,” Vidar orders. “I’ve spoken with Grey and Astra. They’re close to finding Summer, but something has happened to get Grey personally involved.”

“What?” Sen asks.

“She killed one of his wolves.”

Sen’s hold tightens the second my heart stops beating.

“Drained of blood?” Sen asks.

“Shadow magic,” Vidar replies.

Summer used to be the tattoo studio’s handywoman. She’s funny and sharp, but always kind. Whenever I visited Kai, she’d offer me a cup of tea, and we’d tease my brother for all his wanky art references.

I’ve seen her with blood on her hands—my blood. But she didn’t want it there, no matter what anyone says; Summer didn’t want to hurt me.

And now…

“Summer killed someone?” I whisper.

Kai is coming towards me before I stop speaking and grabs my hands. “You’re safe, I promise.”

I nod, but behind Kai I see Golden’s eyes flash with something like sympathy, and I wonder if he’s thinking the same thing I am but can’t voice.

Summer nearly got Kai killed, nearly killed me, and has now taken a life. She needs to be punished. But I don’t want to be one of the reasons her life is taken.

If only I could flip how I feel about her like I would a coin.

“That shit isn’t your fault,” Elio snaps, bringing me back into the large kitchen with its low lights and soft colours. Elio shifts, his jaw clenched tight like he meant to stay silent, but now has everyone’s attention. “Summer’s consequences are her own. You’re just…unlucky.”

We stare at each other, and after a beat I nod, my heart slowly coming back to life.

“Exactly,” Ramy says, and Golden drops his knitting needles to clatter on the ground. “Summer needs to pay for what she’s done.”

“Why don’t we send all the old fucks away?” Apollo asks, tossing his apple core at Lucero, who watches it bounce off his chest with no reply but a bland expression. “No old hearts, no problem, right?”

Bran chuckles darkly, but says nothing as he pulls out one of the milk bottles. The blood inside sloshes, causing my stomach to turn.

“Apollo has a point,” Ramy says.

“Try and send me away, little brother,” Sen says to Ramy unkindly. “See what happens.”

Ramy brushes off Sen’s tone with a sigh and a flick of his long, silky hair. “Stubborn, the lot of you. Apollo, have you had much luck with…”

For all of Apollo’s bravado, his shoulders slump.