Page 23 of Blood

If he feels the way I do – on the verge of breaking in half at any second - then he knows.

“Always wanted to go to England,” I mumble.

Snow doesn’t reply.

“It’s not as pleasant as you’d expect.” Kole appears from the shadows. He’s holding a cigarette, even though he hasn’t smoked in years, and is twirling it between his fingers.

He’s on edge. His body more tightly coiled than usual.

“You were in Cambridge before you came back,” I say quietly.

Kole has never told us what happened when he was in Europe. Not the extent of it. All we know is that he had to go to a dark fucking place in order to make his way back to us.

“I was,” he says gruffly, sitting down the other side of Snow.

“You can stay here with Sam and Luther.”

“No,” he says quickly. “I can’t risk…” he trails off, unfastens his hair and lets it shake loose over his shoulders.

I raise my eyebrows at him, shifting uncomfortably even though – being this close to Snow – the worst of the alien sensations in my body have faded.

“Cambridge is a big FHB town,” he says. “I got caught up with their queen. Zephyra.”

I exhale slowly and pinch the bridge of my nose. “I had no idea.”

“She…” Kole is clearly struggling to find the words. “I was her pet. Her favorite. If she finds out Nova’s in town and that she has a connection to me...” Kole meets my eyes. “I have to be there to protect her.”

I nod and clasp my fingers together in my lap. “All right. But don’t do anything to put yourself at risk, Kole. If FHB is rife—”

“I can handle it.”

“I’m sure you can, but—”

A loud scream interrupts us followed by Tanner and Luther yelling words I can’t make out. We jump to our feet and rush inside, only to find the entire kitchen on fire.

A few feet away, standing between the kitchen and the couch, Nova is engulfed in flame. Luther is holding her shoulders, instructing her to take deep breaths and try to calm down.

In the kitchen itself, Tanner is frantically trying to put out the flames, but Nova’s powers have already done their damage.

“It’s okay,” Luther says loudly, wrapping his arms around her as her wings and the fire licking her limbs starts to subside. “It’s okay.”

When Tanner finally finishes extinguishing the flames, he stands back, panting.

Now, the kitchen is dripping as well as charred.

“What happened?” Kole asks, eyebrow raised.

Nova looks embarrassed. “I’m sorry.” She rubs her face with her palms. “It seems to be getting worse. Every time I come, my powers just go…” She splays out her fingers. “Boom.”

I can see Tanner trying his hardest not to laugh. “Worse things have happened,” he says. “Maybe it means we’re getting better.” He meets Luther’s eyes and grins.

But Luther doesn’t look amused. “Or it means we need to cool it for a while, so you can practise taking control.” He takes the blanket from the back of the sofa and wraps it around Nova’s shoulders. Then he kisses her forehead.

Seeing him being tender with Nova still surprises me. Perhaps because they spent so long hating each other, perhaps because he spent so long not letting anyone get close to him.

“We’ll do some more lessons on the plane.” I close the gap between us and kiss her softly on the lips. “We lost focus, but we’ll go back to basics.”

“Have you booked a flight?” Nova asks.