Page 76 of Revealing Fate

Kal clenched his jaw, the nickname he’d given her sending an unpleasant twinge through his muscles.

But she’s not Kitty either, is she?

No. She wasn’t, but that name was infinitely better than the alternative—the one she so wanted to hear from his lips. The one he refused to say. Kal’s mood darkened at the depth of his avoidance. At the cause of it. How very unlike him to balk at confrontation, internal or otherwise. And yet, this was one battle he did not want to engage.

Kitty it is.

“Very well, Kitty,” Beulah said, oblivious to Kal’s introspective tempest. “I am Beulah Porter. I believe you’ve met my son, Penn?” She placed a plump palm on her son’s lanky arm. The poor boy looked worse than Kal felt.

Kitty’s features softened. Her voice dropped, suffused with remorse. “I am sorry, Penn.” If Kal hadn’t come to intimately learn her skill at twisting the truth, he would have believed her to be fully sincere. “You were kind to me, and I took advantage of you. I hope you can forgive me.”

Penn mumbled a reply, likely wishing he’d rather be anywhere else.

Beulah studied Kitty a moment before settling her considerable bulk at the table. “Now, then. As you know, this whole affair has caused quite a stir.” She pegged Kitty with a stern eye. “You were found wandering the wood without a code. The code is our law. It keeps us safe. You broke that law and were expected to submit to a trial. If you doubted your abilities to survive, you should have swallowed your pride and chosen the verbal inquiry.” Kitty opened her mouth, but Beulah turned her attention to Kal and barreled on. “And you have lived among us long enough to understand how things work here. You helped write some of our laws, for divine’s sake. Shame on you, Kalevar. You’ve taken everything we stand for, everything that maintains order within our boundaries, and flipped it on its head. Saul’s got members of the Conclave calling for your inquiry. Lucian wants you exiled.”

Kal huffed, unbothered. “Lucian is a worm. The man couldn’t physically force a pigeon off his stoop.”

“That’s not the point,” Beulah snapped. “You have single-handedly tied up our whole governing body in a Solomon’s knot, and I want to know why.”

Kal shifted his weight, leaning against the wall, but otherwise didn’t answer. What was he supposed to say? That even his own customarily logical mind couldn’t provide a satisfactory answer to that very same question?

Kal was a man of reason, decisive action, and acceptable risk. People expected that of him. He expected it of himself. When he’d shifted and launched into that arena, he’d been none of those things. He had become rage and wrath—pure, condensed, brutal savagery. His focus had zeroed in on one thing without thought or sense.

Kal’s attention landed on the young woman sitting mutely at his kitchen table. The same young woman who, for the past week, had been bathing in his tub. Who smelled faintly of his soap. Who slept pantsless in his bed. The stunning young stranger who’d unknowingly compelled Kal’s very sensible mind to forgo every rational thought he’d ever had in favor of utter recklessness. He didn’t even know the woman, and he was consumed by the need to protect her.

Days ago, when Kal had thought of her only as Kitty, he’d wanted her so badly it hurt. And now that he knew she was a liar? An enemy, even?

Damn him to the depths of hell. He wanted her still.

“Are you in love with the girl?”

Kal’s stunned black gaze snapped to Beulah’s face. Across the table, Kitty’s mouth parted on a sharp inhale.

Beulah leaned back, hands folded over her considerable abdomen. A smug expression crept across her round features. “Don’t look at me like I just cursed your ancestors, Kalevar Kaine. It’s the only plausible explanation for your emphatic lapse of judgment.”

“I don’t owe you an explanation, Beulah,” Kal growled, recovering. “I acted. I’m not yet sure if I regret it.” He avoided looking at Kitty and continued. “As a member of the Conclave, all you need to understand is that this woman does not currently pose a threat to the citizens of Meress. We are safe. If that status changes, you have my word that I will personally handle it.”

Beulah leaned forward, keen cerulean eyes piercing. “The way you handled the trial?”

Kal stiffened. “Careful, Beulah.”

She harumphed.

Penn stepped up to his mother’s shoulder. “Kal’s protected us for years, Ma. If we can trust anyone’s word, it’s his.”

Beulah sighed and rubbed her tired eyes with squat fingers. Kitty sat at the far end of the table, gaze somewhat unfocused, lost in private thoughts.

“What would you have me do, Kal?” Beulah asked.

“I’d have you return to the Conclave and help Saul placate the others. I can’t change what’s done. The trial is over. If Saul wants to discuss the ramifications, he knows where to find me.”

“You can’t stay holed up in this cabin forever,” she cautioned. “Word is already spreading about what you did. Soon, more than just the Conclave will come seeking answers. And, Kal, they won’t be here to talk.”

Kal eased off the support column, eyes flashing. “Let them come.”

Beulah raised a fair eyebrow before turning to address the only other female in the room. “Congratulations, Kitty. You’ve bespelled our infallible Mr. Kaine. I hope you are prepared to handle all that entails.”

She pushed up from the table and ambled toward the exit. “Come along, Penn. Perhaps my timing was wrong, after all. It seems there’s no rational conversation to be had at this hour.”