Page 84 of Glitched Fates & Stolen Mates

He shrugged, but his shoulders stayed tense. “Nine years is—”

“Nothing,” I interrupted. “Literally nothing. Seb and Flynn have about five centuries between them, and they’re disgustingly happy. Well, aside from Seb’s absolutely tragic understanding of modern slang. Flynn keeps trying to explain that ‘slay’ isn’t literal combat terminology, but Seb seemingly refuses to get it.”

Kit’s mouth twitched into a smile. “To be fair, that word is ridiculous.”

“As long as you don’t ever use LOL for ‘lots of love,’ we’re all good.” I squeezed his hand. “Besides, Rory will keep you constantly updated on how to be down with us kids whether you want it or not.”

Kit’s free hand found my waist, thumb brushing against my hip through my hoodie. “It was one of the reasons I convinced myself you wouldn’t want me,” he said quietly. “The age thing. Among others.”

“What others?”

His face became a blank mask. “That I’m too damaged. Too intense. That I’ve done things…” He trailed off, eyes fixed on something over my shoulder. “That someone like you deserves better than someone like me.”

The sadness in his voice made my heart break. I wanted to tell him he was wrong, that I didn’t care about his past, that whatever he’d done in Greywatch didn’t matter. But the words stuck in my throat, too big and too important for this quiet side street.

“The age thing definitely doesn’t bother me,” I said instead, tugging him along so we were walking again. “And if my mother brings it up next week when she inevitably ambushes me with more questions, I’ll defend our honour.”

Kit’s smile returned, softer this time. “Our honour? But… you could always take a break from the family dinners for a while? Give her time to process?”

“I can’t do that.” The words came out fierce, and I softened it to add, “I have to see my dad each week. I can’t just… abandon him.”

“What do you mean, abandon him?”

I sighed, resigned. This wasn’t exactly light-hearted second-date banter. “My dad has Huntington’s disease. Early onset. He’s had it for a very long time now, but it’s getting worse. Some days he’s completely fine, like tonight. Other days…”

Kit studied my face until I continued.

“Anyway, Eomma’s always refused to hire outside carers. Said she didn’t want strangers looking after Appa. Which meant it fell to me and Lily to help with the physical stuff, the bad days when his coordination goes to hell or his speech gets muddled. I was still in school when it started. Then university. Then my masters. Always rushing home between lectures to help him shower, or feeding him when the tremors got bad, or just… being there when Mum had to work late.”

Kit made a small sound, something between sympathy and anger.

“Lily’s so great with him,” I said. “So much better than me.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

“It is. And then, Lily did something truly amazing. She sat me down and begged me to move out. Said I was wasting my twenties. That’s why I moved to Battersea Park. So I can waste my twenties in the solitude of that tiny flat you insulted.” I tried to laugh to lighten the mood. “Anyway, the least I can do is go round every Wednesday without fail.”

We walked in silence for a few minutes, Kit’s thumb still moving in those soothing circles across my skin.

“Your sister sounds incredible,” he said eventually.

“She is. And she thinks you’re super hot, by the way.” I shot him a sideways grin, relieved to shift the conversation back to safer ground. “Wondered if she could date your brother.”

Kit choked on what might have been a laugh. “Oh, Rory would love to hear that.”

We’d just reached a quieter stretch of pavement when Kit suddenly went rigid beside me, his grip on my hand tightening like a vice.

“What is it?” I whispered, following his gaze down the dimly lit street.

The Victorian lampposts cast uneven pools of yellow light between long stretches of shadow. The street suddenly felt hollow. Empty in a way that made my pulse kick.

Kit’s nostrils flared slightly, and I caught the faintest growl rumbling in his chest.

“Felix,” he said, voice low and controlled, “I need you to listen very carefully. When I say run, you run. Don’t look back. Don’t stop. Get to the main road and call Seb.”

My mouth went dry. “Kit, what’s—”

The attack came from two directions at once.