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Kade reaches out and laces his fingers through mine, guiding me toward the door. “It’s the witch who blocked your location from us and fucked with your blood.”
I freeze and dig my heels into the floor. “She’shere?”
He nods, standing in front of me. “You’re safe, Calla. She’s here to remove the magic from your blood.” His jaw hardens. “Seems Selene is making good on her deal with Gabriel.”
“I… um, okay.”
His eyes search mine. “You trust us, don’t you?”
I open my mouth to respond, but I don’t really know what to say. I can’t say yes. As much as I’d like to, the word won’t form on my lips. But I don’t necessarily distrust them anymore. I just… It’s complicated.
“Okay, let me rephrase that. Do you trust that we won’t let anything happen to you here?”
Pressing my lips together, I meet his gaze and nod.
“Good.” He squeezes my hand, and we walk down the hall toward the kitchen and living space.
My pulse is a jackhammer beneath my heated skin, and the moment we step into the room, my eyes go to the unfamiliar face sitting on the couch next to Lex. Atlas stands near the front door, watching like a hawk. His eyes meet mine for a moment before moving to Kade. It’s just as well, my gaze flits back to the black-haired witch, and when she turns to look at me and stands, my eyes go wide.
I’m not sure what I was expecting, but someone who looks to be close to me in age wasn’t it. She has bright emerald-colored eyes that match the jumpsuit she’s wearing, and dark, precise brows. Her pale lips tip up into a faint smile, and she walks toward Kade and me.
“That’s close enough,” Kade barks when she’s a few feet away.
She spares him a quick glance, rolling her eyes. “Bite me.”
I step slightly in front of Kade before he can respond. “Um, hi,” I say to her. “I’m—”
“I know who you are, Calla,” she says with another smile.
“Oh. Right.”
“My name is Tessa. And I need to apologize. I don’t typically get involved in vampire business. I’d warn you about what terrible company they are to keep, but I fear I’m a bit late with the warning.”
I press my lips together. “Uh, yeah. Little bit.”
“Right. Anyway, the only reason I agreed to help Selene is because I owed her. I certainly don’t make a habit of getting into debt with anyone—especially the immortal type—but I didn’t exactly have a choice. Selene saved my life years ago, so when she called in the favor, I couldn’t exactly say no.”
“Yeah, I don’t buy it,” Kade says with an edge to his voice and pulls me away from her so I’m standing next to him.
The moment I catch sight of his fangs and the darkness in his eyes, I move in front of him and press my hands against his chest, attempting to push him back. “Don’t.” I put as much force behind that one word as I can and hold his gaze.
For some reason, the moment I witnessed Selene killing Dante plays over in my head on a loop, and the thought of Kade doing the same to Tessa makes me go rigid with panic. If he kills her, he’s no better than Selene, and I can’t watch that play out.
Tessa sighs. “You can put the fangs away. I’m not stupid enough to come to a house full of vampires with a nefarious agenda. I’m here to remove the spell I cast on Calla’s blood, and that’s it.”
I believe her. If she was here to hurt me, I highly doubt she would announce her arrival. Plus, I can’t help but see a bit of myself in her. Perhaps if the circumstances were different, we could even be friends. I admire her fearlessness, especially being surrounded by vampires—including Atlas York.
Kade drops his gaze to meet mine, and I offer him a nod, hoping that’s enough to get him to back down. His chest rises and falls deeply, and his fangs retract, his nostrils flaring when he returns his gaze to Tessa.
I hesitate before pulling my hands away from his chest, and turn to face the witch, noticing the way Atlas and Lex—who is now standing as well—are watching us, ready to move and take her out at any given second. It’s reassuring for me, but I can’t imagine how it’s making Tessa feel. “What do we need to do?”
Tessa slides her hands into the pockets of her black blazer and shrugs. “It’s a simple spell reversal. Should only take a few minutes.” She steps forward, then pauses. “Your boys aren’t going to go all vamp on me when I touch you, are they?” She steals a glance over her shoulder, and her posture stiffens slightly.
“No,” I say pointedly, looking between the three of them. My chest tightens momentarily at the painfully obvious absence of Gabriel. I remind myself it’s only temporary and try to refocus on the current issue at hand. Blood, spells, magic. Right.
“All right,” she says, though I don’t miss the tinge of doubt in her voice.
We walk over to the dining table and Tessa and I sit across from each other. Lex and Kade take the seats on either side of me, and Atlas stands near the head of the table, though slightly closer to Tessa.
