Page 74 of Pure Magic
I assume they’re for Ariana, but I’d rather not know if she eats the raw guts of animals or uses them for some unsavory magic. Instead, I focus on how deftly Kaden skewers the meat before sitting by the fire and burying the other end of the stick in the dirt. The meat rests close enough to the heat to cook but not burn.
He wipes his bloody hands on the grass.
Calling water from the air, I cause a small shower over his hands.
“Those magics were handy.” He rubs the stains from his hands then dries them on his trousers.
“You could have called water for yourself.”
He shrugs. “Ariana doesn’t like for me to use your Goddess’s magic. She says her master is stronger.”
“I see.”
He watches the meat cook. “You think of this witch when you freely chose to leave her. Why?”
“Why do I think of her?” It seems so obvious, but perhaps not to Kaden. “I have grown used to her company and her touch.” A half-truth.
“I saw the way you looked at her. She has your heart. It must be quite a burden.” He turns the stick.
Ariana’s hand snakes from the tent flap and pulls the bowl inside.
My stomach churns. What has she become that she sleeps all day and eats raw remains? Trying to concentrate on Kaden, I say, “Why would it be a burden to be cared for?”
He glances briefly at the tent. “I have found relationships and love to weigh heavy.”
In silence, we sit and watch the meat cook. I’m not sure how to respond, and perhaps it would be better to keep my own counsel. I suppose the duty to another’s welfare can be a responsibility.
Kaden pulls a leg from the rabbit and gives it to me, then takes the other for himself while the rest of the animal continues to roast.
The leg is succulent and perfectly cooked. My stomach growls joyously at replacing my missed meal. I’ve grown soft since going to Windsor. Before finding a new family, I’d spent years not knowing where my next meal might come from. “Thank you.”
He grunts and devours the meal.
The sun crosses the sky and creates odd shadows within the tent. What’s inside hardly looks like a woman. Perhaps it’s a trick of the light.
“Kaden.”
His gaze meets mine.
“When the relationship is equal, the burden is shared and not so draining.”
The mention makes his shoulders slump and the rings under his eyes darken. “An intriguing idea, but no matter what you say, brother, I can’t leave her. She owns me.”
I want to argue, but what can I say? It’s possible his vow to Ariana or whatever master she serves will not permit him to alter his path any more than my promise can be broken. “I suppose we must see this through to the end.”
He looks at the sun as it climbs higher. “Only a matter of hours now. All these years of planning and for you, running, and it is finally as she always knew it would be.”
“Is it?” I look toward the encampment, but it’s too far away for me to see the witches. In my mind, I see Sara Beth formulating a plan to destroy my siblings and me. I hold no grudge. She must win, or all will be lost. It’s only that I mourn what I will never have again.
“Even when she was still a child, she said you would join us, and on that glorious day, we would claim all worlds as our birthright. Gods and goddesses will kneel before us and die in a moment of rage. She never wavered from the knowing.” He pulls the remaining meat from the fire and offers me half.
Appetite waning, I’m unwilling to lose this moment of conversation over a meal with my twin brother. Besides, I’ll need my strength for the evening. “I’m not sure her use of we was accurate. I think it likely you and I are as expendable as Trina was. Still, she was accurate about the three of us being together at this moment in time.”
He grins as though he finds the idea of dying amusing. “At least it will be over soon.”
The only emotion I can find for him is pity.
A feminine growl rumbles inside the tent.
