Page 32 of Wicked Dove
When my gaze lands on hers again, she cocks a brow in question at me and I clear my throat. “Honestly, I don't know,” I finally answer, and she hums in acknowledgment.
“So, you triggered your magic.” It’s a statement, not a question, one that has her pushing off the door frame as my eyebrows rise in surprise.
“How did you guess?”
She waves a hand at me. “You have that bewildered look in your eyes like you haven't known that supernaturals exist your whole life.”
I brush a loose curl behind my ear, clearing my throat again. “That's accurate.” She smiles as she gathers the books that werescattered across her bed. “I’m assuming youhaveknown,” I add, and she glances at me with a broader smile.
“I'm a blood witch.”
My eyes widen so much I feel the strain. Attempting to remain unfazed by how she says it so casually is impossible, but she doesn’t mock my shock. “A blood witch with a lot of red dye?” I clarify with a hint of amusement, and she winks at me. “What does that entail?” I ask, unsure if I actually want to know the answer. And it seems as though she's as surprised by my question as I am when she cocks her brow at me.
“Is that where you want to start?”
“What do you mean?” I ask, tilting my head at her.
She shrugs. “If you triggered your magic, that means you endured The Sanctum,” she says, and I nod. “So, is the first thing you want to know about me, or do you wanna start with something else? Something a little less… foreign, maybe?”
Well, that feels weighted, but it somehow eases some of the tension buzzing through my body. It’s as if someone might actually understand how I’m feeling. “I don't know where to begin,” I admit, and she purses her lips for a moment as she nods, deep in thought.
“Do you want me to take you over to The Vale while we talk about whatever questions you can think of?” she offers, and I frown.
So Institute Thirteen and The Vale aren’t the same thing? Noted.
“You would do that?”
She shrugs. “Why not?”
I gape at her for a moment before spluttering over my words. “I don't know.”
She shakes her head at me. “Are we going or not?” She steps around me, ducking into the walk-in closet for a beat before she returns with a pair of white sneakers held out toward me.
Relief floods my veins as I stand taller. I roll my shoulders back as I nod.
“We're going.”
“Why doyou keep looking over your shoulder like that?” Ocean asks, and I snap my gaze forward again, pretending like I wasn't doing exactly what she called me out for.
“No reason,” I mutter as we take a winding path uphill in the opposite direction of where I was heading earlier. The sun can’t be seen, leaving a spread of pink, orange, and lavender hues across the horizon.
Peering at Ocean from the corner of my eye, I find her staring at me with a pointed look, still waiting for me to clarify.
Busted.
I keep glancing over my shoulder like I'm living my life on the run. Sighing, I relent. “My guardian.”
She laughs, throwing her head back. “Ohhh, you must have been bad if you were assigned a guardian. Who is the lucky person?” she asks, and I grimace.
“Kael Forrester.”
She splutters. “Are you insane?”
I lift my hands in surrender. “I didn’t get to decide. Besides, is it that bad?” I clarify, hating how my gut twists, leaving me torn, one half aware of the danger I’m in being connected to a man like him, avampire, while also feeling protective of him. Not that I’m worthy of protecting anyone, but the feeling is there nonetheless.
So yeah, I guess I’m insane.
Ocean doesn't stop her stride as she shakes her head at me. “What would be bad is if he were more than your guardian.Don't let his dick anywhere near your—” She gapes at me, her jaw falling slack with every shake of her head. “You fucked him already, didn’t you?”
