Page 16 of Tethered Fates

“You’re trouble, no doubt about that.” I look him over, lower my voice until it’s whiskey smooth. “But I guess that’s the kind of trouble I can’t stay away from.”

Teagan’s smile draws out, slow as molasses, as his curls fall into his mischievous eyes. “Trouble’s my middle name, slick. But you wouldn’t be here if you weren’t curious, would you?”

How I want to kiss Teagan, make him mine. Damn the danger, he might even like it.

He leans in, lips pursed. Eyelids lowering.

But Kai’s voice is something I can’t run away from. This is dangerous. He might enjoy standing on top of a transmission tower that’s wheezing from our combined body weight, but being close to Teagan means he’s close to blood mages. I want to keep him safe and happy, show him a world he can’t even begin to comprehend.

My surprising, mischievous little daredevil wants thrills? I’ll give it to him and more.

But not now…

I pull away from our almost kiss. “We should get down.”

I expect anger or hurt. I get neither. Another flash of his confusion that twists in my gut like a knife, and then…resignation.

We climb down the tower, my hands ready to catch him at every step. But Teagan didn’t lie; he’s done this before and scales down like an expert. I don’t want to separate now that I know more about him. I want to be his safety harness when he tries these crazy stunts. But when we sneak out through the chain-link fence, and I’m left staring at his face, I know I’ll have to let him go to protect him.

“Stay safe, Teagan,” I say, fighting the urge to wrap him back into my arms by stuffing my hands into my pockets.

It is the hardest decision I’ve ever made. The connection that binds our souls throbs, demanding that I claim him.

The pause is long, the distance between us a yawning gap. Soon, I’ll have Summer and Emma’s heads, and I’ll be able to give Teagan everything he deserves.

Then maybe this little twitch of loneliness that annoys the back of my mind, and has been growing each year, will finally stop.

“Will I see you around, slick?” Teagan asks, soft voice nearly lost in the breeze.

I force a smile. “Not yet, sweetheart, but when things calm down...”

For a while longer, our gazes remain connected. I should stop him, should tell him to stay. I don’t. I stand rooted as he turns without a goodbye and lets the windswept city carry him away until he disappears from view.

Chapter Seven - Teagan

None of the colours are right.

The blues aren’t doing what I want by sinking too deeply into true black. The blacks are being a right pain in my ass, all too velvety or satiny or pearly or…just not Sen.

I search for the flaws in the painting I’ve been splashing across my bedroom wall for hours, absently sucking on my bottom lip as thoughts of Sen raise the hair on the back of my neck. My gaze drags over what I’ve created—a midnight ocean cut by a silver blade of moonlight bleeding across the waves—and it’s just…

“Kinda shitty,” I admit, swaying my arms back and forth, trailing dripping paint from my brush over the plastic I laid. Not that the wood flooring isn’t already stained.

I slap my brush in my open palm and run my fingers through the tacky bristles, covering my skin in all of Sen’s decadent darkness. It’s frustrating not being able to grab what’s in my mind and toss it out, have it explode like a balloon filled with colour that explains this need to hunt Sen down.

‘Will I see you around, slick?’

His reply was basically a ‘no’, and I had to turn away, or I’d burst out laughing at his blatant lie. Like his stupid excuses when I caught him trailing me weren’t proof enough.

A grin tugs at my lips, because…why?

It’s fucking weird.

It’s fucking exciting.

I’ve always liked spinning in circles until I get dizzy, and Sen’s the goddamn embodiment of that. I want him to hunt me down again. I want to watch him have to physically pull himself away from our almost kiss again. Maybe it’s the little brother in me, but Sen makes me wanna poke and prod, annoy him until he gives up his secrets and explain why he looked so miserable when he didn’t take my mouth when I was so willing to give.

Sen, me—whatever the fuck this pull is—it’s a puzzle that needs figuring out, and I’m almost buzzing out of my skin at the prospect of solving it. Goosebumps rise on my tingling flesh, imagining Sen and me rolling around in paint, our entwined bodies creating something wild.