Page 5 of Plug and Tame

“It’s all right,” Byron soothed her.

Kira watched in disbelief as her foster parents consoled each other. “What the hell is going on? I never said I was running away from anything, I just…needed to get away and clear my head.”

Right?

She felt foolish as she continued. “I just wanted to see you and hear your advice.”

And some reassurance would be nice.

Byron rested a heavy hand on her shoulder. “Kira, you know how much I love you, kiddo. I would do anything for you. Mary and I, we’re both prepared to die for you. But we cannot be the ones you turn to now.”

The words stabbed and twisted. “Why not?”

“Because, you are not ours anymore.”

She was too stunned to speak. Her body turned cold as the last threads of support that had kept her grounded and helped her survive the academy’s insanity were ripped away. Her voice was thick as she said, “You better not be saying I belong to Nathaniel.”

No answer.

She changed tack, if only to stop herself from tearing her hair out from sheer frustration. “How do you know him, anyway?”

Byron’s thick brows lowered, and he looked as if he dearly wanted to tell her whatever it was he was holding back.

“You’re my family,” Kira whispered.

“We love you as our daughter, Kira,” Mary said, her cheeks red and streaming with silent tears, “but we cannot be your parents in this stage of your life. We can only serve you.”

Kira’s head was spinning. None of this made sense. Why were Mary and Byron acting so strange, as if they were different people—mere shadows of the happy couple who’d raised her? Her entire life was being turned upside down, and she felt lost. It all felt like a bad dream. It had to be.

She hugged herself as a terrible emptiness set in. “Well…you might not want me as your daughter anymore, but I don’t belong to him, either.”

Long seconds passed where the only sounds were the crackling of the fire, and her vision grew blurry as heavy tear drops fell to stain her dusty shoes.

What was her life worth, if everything that had preceded it was a sham, and the few people she’d depended on were rejecting her? Horrible suspicions swirled in her mind, and a sense of abandonment began to set in, clawing out her chest and leaving it hollow.

She jumped when a male voice spoke behind her.

“No, you don’t belong to anyone, Kira.”

She spun around and found herself face to face with Nathaniel. His shoulders were draped in a dashing black cloak that emphasised his height. Had he not looked so tired, he would have been intimidating.

“Nathaniel?” she asked, trying not to fixate on his eyes, which sparkled like sunlit snow.

“You don’t belong to anyone,” he repeated. “You do, however, belong to the cause, just as we do.” He stepped closer and took her hand. “And believe me when I say that you are very much wanted.”

Before Kira could snatch her hand back, Nathaniel went down on one knee, lifted her hand to his lips, and kissed it, stealing the air from her lungs.

Chapter 3

Traitor

Kira

“How did you find me?” Kira exclaimed, finally snatching her hand from Nathaniel. The top of her hand still tingled from his kiss.

“It wasn’t that long ago that I fed on you,” he replied. “It made you easy to track. I was able to sense you—it’s a talent of mine that was heightened by hunger.”

Kira gaped at him, but she shut her mouth and lifted her chin. “I’m surprised you didn’t drop dead from the journey.”