Page 43 of King’s Kismet

“This isn’t mass murder.” I waved my hand around the room, encompassing the entire house. “This is five. Believe it or not, there’s a big difference. But no. Not like me. I was thinking more along the lines of a mage academy.”

“I went to Opal Academy,” she mused. “I can’t say that it was helpful, though.”

“So send him somewhere else,” I told her. “But train him. Even if he lives as a human, he needs to understand more than the bare minimum.”

Mariah huffed at me. “It’s like he’s your child or something.”

“I’ve raised a young man before,” I confessed. “Then I helped raise my grandson and his daughter. I’m not saying you’ve done a poor job with him.”

“Him is right here,” the young hybrid muttered.

“What are you saying?” she asked.

“He’s got potential,” I said, turning to walk away from them. “Don’t let him waste it.”

Cian stopped me. “What about all the bodies?”

“Leave them.” I dismissed his worry with a flick of my wrist. “I’ll send someone to clean them up.”

“How do we get home?” he pressed.

“Your mother can get you to the airport,” I suggested. “She’ll need to return home the same way she came.”

He faced his mother. “How did you get here?”

“Another mage dragged me through the void,” she explained.

“So she goes back that way. You go home the long way.” I tipped my head. “It’s been a pleasure. Let’s not cross paths again, though.”

“Why?” Cian demanded.

“Why should we?” I countered.

He scrubbed his face in frustration. “How will I know which academy to go to? There’s probably like forty of them.”

“There are six,” I cut in. “Pick one.”

“What if it’s the wrong one?”

“Then pick again.”

“If you had to pick,” he began. “Which one would you go to?”

I tilted my head, giving him an unimpressed look. “None of them. I’m a vampire.”

“If you were a mage—”

“Which I’m not,” I interrupted.

Cian continued. “Would you choose one that’s got higher learning or closer to home?”

I sighed, leaning my head back to glare at the blood-speckled ceiling. “I would pick the one that suited my traits best. Some are more catered to light mages, while others are more geared for dark mages. That’s where I would start.”

He walked beside me as I tried to make my escape. “I’m a warlock.”

“I know.”

“How?”