lifeline ⇾ kai parker

31┃all in good time

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"I TOLD YOU A SIMPLE LOCATOR spell wouldn't work. The Necromancer isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he's smart enough to cloak himself and Mila," Kai muttered, unwinding his folded arms. He begins to pace the room.

Lizzie huffs over the map and the magical components laid out on the table. All Kai had done is undermine or ignore every idea they had come up with, and to say she was frustrated was an understatement. It was clear he was not used to being a team player.

To make herself feel better, Lizzie peers over at Alex. He was really easy on the eyes. His strong jaw, intense stare, and broad shoulders coerced Lizzie into a daze. She even began twirling a lock of her platinum hair, crystal eyes putting forth a dreamy radiance.

Alex, noticing Lizzie's incessant staring, cleared his throat. "Are you positive the Necromancer's behind this?"

"He's the only one I've pissed off lately." Kai sighed.

He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to clear his head, but that was an impossible task. Mila needed him at his best and all he could do was drown in his own worry and guilt. It was his fault that Josie had even consumed dark magic in first place. If it wasn't for him, none of this would be happening.

"Not counting me, I guess," Lizzie commented with a patronizing tone, tearing her gaze away from Alex's carved features.

"Or me," Alex added.

"Shut it, Alan. I don't even know why you're here. You're proving to be useless — you know, like Mila said you were in bed," Kai insinuated, a daring edge to his voice, one that Alex accepted.

"I've just about had it with you." Alex took a long stride in Kai's direction, ready to pick up where they left off, but Lizzie slid in between them.

One hand shoved Kai away and the other pressed against Alex's torso, making sure he didn't get any nearer. She may have purposely let it linger there.

"Please stop the unnecessary brawling before I suffocate from all the testosterone in the room." Lizzie's voice left no room for argument, and the defeated exhales she got in return brought on the satisfied upturn of her lips. She returns her attention to the school's newest addition. Fingers trail down the buttons of his shirt. "Now that that's settled... do you work out?"

"You've got to be kidding me," Kai mouthed while he rolled his eyes all the way into his skull.

"Uh, sometimes?" Alex takes a step back away from Lizzie and her doe-eyed gaze.

"Can you guys focus? We haven't made any progress at all."

"You're the big, bad Gemini Coven leader who is known for scheming and screwing everyone over. You're supposed to have a well-throughout plan, and you haven't offered any insight." Lizzie marches over to her estranged uncle, a sense of fury in her eyes that is all too recognizable. "What? Don't know how to play hero? Are you so afraid of doing something good for once that you can't even come up with an idea to rescue your betrothed from her stone tower?"

Kai lifts his eyebrows at her passionate speech. There's a hint of fondness to his expression when he flicks away the accusatory pointer finger off his chest.