lifeline ⇾ kai parker

44┃one hell of a miracle

CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

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THE BALCONY OF KAI'S one-bedroom apartment was being put to use for the first time ever tonight. Bruises and cuts marked his skin; a very potent blossom of color developing on his cheekbone from where Mila socked him was the most noticeable. There were healing spells he could have used to ease the pain, but he was just about juiced out of siphoned magic and he didn't think it would matter much, anyway. A part of him knew he deserved to suffer for how much things spiraled out of control.

Iron fence supported his arms as he leaned on it, staring off blankly into the courtyard and up at the sky. He thought he was past being weighed down by guilt, that he had learned his lesson when it came to caring too much about the aftermath of his actions and who it affected, but all of that went down the drain.

Because these last couple of weeks, especially tonight, he was only thinking about what was best for him — and yet he had even gotten that wrong. Kai hated that he was living up to his infamous title of screw-up. No matter what he did, he just seemed to lose. Maybe because instead of having change happen to him, he should've got involved and defined it for himself.

A hand slipped into his coat pocket, pulling out the folded photograph he'd taken out of the broken frame. It was a little crumpled and had a noticeable crease down the center but it still held its sentiment. His thumb ran over Mila's figure, the frigid stance of his body relaxing. He shook his head while his gaze turned thoughtful.

"You're not going away, are you?" Kai murmured.

"No." A voice resonates suddenly from beside him, making Kai's head snap to the side. All the softened details of his face harden, alight warmth converting into icy lanes along the contours. He tucks the photo back into his pocket.

"What? Were you not referring to me?" The Necromancer continues, grinning cunningly, but his teasing mannerisms quickly evaporate into the bone-chilling air. "Of course you weren't."

"Give me one reason I shouldn't throw you over this balcony. Wait. Nevermind. I don't care enough to listen to your excuses."

"Yes, we all know what you really care about. Or should I say, who."

"I'm not having this conversation with you again. Please save the teenage girl sleepover talk."

"You're even more of a laughing stock than I thought." The Necromancer ignores Kai's harsh glare and hollow threats. "I gave you chance after to chance to become remarkable. I freed you of your sickening infatuation of that-that girl! Imagine my disappointment when I find out that you not only failed to dispose of her, but you've repeated the same mistake of falling in love with her."

Kai turns away with a set jaw. "I don't love her."

"Is that all you've bother to pay attention to from what I said?! Oh, you are absolutely infuriating!" the frustrated creature exclaims, fisting the stiff strands of his dirty hair. He then points a deteriorated finger at him. "I understand now why your family left you to rot in a prison world for twenty years. You were never up to Gemini Coven standards, and you certainly aren't up to mine."

This remark is what gets Kai to snap. Before he knows what he's doing, he's abandoning his unspoken promise not to participate in anymore violence tonight and is grasping the collar of the Necromancer's shirt. He easily flings him over the edge. The only thing holding the monster up is a clenched fist that is supplied by newfound strength that he thought was depleted.