Burned » Kai Parker

33

"Eva, Christ, there you are, I was so-wait, wha-Eva? What is she-oh, shit."

"Is that..."

"It's Kai. God, is he...wait, is that a head?"

"The back of one."

"The back. Of a severed head."

"Bonnie did tell us there were Heretics here. Guess we know what came of them."

"That'll teach you to worry incessantly about a full moon witch, I suppose."

"Are you even paying attention? She's still not okay. I don't even think she's listening. Eva!"

"..."

"Maybe try saying her name agai-"

"She can hear us. Eva, hey. Look at me."

Hands gently curled over my shoulders, attempting to pry me away from Kai. My magic reacted so I didn't have to lift a finger, sending out a minor, warning shockwave that knocked them off balance. I leaned over Kai protectively, anchoring my hands against his unmoving heart, mindlessly murmuring spells under my breath in a last-ditch effort to restore his consciousness before vampirism took over.

"Damn it. Eva, please, just look at me. It's Sam. You're safe."

"Sam, wait, listen. She's speaking Latin...sounds like a jumble of healing spells."

"For Kai?"

"I don't think it'll do him much good now. My God, he looks like he's dead. What happened?"

"The Heretics happened, evidently. C'mon, we can't help either of them here. We need to leave, then focus on-on-"

"On reviving him? How?"

"He's the Gemini leader, surely he can't be dead. Doesn't your coven plan for this? Failsafes upon failsafes?"

"What you're thinking of is the linking spell and even that doesn't prevent the leader's death, just keeps them in check. Not that that matters now. Agnes told us he broke it."

"He's not dead," I whispered, resting a hand on Kai's cold cheek while my magic desperately sought to pour life into him.

A collective pause rippled through the room, then a figure knelt beside me in my peripheral. Sam. I would know my brother's magic anywhere, knew it the second they came barreling into the room. But in my mounds of grief, I didn't know how to focus on anything but the man I sentenced to a cursed fate.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Sam tentatively put a hand on my shoulder and didn't try to tug me away from Kai this time. "I was..." His voice cracked. "I was so worried about you."

"I'm..." I'm okay, the lie got stuck in my throat and threatened to choke me until my body fell motionless beside Kai's. Instead, I said, "I need to heal him. Please, we can leave in a minute, I think I'm making progress."

"Eva." The heavy sympathy weighing down Sam's voice made my heart clench. "He's not breathing. I don't think there's anything you can do. I'm so sorry, but maybe if we get him back to-"

"I just told you he's not dead," I snapped. "I just need to bring him back. I need to bring him back before he wakes up, so please-please just leave." I sob. "Please leave. I can't concentrate like this and he's running out of time."

"What do you mean, before he wakes up?" Elizabeth questioned gently, as she walked around to my left side. I blinked up at her through heavy lids swollen from crying.

"If I don't fix this, he'll wake up as a Heretic. He'll live the rest of his life knowing that I made him a monster." I clenched my jaw, turning away from her. "So go away. All of you. I need room to work."