Consumed » Kai Parker | Rewritten

Fifteen

"Where were you last night?"

Reluctantly, I look up from the paperback of Anne of Green Gables I'd snagged from the Salvatores' bookshelves. I was going for comfort this morning, but my guard is up against the witch that has taken it upon himself to sit right beside me. Even though there's an entire, unoccupied half of the sofa, and I'd tucked myself into the very corner of the other end.

I told myself that I wouldn't avoid Kai after what I'd done yesterday because that would only give him the impression that there's a reason for this to be weird. Willingly sitting in the main room, where our paths would inevitably cross, was good. It relayed the message: I'm the definition of unbothered. No, you weren't in my dreams last night. Why would you think that?

"Sleeping," I answer his strange question. "In my room."

"But not in mine."

Raising an eyebrow, I meet his accusatory stare. "Well...yeah. My nightmares are gone. Your spell worked."

"Yeah, it did, huh?" He smiles knowingly. "Sorry, memory slipped." I was sure it had not. "Guess when it comes to yesterday's events, my mind's been elsewhere."

I turn back to my book, though the words are just written nonsense now that Kai's turned his sights on me and is unlikely to lend me peace today. "Do you need something?"

"Actually, yes," he chirps and I stiffen the moment I realize I'd given him an opening for more teasing. "The stitches you gave me, after you stabbed me? Unless you thought I should keep them as a fond souvenir, I was hoping you'd take them out."

At that, I finally set the book aside. "You're healed? It's been like two days."

"And I've got prison world super healing to save me from every damn malady," he says tiredly and reveals a pair of scissors and tweezers. "So. Will you do the honors?"

"Yeah, of course," I reply, relieved that he'd actually come here to request something practical. Maybe this post-kiss-normal is possible without being persistently unbearable.

I take the tools from him and gesture at the black shirt he's wearing beneath his dark denim jacket. "Lift this up?"

Kai rolls up the fabric to reveal his abdomen and the line of stitches I'd woven through the very wound I created. I carefully pinch the end of the thread and begin to unravel the tiny loop, snipping cleanly with the scissor.

"You already took the bandage off," I murmur in slight disapproval.

"Sorry, Doc. It got irritating."

Not that I'd feared I'd done a particularly bad job with patching him up, but it was still quite the relief to see his smooth skin largely unmarred again. I could appreciate his healing factor even if it had brought him nothing but inconvenience during the times he hoped he wouldn't bounce back.

"You...see anything today?" Kai asks randomly. His abdomen contracts beneath my skimming fingers when he slightly inhales.

"Like a certain methodical coven leader in the bathroom mirror?" I wonder, without looking up at him. "Haven't seen a thing." I smile a little. "The bright side of all this is I'll never take sleep and being able to trust my own mind for granted ever again."

Once I've fully removed the suture, I slip off the couch and head to the kitchen to dispose of the thread. Quickly rolling his shirt down, Kai follows.

"Seems like the kind of thing worth celebrating," he says.

"Sure," I laugh, unable to suppress the notes of longing. "Will have to save the celebration for when I'm home, though."