Exile Empire, Exile The Second

Chapter 5 - Kairos

My supposed best friend laughed at all of this. What the fuck.

I whirled around and looked at her, my eyes blazing with the rage that I should've turned outward to the demon riding shotgun in my sister's body or inward to myself for everything catching up to me. I couldn't be angry with Eva because it was now time to pay my piper, but I was.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" I snarled, deliberately ignoring Sorin's footsteps as he approached me. I ignored the heat of his body as he stood close, his presence sending my cells into that five alarm shockwave of bonding magic overload again that distracted and tempted me.

It only made me madder.

"You," Eva said, her laugh choking in her throat as she tried to stop. "You should see your face right now."

"Babe," Silas said, touching Eva's elbow. "This might not be a good time."

"It's the best time," Eva snickered. "Seriously, Kai, you have to see the humor in this. You've run from your problems for so long and now they've caught up with you. And one of them is in the form of the hottest frigging Viking I've seen since watching Thor Ragnarök at the drive-in last summer."

"You're being an asshole," I said, feeling tears prick the corners of my eyes.

Don't think I was getting as soft as an incel at a feminist conference, I wasn't. I was on the verge of rage crying and I hated it because people always mistook my tears for emotional turmoil when in reality it was pure, unadulterated anger.

"We need somewhere to talk," Sorin said at last, the deep bass of his voice rumbling in his chest and connecting directly with my clit apparently, because I almost melted right there next to him.

"You and I don't have much to say," I replied, looking up at him. "Other than: stalk much? How did you find me?"

"Empire Island isn't exactly hard to look up," he said, his mouth pressing into a grim line of resolute anger himself. "I don't know, my mystery girl's last name is Empire, and she guards some magical place located on an island off the west coast of Canada. It wasn't exactly difficult, unless you have a hard time using Google."

"Fair enough," I replied, my rage tears calming as I spoke to him. He had that effect on me, he helped me focus. I resented the hell out of him for it. I didn't want to depend on anyone for anything, in case you forgot since the last time you were in my head. "But what the fuck is this about a wolf? You're a shifter?"

He exhaled loudly with frustration, and somehow he managed to look even more attractive. How did men do that? I mean, I wasn't all about men being from Mars and women being from Venus and that kind of dichotomy of the sexes or gender. But damn, men managed to look better when they were brooding about something. Me? I managed to look like that picture of Nick Nolte when he was arrested. You know the one, the mugshot with the stunned look on his face, his hair around his head like a matted halo.

Slap a fucking Hawaiian shirt on me and call it a day.

"How is it that you know nothing about me?" he said, his tone even but his jaw clenching, showing his simmering disgust with my inadequate knowledge of everything Sorin.

"I don't even know your last name," I said. "I'm sorry I didn't get the Sorin user's manual, I've been too busy working, paying bills, and partying my ass off."

"This is why we need to talk," he said. "And it's Vargyr."

"Var, what?" I asked, studying his face for signs of the sort of rage I'd feel if I was him.

"Ha! Perfect!" Eva exclaimed. "Varg. Wolf."

Sorin looked at her, and his face immediately relaxed into his normal handsome self. He flashed her a stunning smile and said, "That's exactly it. I'm one of the wolf clan, our family pledged to protect the guardians during the initial vows."