Blake, The Vampire King

Chapter 9: Kyle

Blake and Maria waited at the royal palace for the arrival of the witches. Jeremiah and two other members of the vampire council had gone to welcome them to The Hidden Island by the gates where they were supposed to show up.

Adrian, Blake's nephew, had been the one assigned the task to bring them seeing as he could teleport. Naturally, Blake could have done the job as well, but considering the situation, it was not wise of him to leave the palace... as long as they didn't know from where the threat came.

Soon enough, Karl –the witches council president– and Judith –the former president of said council– made an appearance. Those two, Blake was expecting. The man standing next to Judith, however, wasn't exactly on the list –Kyle. He had come with his grandmother, it would seem.

Who brought the boy? Blake's eyes narrowed on him ever so slightly, for a very brief moment. He remembered the punk as too confident, a bit impudent too. But seeing the happiness on Maria's face, he made an effort to keep his blistering comments at bay.

He schooled his features into a blank mask, and welcomed the witch and both warlocks into the palace. They discussed the possibility of a curse.

"I have read about a similar curse," Judith said after Blake's explanation of his father's condition.

"Can't say it rings a bell," Karl shrugged in defeat, a pensive look on his face.

Kyle, on the other hand, seemed completely uninterested in the matters they were discussing. Admittedly, Maria, too, looked bored out of her mind.

The thirty-something warlock smiled fondly at her and Blake had to suppress the urge to growl at him. Then his gaze dropped to the punk's hand and he saw a ring there. That calmed him down a notch. If he was married, it was less likely that he would go after his mate... again.

Surely, he wouldn't be so stupid.

"May I be excused?" Maria asked softly after a while.

Blake had half a mind to adjourn the meeting and resume it later. But he couldn't stretch the witches' stay in The Hidden Island too much. He just wanted them up to come up with something for his dad's condition –and pronto.

He nodded at her and flashed her a small smile before capturing her lips in a brief kiss.

"Do you mind if I accompany you on your walk?" Kyle offered. "I don't believe I'm of much help here anyways."

Blake's eyes narrowed at the man but he refrained from saying anything.

"Sure," his mate agreed immediately, a small smile gracing her face.

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"How are you doing, Kyle? Long time no see," Maria began the discussion seeing as Kyle seemed deep in thought.

"I'm fine. Thanks."

Those were the few words he uttered in the shape of a clipped answer.

Maria didn't like his formality if she were to be honest. But she knew that after all the years, he was bound to be distant. They were no longer teenagers after all.

The silence stretched between them until Maria broke it by asking him, "Are you okay?"

She had sensed a shift in the way he held himself, his heart was drumming loudly in his chest, and he released a loud puff of air.

He turned to face her, and the look in his hazel eyes was worrisome to say the least.

What could be upsetting him? Did he know something about her in-law's curse?

She reached out a hand to him, wanting to grab him by the shoulder and shake some sense into him, for he didn't look like he had all his wits together. He looked really troubled.

"I'm sorry," he rasped out.

"Ah!" She gasped as something sharp prickled her fingertip.

She brought her hand back to her as if she had been scalded, and looked at him with wide eyes.

Never show weakness in front of the enemy. Blake's words echoed in her mind and she narrowed her eyes at the warlock.

Was Kyle an enemy though?

Blake! She screeched inwardly, right before she succumbed to the darkness that had been closing in on her.