Holding a flashing camera phone.

chapter fifteen

kellan finch

kellan had no idea what came over him. That anger that stirred inside him finally reared its harrowing head. He had only seen that anger in Sabien. And that fury in Isla and Josan. But never truly in himself.

He had never let his flames act without his thoughts doing their bidding.

He kept his fists clenched to quell them. Sometimes, he would make sure his willpower was stronger than the ceaseless fire.

His eyes twitched towards the witch squashed beside him; Bethan had been in a state of shock—Hells, so had he.

But she hadn’t looked at him the entire car ride.

The car he had barely remembered getting into. He recalled that newsperson shoving a flashing camera into his face, calling him a murderer. Bethan shrank into herself, walking through the small crowd as he pulled her towards the shiny black car.

Julius Rennigan was in the front seat. He said nothing, and his face told Kellan nothing.

There was no indication he was angry or frustrated.

I did nothing wrong, he told himself. I was protecting her, like you asked.

He saw that man launch on top of her, and the little hold he had on the situation slipped almost immediately when he saw the terror on Bethan’s face. Her eyes are as wide as saucers, the way her skin turned white.

He doubted the meeting he was about to have with Julius, Tharin, Ursula and the High Councillor would be pleasant.

He was almost sure they would send him packing back to Zakros, home to face his mother’s wrath, but he also had to deal with the possibility of one of the twins getting close to Bethan. His chest tightened at the mere thought of it.

His father was lost to him forever, another factor he hadn’t considered when he pelted an inferno of flames at the man.

Hells, he needed a drink.

The car came to a slow stop near the kerb. The three silently walked in a single file up the Council steps and into the same meeting room he was in all those months ago.

Edington was dressed in his velvet robes of red and white. Ursula sat next to him, with Tharin on her right, an irritating smile dancing on his lips.

Julius pulled himself into a chair, shaking his head.

‘What. The. Fuck. Happened?’ Julius said.

Bethan sat while Kellan remained standing. He wasn’t going to appear weak.

With all eyes on him, he drew closer to the table.

‘I did my job,’ he snapped. Bethan shuddered. ‘That’s what happened.’

‘You publicly executed someone.’ Tharin raised his voice. ‘We asked you to protect her, not this.’

‘They didn’t exactly give me a choice.’

‘Did you know what they wanted? Have you found the grimoire?’ Julius inquired eagerly.

‘Me,’ his witch said with a haunted expression, ‘they were sent for me. To take me.’