Tempted | Kai Parker

seventy two: white light

Kai's POV

The moment I noticed even the slightest flinch in Andie's limbs, all of my attention narrowed in on her. The bridge of her nose had begun to wrinkle in the sweet little way it did as she started to wake up every morning, and her eyelids were lightly twitching. The subtle movements made my heart thump hard and loud, because no matter how eager I was for her to wake up, there was still a little flicker of fear inside of me. Fear that after everything that had happened, Joshua might've gotten under her skin.

"Oh - she's waking up." Joshua observed, leaning forward keenly in his chair. "Now the real fun is about to start."

Completely ignoring my father, I rushed over to Andie, crouching down, and siphoning the barrier spell that had been placed around her. The rush of magic felt overwhelming and electric, but I sucked up every bit of it as quickly as I could. And as soon as the spell was gone, I scrambled to her side, holding her face gently in between my hands. The feeling of her skin pressed against mine felt even more intoxicating than it usually did, and I couldn't help but silently hope this wouldn't be the last time I'd get to touch her.

"Andie, wake up." I breathed. "It's Kai."

Her body started to wriggle, her eyelids opening ever so slightly with heavy blinks.

"Andie?"

Her eyes shot open like she'd snapped awake from a nightmare. I had a microsecond to feel a rush of relief, letting my lips lift into a grin as a burst of warmth rapidly bled through my chest. But a microsecond was as long as that feeling would last. Before I even had a chance to pull her into my arms, she released an ear-splitting scream, pushing her body back from me desperately.

Every ounce of hope flooded out of my body in an instant, and just as I locked eyes with her again, I heard the roar of my father's raucous laughter from behind me. Her eyes widened as she stared into my soul, pulling heavy and laboured breaths through her lips. I couldn't even react to my father, not when I could see the streams of tears flooding down her cheeks. In that moment, she was the only thing in the room.

"Kai?" She croaked weakly, still struggling to hold up her trembling body. "Kai - I -"

"It's me." I breathed. "You're okay now."

"Oh, she flinched away from you." Joshua cried through uncontrollable laughter. "Not so cocky now, are you?"

I wanted to turn around and cut his tongue from his mouth, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from Andie. I couldn't look away from the fear in her eyes. I couldn't help but wonder exactly what had happened to her in there. What had frightened her so much.

Andie didn't seem to have the same desire to ignore my father, however. The fear in her eyes was immediately replaced with fury as she switched her stare onto my father, locking her jaw tight together. Then in a rapid flash, she sped over to him, hauling him from his chair and slamming him against the wall with a heavy thud. She jammed her forearm against his throat, snarling as she stared right into his beady eyes.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU JUST PUT ME THROUGH?" She screeched, so loud that I flinched. "I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO UNSEE WHAT I JUST SAW."

"That was the whole point." He snapped, voice weakened by the pressure on his throat. 

"YOU'RE EVIL - YOU'RE FUCKING SICK." She bellowed. "I HAD TO WATCH - I HAD TO SEE -" she paused, seeming to be overcome once more with shock. Her breaths became erratic as she stumbled away from Joshua, scraping her hair away for her face with quivering fingers. "I had to watch them die." She trembled.

A sudden rush of fear flooded into my body, sending all of my alarm bells ringing. And all I could manage to do was stare at her. Stare at her in fear that if she had really seen me killing my siblings, she'd never look at me the same. It was selfish - God, it was so fucking selfish of me to think in that moment, but above all I was so scared of losing her. However, that selfish fear only survived for one moment. Then it was flushed out of my system with a torrent of all consuming fury.