Izzy stomped into the library, slightly agitated by the look of it, and plopped herself down in the seat across from mine. “What happened last night? I heard yelling and then crashes. Please tell me no one got hurt,” she said. So they had made a lot more noise than I had thought.

I sighed and put the book Kalen had chosen for me a couple days before down and turned my attention to her. “Kalen and Andreas had a bit of a … misunderstanding. Things seemed to have calmed and I don’t think either of them got hurt too badly.”

She nodded as if satisfied. “Good. Does this kind of thing happen often between them?”

I bit my lower lip, unsure of how to answer that. “From what I gather, they have a pretty strained relationship, but I wouldn’t know. Kalen hasn’t been straying here for much longer than you.”

“I see.” She fidgeted with a strand of her loose blond hair.

“Is there something else, Izzy?” I asked, noticing she seemed reluctant to say something.

Her eyes were trained on the ground as she spoke. “I’m sorry my brother tried to hurt you. I don’t know why he did that. He has never been like this before. He used to be really kind. I don’t know what happened. If I knew he was going to try anything, I wouldn’t have introduced you to him the day we met. I’m sorry.”

I tilted my head to the side, my eyes sad as I watched her. She blamed herself for her brother’s actions. I reached across the table and took her hand. “Izzy, what Elijah did to either of us isn’t your fault. Sometimes it’s hard to predict how certain people will turn out. I’m sorry this had to happen to you. Realizing your family isn’t who you thought they were can be a difficult burden to bear.”

“Is that what happened to your family?” she asked boldly. I was still getting used to how direct she was.

“Sort of,” I admitted, not in the mood to elaborate.

“You have magic like Kalen and Andreas too, right? That’s why your family turned on you?” She went right to the point. On the one hand her bluntness was refreshing. At least with her I always knew where I stood.

“Yes, my family turned on me the minute they found out I had magic. They were scared, with good reason,” I replied in a calm manner, refusing to let this topic rattle me. I knew Izzy’s intentions were good, but that didn’t make the conversation any easier.

She shook her head furiously. “No, being scared should not be a reason for a family to turn on one of their own. They should’ve helped you.”

I smiled sadly at her. She was still so young, untouched by much of the evils of this world. This must have been what I had seemed like to Andreas when he and I first met. The thought that I might have appeared this innocent to him before sent a rush of anger through my body. He had used me despite my apparent innocence.

“Not everything is that easy, Izzy. Sometimes family isn’t enough.”

“If you can’t rely on family, then who can you rely on?” she asked. She made an excellent point, and I had no idea how to respond. Who did I rely on?

“You rely on friends and people who are willing to help you. Even if their intentions may not be one hundred percent pure. Perhaps they were acting out of a place of kindness that even they weren’t aware they had,” Andreas said as he walked into the room. He placed a hand on Izzy’s shoulder and smiled kindly down at her. I was jealous. He was so sweet and gentle with her and he tossed me around like my emotions were made of stone. Didn’t he realize how fragile I had been when we met?

 I ignored his words even though I was sure they were meant for me. This was him trying. He was going to need to be a lot more direct if he wanted to accomplish anything. Izzy seemed happy to see Andreas. Well, at least, that made one of us. I was furious at him for the way he handled the previous night as well. It seemed like a long time ago when he hadn’t done something to agitate me.

“Kalen informed me of your little chat last night and asked if he could take over your training duties from me. I agreed as it seems you are more comfortable with him than you are with me and well, he has experience.” He flinched on the last part, so subtly that if I hadn’t been so attuned to him, I wouldn’t have noticed it.

I raised my eyebrows. “That’s it? I get no explanation from you?”

Izzy was watching us both with wide, curious eyes. “I don’t have to explain myself or my actions to you, little witch. This is still my house and while it belongs to me I shall do what I please, when I please, without needing to explain it to anyone. That includes you.”

I couldn’t tell if his sudden animosity was because there was something he didn’t want to tell me or if he just didn’t like the fact that Kalen was spending more time with me. From what I had gathered the previous night, they were fighting about me, which meant there had to be a part of him that actually did care for me.

Izzy’s eyes narrowed as she continued to watch us. “Did something happen between the two of you?” she asked, as direct as ever.

Andreas answered before I could even open my mouth. “Yes.” A single word that contained so much power. Her eyes widened again as her gaze drifted between us.

“Judging by the tension, it wasn’t something good,” she remarked, eyebrows raised.

Andreas smirked. “Oh, it was very good. But whether or not it was enjoyable is not the issue here. Perhaps Lana will tell you about it later. Right now, she has a magic lesson to attend to. Kalen is waiting outside.”

I gaped at him. I wasn’t sure what to think. So, instead of making a complete fool of myself, I exited the library without a second invitation. He knew exactly how to rattle me. I pulled my fingers through my long brown hair as I walked outside. He was so damned confusing!

A wave of calm spread through me as I saw Kalen leaning against the fountain edge. He smiled and my mood instantly lifted. I walked over to him and stepped into his embrace, lingering slightly longer than necessary. “So Andreas did tell you about the chat he and I had. I was afraid he would leave me out here while he didn’t utter a single word to you.”

“Can we not talk about Andreas right now?” I asked, my cheek against his chest. He was so warm and comfortable. I could stay in his arms forever.

“It is fine with me, but we are going to have to do some training,” Kalen replied, slight amusement threading through his tone.

I reluctantly let him go and pretended to be an eager student. “So what am I learning today?”

“A healing spell. I’m sure you’ve read about it before. And it’s something I think you need to know. People get hurt all the time, it could be helpful.”

I nodded.

He spent the afternoon teaching me how to chant the Latin words. Vigoratus ut ego habitum dearheal; ut is vires otium meus vereor. Heal that which I hold dear, so it may ease my fear. Reading them was no problem, but the pronunciation was difficult to say the least. Soon enough, we were both laughing at the strange sounds I was making as I tried to say the words correctly. The spell wouldn’t work if I didn’t say the words exactly right.

I lifted my eyes from the book. “So when would I use this? When someone’s injured?”

Kalen nodded. “For the most you would use this spell when someone is injured, not sick. Illnesses are a little trickier and require stronger spells. Sometimes those spells even require ingredients which is what makes them difficult.”

“So we can’t just snap our fingers and get everything we want?” I asked, my eyebrows raised in amusement.

“Nope, we can’t.”

“Then why does it seem like Andreas can?” I prompted.

“He… he is a different case. As much as I hate to admit it, he is the stronger sorcerer of the two of us. But that is largely due to him being older. He’s an exception though. And, I thought we weren’t talking about Andreas…?”

I mentally slapped myself. “You’re right, we’re not. I was just wondering, that’s all. Since it was brought up.”

“You should talk to him.”

“I really doubt that would be productive,” I said, rolling my eyes. “If he is open or honest with me about anything, it would be a miracle.”

“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.”

I hit Kalen with the book playfully. “Sometimes you need to recognize when something is a lost cause.”

Kalen winked. “Yes, like you learning how to pronounce Latin,” he teased.

I faked a punch at him, pretending to be mad and he feigned a hurt expression. We both started laughing and he started tickling me. It reminded me of some of the fun I used to have with my brother, Zane. Before he found me repulsing. We used to be close and then he didn’t protect me and our bond faded. But Kalen wasn’t Zane. He was only having fun with me and he wasn’t going to turn his back the moment something bad happened to me.

For a moment my eyes locked with his. I knew his past now. Everything was out in the open. I didn’t have to worry that he was keeping something from me. I felt safe knowing that he had let me see who he really was. I knew I could rely on him.

Out of the corner of my eye I thought I glimpsed Andreas watching us, a look of disdain on his face, but when I turned my gaze there, he was gone.