Kai (A Dark Assassins Novel Book One) (25 page)

He had been accepted at close to a dozen schools, but he elected to attend the local university, much to her delight.
 
When he had told her the news, she pounced on him, and despite her being stronger than he was, he caught her easily and hugged her close.

The night of his graduation, Kai had told him about sending him to college.
 
In fact, Kai had already paid the first year’s tuition and would for each year he attended.
 
Seth had been stunned into silence.
 
For the first time, Kai pulled Seth into a tight hug and whispered something into his ear, and when they pulled back, Seth had been smiling but she also spotted wetness coating his eyes.
 

As the party rolled on, she had been proud of her new family, all of them gathered for Seth, talking and laughing, and she had been surprised when Ghost had made an announcement.
 
It turned out that the assassins had bought Seth a new SUV as a graduation gift.
 
They had upgraded it with bulletproof materials and a call button that would alert the team if he was ever in an accident or in trouble.
 
She loved seeing him happy, and just as she had been accepted into a new family, so had he.

“I was thinking,” she mumbled.

“Really?” Seth mocked.

She snarled at him, but it wasn’t believable.
 
They both bent over laughing, and when she wiped her eyes and looked at him again, the smile on his face made her happy.

He’d felt guilty for what he considered ‘allowing’ her to be captured by Kane, but she explained that she would never allow anyone to hurt him.
 
The more time they spent together, the more he relaxed around the idea that she would always make the decision to protect him.

“Ghost offered me funding for my own lab, and I’ve accepted.
 
He wants me to research shifter and vampire DNA and compare it to human DNA, and I could use help.
 
I’ve talked to the college administration, and if you work for me for at least twenty hours a month, it would count as college credit, and you could graduate in three years instead of four.
 
What do you think?” she asked.

He grew quiet and she wondered whether she had overstepped, but he surged to his feet and wrapped her in a hug so tight, she was grateful that she wasn’t breakable any longer.

“You guys have already done so much for me.
 
How can I ever repay you?” he mumbled.

“You don’t owe us anything.
 
We love you and we want you to be happy.”

“I love you, too, Livvy,” Seth choked out.

Not as much as I love you.
 
Her eyes darted toward Kai as he spoke to her alone, and noticed that he and Kane headed down the stairs.
 
She beamed at her mate.
 
Over the last few weeks, she had been learning to speak to him through their mind link, but it was the one thing that didn’t come easily to her.
 
But she tried anyhow.
 

I love you, more than my life.

With her words, he threw back his head and laughed, delighted how far she had come.
 
As he entered the room, he walked straight toward her and Seth.

“Hey, get your hands off my woman,” Kai snarled.

Seth laughed and shook his head, turning toward Kai and Kane.
 
“Did you hear?”

“Of course.
 
Liv’s very sneaky but she can’t keep a secret.
 
She told me about her idea and I thought it was a great one.
 
You deserve it, kid.”

“Thanks,” Seth said.

Seth and Kai had grown closer since she’d arrived home, and they huddled into the corner as Seth pointed out their latest test on Liv’s blood.
 

She turned toward Kane and noticed that his eyes flashed with pain.
 
She didn’t know how she would survive if she ever lost Kai.
 
She placed the blame on her kidnapping squarely on Dr. Ames, but Kane was careful around her, even though he knew she wasn’t fragile.
 
He’d already thanked her for killing Dr. Ames, but it was only one way he dealt with his feelings about losing his mate.
 
While she didn’t know how to respond, other than a nodding, she knew that it would take time to heal and knowing that the man who killed his mate would no longer be a threat was the first step.
 
He’d lost the one woman who meant everything to him.
 
She hoped that he would find another, but she kept that sentiment to herself.

“Hi, Kane.
 
How are you?” she asked.

“There are good days and bad, but I’m getting by,” Kane mumbled.

Without thinking about the consequences, she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed him close for a hug, before she stepped back.

She remembered when she lost Molly that all she needed was a simple hug, or a hand on her shoulder, to remind her that she wasn’t alone in her grief, and that was all she wanted to do for Kane.
 
When she met his eyes, he gave her a small smile and she knew that she had done the right thing.

“Ghost hired him so we’re going to start training soon,” Kai told her.

“That’s great.
 
It’ll be nice to have you around,” Liv told Kane.

The gigantic vampire smiled at her, but they were interrupted before she could hug him again.

“Livvy!”
 
Jade screamed.

The red fox launched herself at the new vampire, and Liv reached out by instinct, catching her easily.
 
She laughed that the fox still loved to touch her, even though she was a vampire.

“I’m glad you aren’t breakable anymore.
 
It makes it easier for me to touch you,” Jade said.

“You realize that Liv’s mine, right, Jade?” Kai asked.

Jade growled at Kai, and he returned a snarl.
 
They still fought like brother and sister, but Liv didn’t mind her affection.
 
She felt as though she were making up for lost time, but Kai felt protective of her, and would snarl at those who got too close.
 
But Jade had become her new sister, and Liv was delighted.

Xander hopped down the steps and wandered close to her.
 
He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close for a hug.
 
As close as the shifters were in thought and action, she loved finding differences in them that made them unique.
 
Xander’s bright white hair was the first thing people noticed, but he loved to melt into the background and observe.
 
He knew when someone needed a kind word, and when he spoke, his words carried weight.
 
Over the months, he had sought her out when he needed quiet or if he wanted to talk about how it felt to find a mate.
 
His curiosity led her to believe that he had been searching for his mate for a long while, but he hadn’t spoken in great detail about it, and she didn’t pry.

Gunnar put it on himself to teach her how to take advantage of her new enhanced senses, and had even tried to train her in tracking.
 
While she had little talent in it, she enjoyed her time with Gunnar.
 
She had missed Reaper during his time away, and Gunnar shifted and stayed in his wolf form, thinking that it made her happy to have a wolf in the house and close to her.
 
She appreciated his thoughtfulness and drifted close to him often.
 
Plus, he was a great help whenever Liv wanted to trick Ax; the flirt that still hadn’t learned his lesson.

Hunter had been the one curious about her work, and when Seth had been in school or at work, he came down and she taught him about what she knew, talked to him about her theories, and listened to his opinions because he had a brilliant mind and picked up on things quickly.
 
They had laughed together, especially when it came to needles and their fear of them, and she could talk to him about anything without feeling censored or judged.
 
When they weren’t in the lab, she loved running with him when he shifted to panther form.
 
They ran races, which he usually won.
 
The best times would be when they played hide-and-seek, because he would stand out in the snow with his black coat and distinctive green eyes.
 
With Hunter, she allowed herself to be as immature as possible, yet trusted him when she had a hard problem to solve in the lab.

Ghost loved to tease her, and despite the fact that he could be fierce as he led the assassins, he had a wicked sense of humor that had her laughing until her sides hurt.
 
She watched him shift into a beautiful white wolf and was so mesmerized by how his coat moved in the wind that she wouldn’t realize that he pounced until she found herself on her back, in the snow.
 
Instead of being stunned by his actions, she threw her head back and laughed.
 
He gave her a big lick on the face, which Kai disapproved of, but she couldn’t stop laughing.
 
She had a feeling that Ghost had dropped by more because the assassins had grown closer over the past few months, but he would never admit it out loud.

Thomas and Issac would drop by, from time to time, drawn by Kai’s relationship with her.
 
Thomas had always believed that vampires finding their mates an impossibility.
 
Because his beliefs had been shattered, he would ask them both exhaustive questions.
 
Each time, Kai would tell Thomas that if he ever met his mate, he would know.
 
That hadn’t stopped the questions, but Liv didn’t mind.
 
She couldn’t fault the assassins for thinking that their mates were out in the world.

Axel and Jade were the fun ones she loved to watch movies with, or learn to play games that she missed out on.
 
The best Saturday nights were watching comedies, leaning against Ax and Jade, because they always crowded Kai out when they all rushed the couch for the best seat.
 
Kai ended up between her legs on the floor, and it made him smile that she had a good time with his assassins.

The one stressful time in her life was when the assassins had to go out on assignment.
 
She worried for each of them, but her heart would stall in her chest whenever Kai left.
 
It felt as though it wouldn’t start until she watched him come through the door safe and sound.
 
Because of her worry, Ghost started to partner up the assassins.
 
It had lessened the worry, but only by a fraction.
 
She couldn’t ask him to stop what he had been trained and felt compelled to do, so she learned to compartmentalize her worry.
 
It made each moment with Kai more intense, and wonderful.

They spent many days in bed, making love and talking, asking questions about their lives and what they’d missed out on.
 
He made her smile, and within a few seconds, gasp with pleasure as he found new ways to touch her that drew out the most pleasure she’d ever felt.
 
Each time they made love, the tension would grow until she begged him for release.
 
He ignored her pleas, loving that a simple brush of his hand would send pure bliss throughout her body.
 
She would tell him as often as she could how much she loved him.
 
He whispered words of love in the early morning before they fell into a deep sleep, and she would dream about his words and the happiness of their life together.

She had been so deep in thought that when Kai wrapped her in his arms, and looked at her with concern, she shook herself out of her musings and kissed him, deeply.

“Don’t worry, I was just thinking about how happy I am,” she whispered against his lips.

As she looked around at the mismatched group that made up her family, her smile faltered.
 
She missed Reaper.

“Any word?” she asked.

Ghost shook his head.
 
She missed the wolf, but she knew that he had to do what felt right to him, so she wouldn’t complain.
 
She would worry though.

“He’s fine, love.
 
If he needs us, he’ll call.”

“Okay, I’ll try to stop worrying,” she said.

The room erupted in laughter.
 
“I said I would try.”
 
She emphasized the last word.

He kissed her and stood straight, looking around the room before he turned to her.
 
“Do you want to tell them now?”

She nodded, and Kai cleared his throat, catching everyone’s attention.

“Last night I formally asked Liv to marry me.”
 
His voice cracked on the last word.
 
He squeezed her hand, and she wrapped her arms around him.

A loud cheer rang through the lab, and he laughed at their loud, boisterous reactions.

“Wait, wait—he didn’t tell us if she accepted,” Jade said.

“Of course I did.
 
I love him,” Liv said.

“Well, when is the big day?”

“That’s the problem.
 
Liv won’t marry me until all of her family is there, so we have to wait for Reaper to join us.
 
I have the minister on speed dial and the marriage license is ready whenever she is, so it’s a waiting game.”

“We’re your family?” Seth asked.

Without hesitation, Liv responded, “Of course you are.
 
All of you are my family, and I wouldn’t want to get married without any of you there.”

They all pounced on her, including Kane, which made her smile.
 
She had gone from being alone in the world to becoming accepted by these assassins who were her family, through and through, and she couldn’t have been happier.