Witches Be Burned: A Magic & Mayhem Novel by Stacey Kennedy

Thalia’s touch was delicate. “Nice to meet you, too.” Somewhat perplexed, she couldn’t help but add, “I’m sorry, but I didn’t realize you would even know of me.” Perhaps part of her didn’t like that, either.
    Thalia’s eyes were dark, but kind. Trusting. “Oh, you’ve become quite the talk in the vampire community. Your defeat over Lazarus impressed me.”
    Nexi got the feeling not much impressed this vampire.
    Thalia’s smile stayed in place as her focus went to Kyden, and a flare of interest spread across her expression. “Hello, Kyden,” she practically purred.
    “Pleasure to see you again, Thalia.” His voice was flat, bored. “It’s been a long time.”
    Alarms blared in Nexi’s heart, mind, and soul. She looked from Thalia’s glowing features to Kyden’s emotions perfectly in check, and her eyes slowly narrowed.
Well, well, lovers once, were they?
Jealously roared into her muscles, as one thought remained heavy on her mind:
Why didn’t he tell me?
    Thalia moved to approach him with a sexy smile, and those alarms now screamed
Red alert.
“Please don’t.” Nexi’s voice came out as intended, curt.
    Behave.
Zia sent the message into Nexi’s mind.
    I’ll behave if she doesn’t touch him,
Nexi silently replied, hoping her glare proved that point well enough.
    Seeming amused by Nexi, Thalia’s eyebrows rose before she took a seat on her chaise, waving out to the couch and chair in front of her. Once they all took their seats, Thalia crossed her long, annoyingly smooth legs. “Ah, so what I’ve heard is true.” She gave Kyden an even more irritating lovely smile. “You’ve found love.”
    Kyden nodded. “I have.” Then he grinned at Nexi.
    Oh, nothing about
this
was funny. Thalia was the undead gift to men. She was, in fact, everything that Nexi wasn’t. Graceful. Elegant. Well poised. Her eyes narrowed at Kyden’s smart-ass smile, then she glared at Thalia. “I don’t share him, either.”
    Nexi!
Zia exclaimed.
    “Just being clear so there’s no misunderstanding,” Nexi said.
Touch him and lose some of those pretty, sparkly fangs,
she added silently in her mind.
    Zia cleared her throat. “Let’s move on, please.”
    Pissed that Kyden had kept this from her, and definitely not thrilled by the idea that Kyden’s past lover was that fancy vampire, Nexi shot him a look
.
“Yes,
moving on
is a great idea.”
    His grin grew in spades, all types of haughtiness. “Seems to me I have moved on and then some.” Apparently, not at all perturbed at this new development, he wrapped an arm around the back of the couch, dragging his fingers off Nexi’s shoulders.
    You should have told me,
she hoped her glare portrayed.
    Not the time to talk about this,
his arched brow countered.
    “Accept my apologies,” Thalia said, bringing Nexi’s attention back to her. Thalia smiled in what Nexi assumed to be reassuring, yet it made her sparkling eyes all the more beautiful. “Hands off, I get it.”
    “I’m glad we understand each other,” Nexi retorted through gritted teeth.
    Zia sighed. “We’ve come to talk about—”
    Thalia waved a dismissing hand and said to Nexi, “Tell me about what happened with Lazarus.”
    An unexpected turn of events, and Nexi preferred to stay out of these conversations, but she peered at Kyden, and with his smile still firmly in place, he nodded her on. Part of Nexi wanted to get the answers they needed for Trefan. The other part of her was annoyed that Thalia didn’t look like something that had crawled out of a grave.
    Refocused on her part in all this, she cleared her throat, shedding the flickers burning within. Then, in the most uninterested voice she could muster, she went through the whole incident with Lazarus that she preferred to live without remembering. It seemed like she spoke of someone else’s life. A lot had happened in a short amount of time. But now, in the end, all that mattered was both worlds were safer without Lazarus.
    By the