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

carry. I suppose it must be your mixed heritage that makes your scent quite unusual.” She licked her lips. “And quite delectable.”
    Zia’s gaze, while amused, also held concern. “Zade had wondered the same thing, too. He’s also noticed the tempting aroma.”
    A shiver descended down Nexi’s spine and she shook it off with a loud snort. “Wonderful.” Not only was she the only known mixed supernatural, but now
this.
“Smelling appetizing to vamps is exactly what I need.”
    The worst part was no one had answers to explain any of it. If the Council didn’t know all the unknowns about Nexi’s life, how in the hell would she find out? So why encourage conversation that would eventually lead them to the same answer Nexi heard all the time:
I don’t know.
“Can we please talk about something else?”
    “Of course.” Thalia lowered her lip, hiding her fangs and placing her hands loosely in her lap. “Why have you come?”
    Zia hesitated and then said, “Tonight a guardian was killed.”
    “Really?” Shock sparked in Thalia’s wide eyes. “Who overpowered this guardian?”
    “Some of your vampires,” Zia replied.
    Thalia blinked once before her expression went stone cold as she focused on Nexi. “Did you say that some of my vampires killed a guardian of the Otherworld?”
    Nexi had no clue why Thalia looked to her for a response, but she nodded anyway. Given her experiences with vampires, her muscles tensed as she wondered about Thalia’s next move. The only reason Nexi sat calmly in her seat was because Kyden looked so relaxed with his arm still resting on the back of the couch—and apparently there was good reason for that: He’d done a lot more with this vampire than
talk.
    Thalia slowly rose from her seat, her fangs, once again, peering out from behind her lip. “What kind of joke are you playing?”
    “I’m afraid it’s no joke,” Kyden replied, cool and collected. “Zade recognized a few of the vampires from your last summit.”
    “Lies!” Thalia roared, her power oozing off her in heavy waves, making the air thick; her fingers gripped the chaise beneath her, revealing white knuckles. “My vampires aren’t capable of such cruelty. What would be their purpose in destroying the guardian?”
    Her question had been aimed at Nexi…
again.
    Regardless of the fact that she didn’t have any interest in conversing with Kyden’s ex-lover, she said, “We’re here to find that out.” Knowing—and hating—that Thalia had once had a relationship with Kyden, she thought it smart to add, “They killed Finn’s brother, Trefan.”
    Thalia’s lip slowly covered her fangs. “A close friend, then?” she asked Kyden.
    He nodded grimly. “Very close.”
    Gingerly removing her hands from their tight position on the edge of the chase, Thalia folded her arms. “How many of my vampires does Zade think he saw there?”
    “Three,” Kyden answered, crossing his ankle over his knee. “All new vampires.”
    Thalia pushed off the chase, as a predator would, slow and calculated. The change in her persona was quick, now looking more threatening, ominous.
    The Mistress Vampire continued to stare down Kyden before she shouted, “Maddox. To me. Now.”
    In vampire speed that Nexi’s eyes couldn’t process, a rugged-looking vampire with wild dirty-blond hair and a rough, unshaven face entered the room. Dressed in all black, he surveyed Nexi, Zia, and Kyden, and then he set those stormy brown eyes on Thalia. “What’s wrong?”
    “These ones”—she pointed to Nexi and looked like she wanted to use that finger to rip out Nexi’s throat—“have informed me that some of my vampires have killed a guardian.”
    Maddox shook his head, adamant. “Not possible.”
    Nexi rolled her eyes, feeling the weight of all the tension in the room on her shoulders. “It is possible, and they
did
do this.” Both Thalia’s and Maddox’s heads snapped toward her, their fangs glistened against the dim light in the