Chapter 21 The Kiss

568words2026-01-19 07:14

"The old man is looking for you. He said he's—" Ember's eyes widened when she saw what Kayn was holding inside his hand. "Oh. My. Word. Carly, are you okay?"

I raised my hands to rub my bare arms, freezing now that Kayn's heat was gone.

"I'm okay, thanks to him." It was then when it dawned on me that Kayn was holding the snake. I gasped, glancing at him. "Are you insane?"

A dark brow arched. "Took you long enough."

Ember's eyes bounced between us. "What were you doing?"

"Nothing." Kayn turned around to face his sister, holding up the snake which seemed to have given in to defeat, or…

"Is it dead?" I gasped.

"It's sleeping," he murmured, signaling his sister to move.

"Don't tell me you killed it," I cried out. "You did, didn't you?"

He glanced over his shoulder. "You'd rather have it bit you?"

"No," I swallowed. "But it was likely scared. You could have taken it outside and set it free, or something."

"So it would come back in here?" Kayn glanced up at the roof. "You should search through this thing. There might be a nest somewhere."

I blanched. "No way."

"Your choice. Or, you could wait until one day you wake up and find one on the pillow next to you, but then it would be too late, wouldn't it?"

"Do you need to scare her like that?" Ember snapped, moving out of the way so Kayn could go outside. She turned toward me. "I'm sorry, he's merciless."

I shrugged. "Guess it could have been worse." Like the snake could have bitten me—and now I couldn't get the idea out of my head that there might be a nest somewhere. "Exactly how poisonous are they?"

"Adders are pretty common around here," she said. "But lucky for us, you'd only end up with a nasty, inflamed rash and get sick. But you'll survive. It's not deadly."

"Your brother made it sound like...You even made it sound like snakes around here are deadly."

Ember's eyes narrowed, her expression ridden with guilt. "Yeah, I know."

"Is there something you are hiding from me too?"

She released a deep sigh. "I promise I'll never lie to you, but there are a few things I can't tell you. I'm sorry, Carly."

I nodded.

"So, uh." She peered over her shoulder outside before turning back to face me. "Did my brother try to kiss you?"

My cheeks grew hot. "I'm not sure."

"Oookay." She gave me a sideways look. "It's so not what I expected from him."

I had no idea what to say to that, shifting my weight.

"I heard Kayn had to be your chaperone for the day."

"Yeah," I said. "Believe it or not, he survived and scored some ice-cream too."

"I hope he wasn't too much of an asshat to you?"

"He was okay, for the most part. Weird, but not bad," I said. "Threatened a guy named Rake for coming near me."

"Oh no," her eyes widened. "Rake saw you together?"

"Is that a bad thing?"

"I, uh—" Ember peered outside again. "Carly, I need to go. I'm sorry. I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"Sure. See you." I watched as she bolted outside, leaving me glancing around the caravan, wondering where there could be a hidden snake nest.

And I couldn't stop thinking of how close Kayn came to kiss me.