Page 5 of Gemini Kings
A power that’s way too dangerous to unleash in a casino full of people.
Once was more than enough for that shit.
I swallow hard against the burn of old grief that swells my throat. Grimly, I watch Xiao flash the keycard over the lock and let himself into my dad’s lair. The door clicks shut between us.
Okay,I whisper to Ronin.Light the place up.
Behind me at the craps tables, a blinding flash of light goes off, followed by the sudden crackle of flame and a blistering pulse of heat. I don’t need to look, because that’s Ronin’s psi fire.
He’s the Leo scion, one of the twelve great witching world families. Which officially makes Ronin Pendragon a human flamethrower.
Almost before he lights the fuse, an electric surge of anticipation has me bolting for the ventilation grate next to my dad’s office door.
So I’m already on the move when the screaming starts.
Right on schedule.
Chapter Two
Ronin
The second Zara gives me the green light, I sweep an arm across the felt-topped craps table and spray the thing down with enough liquid fire to light it up.
Fuck, yeah.
That niggling itch of nerves I’ve been fighting all night scatters like ash in a strong wind under the head rush of wielding my witchcraft.
Joy burns through me and fire pours from my fingers like flaming kerosene. Players scatter screaming to the four winds like the table’s an anthill and I just fucking kicked it.
They’re not the blokes I’m gunning for, I’m not actually gunning for anyone except Zara’s bloody wanker of an ex. But a little terror never hurt anyone, did it? Exhilaration slams through me like a freight train and makes every cell in my body sizzle.
Bloody hell. Nights like these are what I’m made for.
Literally what I was bred for.
Because you don’t wind up with witchcraft as strong as mine by accident. I’m the scion of my clan for a reason. I’m destined to rule the whole clan and lord it over the witching world once Zara ascends (assuming we survive that long, with all the enemies we’ve got). Plus I’ve honed my genetic bag of tricks at the Academy till I’m lethal. But students are almost never allowed past the wards.
Which makes tonight a rare chance to let the full force of that magical punch I’m packing out to play. The chance to give my queen what she needs.
And I’ll give Zara fucking Gemini anyfuckingthing she needs.
Actually, I know exactly what she needs.
Because I know a fair bit about rebellion. And I know more than a bit about revenge.
Through a sheet of flame, I catch a flash of moss-green hair and a gleam of liquid latex. That’s my queen in action. She snatches the Phillips from her utility belt and pops the grate on the ventilation shaft in literal seconds. That’s because my girl’s abona fidecat burglar as well as the queen-in-waiting, and she really is that blooming good.
Even without calling on that powerful Gemini witchcraft she’s still wary as fuck about using.
The eye in the sky’s watching, since Daddy’s got this whole place kitted out with security cams. That’s why my girl needs this diversion. What with the fire and the screaming and the panic, all that Gemini muscle’s suddenly got way bigger problems than Catwoman breaking into Daddy’s digs.
Which means I’ve got a solid five secs to withstand the wall of heat roasting my front and the sting of smoke filling my lungs, while Zara scrambles into the ventilation shaft like a slinky jaguar, to appreciate the pornographic visual of my queen’s luscious arse.
Bollocks. I wish to gods I was crawling into that shaft with her. But clearly my queen fancies the notion of taking out her own trash.
And I don’t like it one bloody bit.
Later, when we’re back on board the private jet and headed home to Icarus, I swear to fuck I’m going to pound into that sweet arse from behind while she goes down on Vasili’s—
