The next morning, Kai sat cross-legged on Julia's couch, a heavy old book balanced on his knee. Its spine was cracked, and the Gemini seal on its weathered cover caught the soft light filtering through the blinds. He flipped through the pages carefully, one hand resting on a separate notebook filled with his own messy Brakebills notes.
The incident with John had gnawed at him all night a simple linking spell that should have worked and created a channel between the box and the vampire had turned a little volatile, resulting in a pile of smoking ash that had once been a living vampire. Something was seriously off.
"Foreign magical mixtures," he muttered to himself, reading a line from the book. "Compatibility thresholds. Cross-magic interference."
His eyes narrowed.
Vampires in this world already possessed inherent magic, albeit passive dormant unless triggered. But what he had become, and what he could now create… that was a whole different breed. The kind of vampire he was existed in a completely different magical spectrum, their energy more different, more adaptive and that variance, that incompatibility between their nature and the foundational spells of this realm was what likely caused the combustion.
He scribbled something down.
"When magical systems born of separate origins collide, their integration must be buffered by a stabilizing intermediary."
He sighed so a stabilizer is needed. He needed to find one. Or just make one.
He turned another page, scanning diagrams and enchantment circles when he heard soft footsteps. He didn't look up.
"Hey," Julia's tired voice drifted from the hallway.
She looked like she hadn't slept and her eyes shadowed with dark bags, her movements sluggish as she made her way to the kitchen.
"I made coffee," Kai said, still skimming the text in front of him.
She gave a small nod of thanks, poured herself a cup with one hand, and leaned on the counter like the weight of her world was dragging her down.
Kai finally closed the book with a sigh and shifted on the couch, making space for her. He patted the spot next to him.
"Come sit."
Julia hesitated for a second, then walked over and sank into the seat beside him, both hands wrapped around her mug like she was drawing strength from the warmth.
"You okay?" he asked quietly.
She shook her head. "I have half a mind to go find them and demand my share of that magic she got."
Kai raised an eyebrow. "That's a bad idea."
"I deserve it, Kai," Julia said bitterly. "Not just the ones I was promised… the new ones she stole. Because I helped her."
"And you think she'd just hand it over to you?"
Julia glanced at him, but he continued.
"People with power don't always uphold their end of the bargain. Especially not Marina. You do realize she helped you escape Brakebills not out of loyalty, but because she needed to save her own ass. And now that I've put the insanity hex in her, she's going to come looking for someone to bleed. You helped her… and that's all the leverage she'll need."
He paused.
'Well… I could've cast a cloaking spell on you to make you practically invisible to most detection methods. But let's keep that to ourselves, shall we? Besides, who knows what other tools they might've used to track you…'
Julia stared at the floor. "It was my friend that she used, Kai."
"Exactly," Kai replied, his tone softening. "That's what you should focus on. Forget Marina for now. Focus on your studies… on the lessons I'm giving you. There's more power in that than revenge."
There was a long silence, and then she asked, almost in a whisper, "I hope he's okay."
She turned and looked at him with those eyes, those eyes that always seemed to reach straight into his chest and tug something loose.
Kai met her gaze, then nodded gently. "He'll be fine."
He reached into his notebook, tore out a page, and handed it to her.
She blinked and took it. "What's this?"
"Read it," he said.
She looked it over, her brow furrowing slightly.
"It's a healing spell," Kai explained. "Typically advanced. Used to recover from non-fatal wounds, depending on the user's proficiency. Speed, effectiveness all vary. For most, it takes years to master."
He glanced at her arm the faint scar shaped like crossed stars still visible. "But I've got no doubt you'll learn it quickly. You can start by healing that scar."
Julia didn't speak for a moment. Her fingers clutched the page.
Kai stood up, brushing off his jeans. "I gotta run. It's alumni week back at Brakebills."
"Oh." She rose with him. "I thought you'd stay longer."
He looked at her for a long beat. "Sorry," he said, voice soft.
Julia gave a small nod and looked into his eyes again.
Kai turned and headed for the door.
As it closed behind him, he paused just outside.
'Was I just imagining it?'
He shook his head, then disappeared in a blur, vamp speed whisking him away into the waking city.
---
Among the clusters of sponsors and alumni moving through the open space, Kai was seen holding a tall champagne glass. His sharp eyes scanned the crowd with a calm indifference as he casually walked through the sea of celebratory magicians. His outfit was sleek, his posture confident, definitely relaxed.
He had just taken a sip when a familiar voice cut through the din.
"It's like Camp David for magicians," Margo muttered to the group near the refreshments table, her glass swinging slightly in her hand.
"Yeah," Eliot said dryly, standing beside her, "if Camp David was run by Caligula."
Kai's ears perked, a wry smile touching his lips as his gaze finally settled on the group Quentin, Alice, Margo, and Eliot standing in a semi-circle.
Quentin noticed him first. "Kai! Hey."
Eliot turned as well, a smirk on his lips. "Look what the cat dragged in. Still alive, are we?"
Margo tilted her head, taking in Kai's form before flashing her signature smirk. "Well, hello tiger. What have you been up to since I was away?"
Kai raised a brow, swirling the champagne in his glass. "Oh, you know just dove headfirst into someone's noggin, nearly got admitted into the Psych Ward… standard Tuesday."
There was a pause, a chuckle from Eliot, a head-shake from Quentin.
Kai's eyes then shifted, finally landing on Alice. His expression softened slightly.
"Alice. How are you?"
She offered a polite smile. "I'm fine, Kai. Thank you."
Kai looked at Quentin briefly, then back at Alice, and nodded thoughtfully. "I'm glad you're back with us."
Eliot suddenly straightened and touched Margo's arm. "Excuse us," he said quickly, pulling her away with an almost theatrical urgency.
Now left in a growing bubble of awkwardness, Quentin shifted uncomfortably and rubbed the back of his neck. "I feel really terrible about… um, everything. I just thought you wouldn't want to talk to us after, y'know... the incident."
Kai sipped his champagne, not offering a reply immediately. Internally, he was already thinking, 'God, this is awkward, why the hell am I here?.'
Alice looked between them, then finally spoke, her voice quiet but steady. "I don't blame either of you. You were trying to help. And the truth is… my brother died five years ago. I guess… I've just been pretending otherwise."
With that, she turned and walked away, leaving a still-silent Kai and a visibly guilt-stricken Quentin behind.
Kai arched a brow and let out a dry breath before muttering, "Well… that wasn't emotionally suffocating at all."
Quentin sighed. "Have you talked to a sponsor yet?"
Kai smirked. "Not really trying. I figure… if I stand around long enough, I'll attract one eventually. Like a cursed artifact."
Quentin let out a scoff of amusement, shaking his head as Kai casually stepped away from the group and disappeared into the crowd, champagne glass still in hand.
—-/———-
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