Karizma: Reborn

I killed her. I fucking killed her. The thought ravaged Kristopher’s mind painfully as his arms tightened around Ryleigh’s body. He breathed in relief the second that her arms encircled around him, and she buried her face into his chest. But she is alive now. Bailey brought her back. She is okay. She is alive. “I’m so sorry, pet,” Kristopher whispered as he hugged her. “I’m so beyond sorry.”

“I’m okay,” Ryleigh whispered in response as she pulled her face away from his chest to look up at him. “I’m okay, I promise. I needed you to kill me, and you understood.”

“But—”

“How is Bailey?”

Kristopher smiled softly at Ryleigh’s distraction. Just like their arguments from the past; rather than talking about her death, they needed to change the topic so that it was not all that they thought about. “She is resting in the next house over,” Kristopher said gently. He caressed his fingers along her face as he spoke. “Bringing you back took so much out of her. She collapsed the second that you opened your eyes. She’s strong. You’ve trained her well.”

“I wasn’t planning on coming back,” Ryleigh muttered. “She shouldn’t have had to do that.”

“Baby, you know damn well that we were going to try. We could not just let you die.”

“But what if it killed her in the process?” Ryleigh snapped suddenly. “Then there would have been two dead witches and no one to help the vampires or the Lycans fight.”

“Ryleigh,” Kristopher said as he cupped her face. Her gold eyes had dissolved into bright emerald eyes that were now filled with concern and anger. “The bond that you and Bailey have is unmatched. If the roles had been reversed, you would have died trying to save her as well. It worked,” Kristopher added as she opened her mouth to argue. “You are alive and stronger than before, and she will recover. You both just need rest.”

“Now there are two of us to fight. Lukas?” she asked suddenly. “Does he know?”

Kristopher shook his head. “I will take her secret to my grave, my love. If he discovered it on his own, he has not said.”

“I need to see Bailey, and I need to talk to Lukas,” Ryleigh said immediately. She attempted to pull away from Kristopher and stand, but his arms tightened around her.

“Ryleigh, please, just a minute, pet,” Kristopher’s voice broke as he whispered. His hands slid from her face through her crimson hair. “I lost you…” It was all he could think about, all that he could feel; a part of him died the second that he killed her, and she was ready to go back to business. He understood that there was a war to prepare for, and her concern for her sister, but he wanted just one minute with her first. “I killed you.”

“Kristopher,” Ryleigh sighed. She placed her hand on his chest and gently pushed. He took one step back and dropped his hands. She stood up and pulled the blanket around her body as she gazed up at him. “I am sorry that you had to endure that pain,” she said as she took his hand in hers. “I truly am, but there was no other way. Please, accept that. We need to move on and grow from this.”

“You expect me to just get over killing you?” Kristopher said bitterly.

“Wasn’t that the plan all along?” Ryleigh asked gently. She squeezed his hand. “Even when we knew who we were to each other, that was the plan. You promised me that you would kill me before anyone else could, and you did that. I am fine. I am alive. I would like to go see Bailey and begin acclimating to my newfound companion.”

“Your wolf,” Kristopher nodded. He smelled the wolf the second that he came in the room. Similar to Lukas’ scent, Ryleigh now smelled of dirt and grass, with a hint of lavender. The remaining smell of her magic. The lavender smell was almost masked by the smell of the woods that radiated from her, but it was still there just beneath the surface. His hands cupped her face again as his thumbs stroked her cheeks. “She is going to be magnificent,” he whispered. “I can feel it.” He lowered his head and placed his lips on hers.

Ryleigh shoved Kristopher back with a slight snarl as her magic flared. Kristopher looked at her in surprise and found bright gold eyes glaring at him. The potency of the lavender intensified as the smell of dirt and grass heightened along with it. Kristopher was beginning to drown in the scent of Ryleigh. He looked at her curiously and noticed her emerald eyes pushing through her gold ones once again. “What is it?” he asked softly.

“She…didn’t like that…” Ryleigh mumbled, more to herself than as a response to Kristopher’s question. Ryleigh’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she stared at Kristopher. The lavender scent overpowered the scent of the woods, and Ryleigh’s emerald eyes gained control of her body again. “My wolf didn’t like that,” Ryleigh repeated slowly.

Kristopher sighed and raked a hand through his hair. I should have thought of that. “Lycans and vampires do not mingle. If anything, they are repulsed by the other,” he said. The structure of his heart that had begun rebuilding the second that Ryleigh opened her eyes now began to falter. If her wolf will not allow her to be with Kristopher, it will not happen. Kristopher had assumed that since her magic had accepted him, that her wolf would as well, but he should have known better. Wolves are very particular in who they are close to, and her wolf is just learning of the world around her. If her wolf accepts me, it is going to take time. “Instinctually, we are both predators,” Kristopher continued. “Wolves are territorial and protective of themselves and their family. You are your wolf’s family now. It will take time for her to trust anyone.”

“It isn’t that,” Ryleigh said slowly, her eyebrows etched in a state of confusion and ponderance. “She did not object to your embrace, just to the kiss.”

“I believe that your magic was the same in the beginning toward me,” Kristopher said. “It took your magic time to accept me and trust me, as it will your wolf. You need to be patient with her. This is a lot for a wolf to deal with on her first day.” Even as Kristopher said the words, the look on Ryleigh’s face never shifted to relief; if anything, it shifted to a darker part of confusion. He watched in awe as her eyes flicked between gold and emerald constantly, as if the other was trying to gain control. Ryleigh had years of gaining control over her magic before she met me. She was able to engage with me and allow me into part of her world because she had control over her magic before her ascension. After her ascension, her magic had already developed a trust in me; albeit, after her ascension, her magic grew and was hard to control, but she managed because her magic already knew who I was. Her wolf has no idea, other than I am some vampire trying to make the moves on her counterpart.

Kristopher gently placed a hand on Ryleigh’s shoulder. Emerald eyes burst through, and she gasped suddenly as she focused back on Kristopher. “Sorry,” she muttered.

“No need to apologize,” Kristopher said gently. “This will need to be a learning process, that’s all. Why don’t you get some rest? We can have Lukas come by tomorrow after you’ve rested to begin helping you understand your wolf.”

“I need to see Bailey first.”

“Ryleigh, you need to rest—”

“Kristopher, I need to see Bailey!” Ryleigh snapped. Gold slowly began to trickle into Ryleigh’s emerald ones. “I can rest later. I want to see her.”

Kristopher nodded. He knew how her love and devotion to her sister fueled her magic but learning it with her wolf was almost scary. Now she quite literally has a monster within her that can harm anyone that stands in her way. “You need to get dressed then, pet,” Kristopher smiled softly. “We can’t have a pack of wolves lay eyes on the newest female naked, especially a powerful witch as gorgeous as you are.”

“Fuck, I forgot!” Ryleigh snapped suddenly. “The cloaking spell. How long was I out?”

“A few hours. Why?”

“I have to leave. That means that I was exposed. It’s just a matter of time before Naomi finds this pack. I can’t be here.”

Ryleigh dropped the blanket and began rummaging through the dresser in the room for some clothes. She withdrew one of Lukas’ shirts and looked at Kristopher curiously. “You’re in Lukas’ house,” he nodded. “I didn’t know where else to bring you. Slow down for a second, pet,” Kristopher added as he approached her. “Your magic hasn’t had that spell on at all since you’ve been alive?”

“Since I was brought back from the dead? No,” she snapped with annoyance. “I was too dead to tell it what to do, and it was too worried about fixing me with this wolf.”

“Ryleigh, none of us could smell it,” Kristopher said slowly.

“That’s because my dead corpse and the blood needed to bring me back was too strong,” she growled out as she quickly pulled on Lukas’ shirt. Kristopher fought a snarl at the sight of her wearing another man’s clothing. Lukas’ shirt came down to Ryleigh’s knees, but she continued to rummage through his dresser until she withdrew a pair of boxers.

“Ryleigh, you know that isn’t true,” Kristopher continued. “The Karizma scent is all powering. We would have known.”

“So why didn’t you?” Ryleigh snapped suddenly. “I have put everyone, fucking everyone, at risk being brought back! Why didn’t anyone notice that I was a beacon of death?”

“Baby, it wasn’t that no one noticed. None of us smelled it,” Kristopher whispered.

Ryleigh stopped dead in her tracks. She slowly shifted her gaze from the boxers in her hand to Kristopher’s eyes. “What?”

“None of us smelled it,” Kristopher repeated gently. He slowly approached her as her eyes widened. Any trace of gold that may have lingered in her eyes was gone; all that remained were the bright emerald eyes that were wide with worry and fear. He extended a hand toward her, and she instantly took a step back. He looked at her curiously, but only the emerald remained. “Ryleigh?”

“That isn’t possible. That can’t be possible,” Ryleigh said. She extended her hands and stared down at them. “It’s here, I feel it.” Her eyes shifted back to Kristopher’s. “I have my magic, I can feel it with my wolf. It isn’t possible, Kristopher. My magic is still here.”

“The only difference in you is your lycanthropy,” Kristopher whispered. “The blood of your wolf has a stronger scent than the blood of the Karizma.”

“Stop it,” Ryleigh said suddenly. “The blood of the Karizma is all that I have ever known. It can’t be gone.”

“Ryleigh, that’s not what I’m saying—”

“I need to see my sister,” Ryleigh interjected.

“Ryleigh—”

“I need to see her!” Ryleigh shouted. “No more trying to get me to fucking rest. I rested and lost the blood of the Karizma. I need to know what the fuck happened. Take me to her. Now.”