Strings of Fate

199- Clean and covered We all turn to face Alex in confusion. | glance up at Bellamy to see if he has any idea what's going on but he looks just as lost as the rest of us. | continue to stroke Kiara’s hair trying to keep her calm.

“Explain.” Bellamy says firmly. Alex flushes red under the attention of everyone in the room.

“Uh, well. | assisted Miss Gale in updating her registration with the MRO, and uh, since her position is one of...

well almost authority, over the fate’s representatives the updated registration reflects this. So she should be able to make decisions about Kiara’s care like an Alpha would for their Shifters or like a Coven leader would for their Witches. Admittedly it's a very small group of Magics, but according to the Magic Registration Office, she is in charge of it.” He explains, his voice starts off weak but gets stronger as he becomes more confident in what he’s saying. The police seem a little stunned but | guess Alex isn’t technically wrong. If Kiara were a Shifter, her Alpha would be responsible for making sure she has a safe place to stay. | guess the only real issue is that she has another race too, although I still have no idea what it might be. What if whoever leads that race wants to take responsibility for her? My heart rate picks up as | stress over the possibilities. Bellamy speaks up and it’s like he’s reading my mind because he soothes my fears.

“And in the case of Magics who fit into multiple groups, it is the choice of the individual which leader they choose to see to them. So really the choice of who cares for her should be up to Kiara.” He says firmly. Kiara perks up and hooks. her arms tightly around my n*ck. She turns her head just enough to look at the two men and glare at them.The elder of the two men sighs.

“Okay, okay. | can see that she is where she wants to be. Just givea minute to call the MRO and verify your information and we will get out of your hair. Just try to stay in town until we finish investigating. We might have a few more questions. Additionally, someone will likely stop by sometthis week to ch*ck on the girl's progress.” He grumbles. The cop wanders off to make a phone call while his partner sits and waits with us. It's super awkward and quiet. Eventually the man returns. He gives us a terse nod and without much more than a quick goodbye, the two policemen excuse themselves and leave. | sigh in relief and notice Bellamy’s shoulders dropping.

“When did you update my registration? | meant to do that earlier but | completely forgot about it.” | ask Alex, a little confused. He shrugs.

“Well... after that meeting when you askedto look into it further | realised that it might be useful to give us slegal reason to be investigating Kiara’s kidnapping. | called the MRO to double ch*ck exactly what your registration. said about you. | didn’t actually think they would answer but they toldeverything | wanted to know due to your recent registration change.” He says pointedly. | blush. Oh, he knows that Bellamy changed my registration. Actually, he’s known for a while.

“Anyway, | mentioned that you haddoing further research into your Magic as the reason for wanting to know the registration details and the guy on the phone asked if | had any updates | could give. | figured having more legal connections to Kiara could only help so I told him. | apologise if that was overstepping, but | didn’t think it was a secret or anything.” He looks a little scared now so | rush to reassure him.

“Not at all, it was very helpful. | meant to do it myself | just totally forgot. Thanks, you do amazing work, you know.” | compliment him. Alex smiles brightly.

“Thankyou Alpha.” He answers. | freeze up at his words and Bellamy grins. | shoot him a dirty look, this is his fault anyway. He shrugs, damnit, he knows I'm not really that mad. Alex notices the look and mutters something that | miss. | glance at him and he repeats himself.

1/2 199- Clean and covered “Everyone knows it. Most of the Shifters call you that behind your back. We're just waiting for you to make it official.” He admits. My jaw drops open and | don’t know what to say. So | decide to avoid it and move on, because that’s healthy...

“Kiara, would you like to have a bath now? I'll cgive you a hand. | need a shower anyway.” | ask. She nods and Bellamy moves to pick her up again. He's still way too smiley, the jerk. He carries Kiara upstairs to the main bathroom. While | get a bath running for her, Bellamy brings back clothes from our room. My pyjamas for me, and for Kiara he grabs a pair of comfy shorts | sometimes wear around the house which have a drawstring waist so we can tighten them on her, and a t-shirt. It will all look ridiculous on her probably. But it will be clean, and we can get something better for her when the shops open. | shoo Bellamy out to go take his own shower in the ensuite.

| help Kiara undress and | lift her into the bath. She weighs almost nothing and | can see why. | could count her ribs. She has bruises all up her arms and torso and she looks pale and sickly. Her hair is matted with dirt and she is still coughing, although that might just be from the smoke. | settle Kiara into the bath then take a moment for myself. | quickly hop into the nearby shower and rinse off all the smoke and wash my hair. | do it as fast as | physically can, stealing Megan's hair products because mine are in the ensuite. | probably take less than two minutes. | quickly towel off and dress, then return to help Kiara. | wouldn't have bothered, but there's no way | could get her clean when | leave black smokey fingerprints on everything I touch. Kiara is able to wash herself well enough, but her hair is a mess and she struggles with it. | spend the next hour carefully washing, conditioning and de-matting her hair. It’s a good thing that it’s only a little below her shoulders, | think if it were any longer | would have had to cut it. During this time, Kiara relaxes and Bellamy knocks on the door occasionally to ch*ck we're alright. By the tthe bath is over, Kiara is able to stand on her own two feet again, her muscles finally beginning to work again. She is shaky and can’t really walk without hanging off my elbow though. | offer to carry her again or get Bellamy to do so, but she seems determined to do it herself and | don't stop her. | know she was walking before we saved her, how was she doing it then? I'm not willing to let Kiara brave the stairs just yet, so | take her to the bedroom and let her perch herself on the end of the bed. Bellamy isn’t here but he returns within a few seconds of us exiting the bathroom.

“Megan and Darrien are back. Dr Dae is also here.” He says pointedly with a look at Kiara.

“You're looking cleaner, little miss.” he tells her. Kiara gives him a weak smile.

“The doctor is here to see you, is that alright? She won't do anything you don't like. We just want to make sure you're okay.” Bellamy tells her. Kiara looks VERY nervous. She squeezes my hand but nods her consent.

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