His presence has everyone holding their breath, most especially me. He doesn’t speak as he glares at the back of the man’s head, and after a couple of moments, the first man finallyscoffs. He picks the shot up that Jasmine’s just poured, knocks it back, and when he lets out an “ah” after, vapor leaves his lips.
“Blaze,” he muses. “I figured you’d be the first on scene.”
Blaze.
Wait—Blaze?!
Nick doesn’t even blink, and when he doesn’t respond, the man pivots in his seat.
“Where is your twin?” he asks, standing.
They’re face-to-face, and I swear the heat is slowly evaporating from the room.
“You’re not doing this in here, Cornelius,” Nick says, and his voice is deadly. A scratch in reality.
The man scoffs. “Doing what? We’re just having a drink. Talking to your little human. She really is pretty. I don’t blame you?—”
“Nick,” Jasmine says warningly.
Human… Blaze… What in the hell is going on?
Another shadow appears in in my peripheral. It moves, and I think my eyes are playing tricks on me as Jax is suddenly at Nick’s side.
The man sighs upon seeing him. “North,” he says, looking at Jax.
I must still be passed out from last night.
North?!
What in the fuck.
“Cornelius. Still licking our mother’s toes, I see,” Jax says.
Cornelius’s lips purse. “You’re still pretending you’re not as ugly as these statues. Did you draw them?
“Get the fuck off my island,” Nick seethes through his teeth, stepping forward.
“Do I need to call the police?” Danielle asks from the door.
The corner of Cornelius’s mouth curls as he peers between Nick and Jax. “No need.” He regards his friend and jerks hishead toward the door. “We’ll go.” He peers my way and gives me a smile that has dread crawling up my skin as if I’m lying in a vat of spiders. “See you soon, Juniper.”
The pair push their way past Nick and Jax and make their way to the door. Nick avoids my eyes as they disappear, Jax following behind them until they reach the threshold.
And when they disappear, the room exhales.
Music begins playing on the jukebox. Conversations begin again.
Yet all I can do is stare at Nick.
His lashes lift to mine, and the moment we’re locked on one another, I feel it. The betrayal. The trembling. The fury. I can’t breathe, don’t even know what to say.
“Juni—” Jasmine begins, but I push out of her reach, too.
North.
Blaze.
The statues catch my eye, and it takes everything in me not to throw them.
