The words settle in the air for a single moment, before Reuben tenses up at my side. Xavier whirls around at me with such an unwelcome look in his eyes, I step back once on instinct.
“What the fuck are you?”
My blood runs cold.
Suddenly it feels like there's a knife at my throat.
My instincts are telling me to run but I force myself to hold my ground.
“Are you on something?” Hostility clings to him as he watches me coldly.
“On something?” I repeat like a fool but my heart is suddenly racing beneath my skin.
“Drugs!” He shouts at me and I have to dig my toes into the floor. “Meds! Something. I remember you.” He points his finger at me with a new realization. A new madness.
“You counted all the shooters in that grocery months ago by the sound of their bullets alone.”
Oh.
Fuck.
I start, “That's crazy—”
“Yes it fucking is!” He cuts me off immediately and the wildness in his eyes is heightening, “But you said there were six of them. Without looking. You watchedGabriel get shot, but you pulled me back—”
“Wait what?” Gabriel growls and there’s a sudden piercing stare drilling into the side of my head.
I can’t say I ever regretted that moment until now.
My mind which was so sharp moments ago, is now pulling full blanks, “Xavier, that's crazy—”
“Don't tell me what I already know!” He's spiralling and I don't know why. The aggression on him as he stalks toward me is enough to convince my instincts there’s an immediate threat, but with all the chaos in my mind, all I can hear is my wild heartbeat in my ears.
I’m frozen to the spot.
Don’t panic. Don’t panic. Don’t panic—
“Even your fight with Olsen. I knew you were strong but what you did in that ring was impossible.”
I try again, “You said I could beat him—”
“Youdestroyedhim!” Xavier snaps and this time my panic is rising to a full crescendo in my ears.
I messed up.
I step back.
“And now you're telling me—”
He’s too close.
I stagger backwards. My dread is mounting and I can’t control it this time.
I messed up.
I messed up again.
After I just said I wouldn’t.
