He tries not to let it show.
That was it. Leo hid behind a mask of rage. I did it with wine and daydreams, and Joon did it with his smile.
“I don’t think it’s fair,” I said finally. “… What they say about you. It’s not your fault that your ability is difficult to control.”
Embers lit from his palm, and the paper sizzled as it began to burn away, turning to ash in his fist. “Just because it’s not my fault doesn’t mean it’s not true.”
His face flashed with an expression that made my gut sink—Leo wasn’t angry at the world. All that hatred that had been bottled up, that leaked out, was for himself.
THIRTEEN
LEO
I was doinga terrible job of the whole ‘keep your distance’ thing.
It was the VIA’s fault—they brought Alex back in, they made us work together, they were the catalyst. Except… I was the one who went digging, and now, I was the one standing outside her therapist’s office.
Like a fucking creep.
The building was old, made of brick instead of glass or steel. I wasn’t familiar with this side of Nightmyre; it was on the opposite end from headquarters, and considered a Variant hot spot. The population was fascinated with us, but in a petting zoo kind of way. Great to see in uniform, something to stare at in the grocery store, but as a neighbor? Well, that made people nervous. Variants tended to cluster together, entire blocks of apartments filled with them, usually in the lower income areas.
It was an effect we’d learned about in school, but at the time it was harder for me to grasp. When Variants started popping up—before the VIA took control and made us into something from a comic book—those who couldn’t hide their abilities were usually turned away. Jobs, education, sports, everything. No onetrusted us, and the ripple effect began. Generations of families were impacted by discrimination and poverty. Only in the past few years did things start evening out, but the hot spots were still active.
Habit was hard to break, and when the world was against you, it was better to stick together.
I leaned against the brick wall, a cigarette hanging out of my mouth as I looked at the black motorcycle parked on the street. Variants walked by, and even I struggled not to stare. There were plenty of us in the VIA, but most of us had hidden abilities, ones that only came out when we called them—or lost control.
After standing around for half an hour, I’d already seen three people with skin ranging from scales to fur, six with different kinds of horns, and two with some sort of tail. I wouldn’t admit it, but when I was younger, I was actually jealous of Variants that had tails. They were the coolest things to see back then.
Alex was right. I am a fucking weirdo.
“So next week, I’ll be sure to—WHAT THE HELL?!”
A shriek snapped me out of my people watching moment, and the headache was instant.
“You know, I thought we were doing better,” I sighed and stomped out my cigarette before turning to Alex. “Am I really that scary?”
She gawked up at me, her ridiculously oversized bag clutched in front of her chest, and her hair down. It fell in waves around her shoulders, down her back, framing her pale face. With the sun setting over Nightmyre, she was washed in pink, and I was the one gawking now.
Did her eyes always sparkle? Or was I losing my shit?
“When you’re posting up outside my safe house, yeah, for sure, you’re terrifying.” Her mouth curled, and I wasn’t sure if she was frowning or trying not to smile.
“Alex, please don’t refer to my place of practice as asafe house.I’m almost positive that I’m on a VIA watchlist right now,” the woman beside her sighed.
She was a bit taller than Alex, though not by much. Deep tanned skin, with dark eyes and hair. The woman clutched a leather binder at her hip and tilted her chin up as she scanned me with a stone face. There was something about her that made me fidget, as if she could read me from the inside out.
“Ah.” She snapped her fingers. “Leo, I take it. Wonderful to meet you. I’m Minnie.”
I nodded. “The therapist, right?”
Alex scrunched her nose, and I cocked my head.Was that not the right response?
But Minnie let out a soft laugh, and my heart rate went down a bit. “What brings you to our side of town?”
“Maybe youareon a watchlist,” Alex whispered behind her hand. “They definitely weren’t happy with the whole warping-my-paperwork-thing.”
“That was entirely legal,” Minnie pouted.
