Maybe I screamed when I did it, I couldn’t say. I saw it hit his arm as he fired off the blast; a glint of light cut through my vision. My ears popped. Clayton crumpled backward, and the whole end of the room erupted—everything breaking, falling, flying, shattering.
Clayton is on the ground in a crumple, a section of pipe from the tank pinning him down. His robotic glove skitters across the metal grating, partially melted from the reflected blast. A small wave of relief hits me, but we’re not out of the fire yet.
For several moments, I can’t see anything. The whole end of the room is consumed in dust and smoke. The curtains are on fire, and the flames cut an ever-widening gap into the ballroom. The only guests still present are shrieking and pushing each other at the doorways, trying to get through the crowded hall to the fire exits.
On the stage, luminescent liquid seeps out in a small radius around the tank, draining away between the floorboards. I stare into the billowing clouds, pulse pounding in my ears as shards of glass hit the ground.
The dust clears just enough to spot a bat-like wingspan stretched out upon the ground.
“Ellis?” I call out shakily, hoping against hope that I didn’t hurt him. He doesn’t move. I hurry over to him, kneeling down beside him. Shit, I don’t remember nearly enough about first aid or anything. “Ellis, oh my God. Can you hear me?”
His eyes aren’t totally closed, the dim light glints off his golden irises, dull with a thousand-yard stare. I think he’s breathing, at least. I put a hand on his chest and thank fuck I can feel his heartbeat. The relief is so overwhelming, my vision blurs with hot tears, and I melt a little against him, laying my cheek against that wonderful heartbeat.
For a moment, all I can do is touch his face, brush his hair back from his eyes.
The quiet ding of the backstage service elevator makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up, but after a moment I hear Maestro’s slippers shuffle through the glass strewn floor, followed by Vin.
Maestro bends shakily over to pull an IV from Ellis’s ankle. He tosses the needle-tipped line aside and looks at me warily, like after all that he’s still not sure if he trusts me.
“Everything feels like an off-brand lemon-lime soda,” Ellis rasps from under me, and I startle.
I’m so happy to hear his voice. I throw my arms around him with maybe a little too much enthusiasm, from the way he winces and chokes on a breath.
I start to let go of him, but his hand closes over top of mine. “Oh my God, Ellis. I thought I was going to lose you.”
Tears flood my vision as my throat constricts, realizing how close we might have come to that.
“And you would have, if he was going to keep making me listen to that dudebro podcast with all the protein powder ads,” he groans, like he doesn’t have bigger concerns. His long dark eyelashes flutter as he looks at me. His thumb brushes over my wrist reassuringly.
Despite myself, a wobbly smile takes over my face as the tears spill over. I sit back on my heels and try to dry my eyes, but only manage to smear my mascara everywhere. I love this weird guy who can’t even take almost dying seriously.
Oh, God, I really love him.
“I was going to text you back,” he murmurs, and I give him a watery smile.
“No, I know. It’s ok.”
“I was a little tied up. There were zip-ties.”
“Ellis—”
“There isn’t time for your stupid jokes,” Vin grumbles as he kneels beside his brother, but his expression clearly shows his concern.
Ellis glances at Vin and grimaces. “Ugh, not you. Go away.”
“We should take him back to my lab to make sure he’s ok,” Maestro says, holding my gaze carefully. I can’t help but feel he’s silently telling me I can’t go with them.
My hand tightens on Ellis’s.
“Wait, wait,” I protest, even as Maestro frowns. I know he’s right, but I still have so much to say to Ellis.
For a few heartbeats, I don’t know where to start. My feelings are all too much to parse through, the apology for the fight and not listening to him before, and how much he means to me and...there isn’t enough time.
I bend down and press a kiss to Ellis’s mouth, holding his face carefully. It’s not enough, but for now it will have to be.
My eyes stay lowered as I pull back and brush another inky tear off my cheek. “Ok.”
“Did you see that? She kissed me,” Ellis says to Vin as the other blue mutant threads an arm under his knees and another around his back.
