Cyph ran up the stairs. When he met my gaze, it was clear he already knew what was going on. Maybe he’d known for some time, and I was the only one who had yet to figure it out.
Me. This fight was overme.
Malakai pulled his fist back again, but before he could land the blow, Cyph locked both of his arms behind his back. “Knock it the fuck off, Malakai!”
“You’re supposed to be my friend!” Malakai raged, voice cracking. “But you can’t even tell me the truth.”
“There’s nothing to fucking tell you.” Tolek spat more blood onto the tiles. “Nothing ever happened.”
“I’m not an idiot?—”
“That’s enough!” I shouted.
They ceased, chests heaving. Neither had noticed my arrival. Tol’s jaw was crusted with blood, his lip swollen. Malakai’s shirt was torn, an angry bruise blooming across his ribs.
But the injuries didn’t compare to the looks in their eyes.
Malakai’s stare was a rotten mixture of betrayal and fury, pupils blown and crazed. And Tol…Tol’s face was etched with shattering vulnerability, slow blinks trying to hide the devastation. It took everything in me to stand still, to not automatically go to him and work away the hopelessness forming.
It was because of those looks that I swallowed my anger and tried to adopt my most level tone. “I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but you’re both being absolute idiots.” I clearly didn’t do a good job.
In the span of three minutes, my world had been cracked open, the insides swirled about. The truth of why they fought…Spirits, my heart thudded.
Santorina arrived and began wiping the blood from Tol’s face with a damp cloth.
“You.” I pointed at Tolek. “Go with Rina. I’ll speak to you shortly.” I turned to Malakai. “You. Follow me.”
Blood roaredin my ears with each step I took back down the hallway and into a room at random, dust coating the empty table and shelves. Mystlight flared over us, but aside from a small fireplace and sitting area, I barely noticed the furnishings.
I was too busy trying to convince myself not to punch Malakai.
I shut the door behind him, gripping the knob until my bones ground against the metal, counting my breaths, trying to speak as calmly as possible. “Are you going to explain whatthatwas?”
Though I was certain of the answer, I wanted him to have to explain his actions.
“Are you?” Malakai snapped from the fireside.
Shock rocked through me. “What?”
“That was overyou.” Twisting to face me, he winced and held ahand to his side where the bruise was getting darker. “Are you going to tell me?”
“You’re being an ass, Malakai,” I groaned, rubbing my eyes.
“How long has something been going on with you two?”
“What in the Angel-damned hell do you think is going on?” I roared. “And why do you think it would give youanyright toattack him?”
He seethed silently, pacing, feet dragging across the faded rug.
“What do you think is happening?” I repeated calmly, trying to placate the anger simmering off of him.
He worked his jaw back and forth. “What’s between you and Tolek?”
His anger was misplaced—so fucking misplaced because I’d never so much as kissed Tolek Vincienzo in my entire life. And even if I had done so in the weeks since we broke up, who was Malakai to say anything of it?
“Nothing,” I growled. The irony was that until he’d thrown a fit, I didn’t have any hint that anything suspiciouswashappening.
“Truly? Because I’ve seen the way you look at each other. Even before we broke up, there was always something different about the way you two interacted.”
