“We need to talk.”
14
ZETH
We need to talk.
Those four syllables hit me like a hammer to my chest. I froze mid-stride, boots stuck in the gravel parking lot as she climbed back onto her bike. My heart slammed against my ribs so hard I thought it was going to bust out of my chest.
She wanted to talk? My mind spun. Had Calix uncovered something? Was she worried about the substance? Or was this about whatever had been bugging her when she left?
Yeah. No. Of course, it was Syndicate shit. It had to be.Then why did my gut sink at those words?
I opened my mouth to ask why we couldn’t hash it out right here, but then I caught her reflection in her bike's side mirror. Her shoulders sagged beneath the leather jacket, her cheeks hollowed. She wasn’t really looking at me, just staring past my shoulder, jaw tight, fingers drumming along her thigh, and alarm bells clanged through my skull.
?*She’d never looked at me like that before. Not when we were training together as kids, not when I came back and demandedmy role by her side, not over the past five years that I’d been back in my rightful place. Never.
The pull to use my magic came hot and fast. If I could just read her emotions, get a taste of what she was concerned about, I could figure it out on the way to her house and have a solution to her problem, but that damn voice in the back of my head spoke up.Don't do it. You know she doesn't like it when you do that to her.
My mind flashed to earlier when I wanted to use my power. When she was fighting that turned wolf and jealousy rose up in my chest when their eyes met. If it wasn't for Lucy distracting me with all of her annoying, stupid questions, I might’ve tried to leap into the ring myself.
No. I needed to take a more direct approach.
Swallowing hard, I pressed my palm to my chest where the pulse pounded like a war drum. If only I could spin her around, look into her eyes, and coax it out of her. I’d find out whatever had fractured the light in those beautiful, sunset soul catchers so I could apologize and fix it. I was here to solve her problems. My whole reason to be here and stay by her side.
Stepping forward, I reached for her elbow. The instant my fingertips hovered near her shoulder, her whole upper body flinched away. My arm froze in midair. Did she not want me to touch her? My arm fell limp at my side, my breath caught in my throat painfully.
What had I done to make her this upset? Why was she acting like this? Why wouldn’t she look at me?!
My chest trembled. I didn’t understand. I’d done everything I could. I kept quiet as I watched her fight with that turned wolf,kept my fury buttoned shut, even while my blood screamed to explode. When she left, I called Rack and begged for the coordinates, then raced over here as fast as I could and banged around until she could hear me. Why was she pushing me away?
I ached for a cigarette right now. Anything to burn away this electric tension buzzing under my skin. Something was wrong, catastrophically wrong, and I couldn’t unfeel it.
Without glancing back, she kicked the stand up and turned the key. Her bike roared to life, the engine’s growl rattling my skull.
“I’ll meet you at my house,” she called, her flat voice devoid of her normal, easy tone. Then she tore off down the sunbaked street, whipping up a cloud of dust that stung my throat. In a second, she was gone, a distant silhouette swallowed by the haze of dust.
A volcano of panic erupted deep inside my chest as I stood there, watching her leave me like a doomsday omen. My pulse drummed in my temples painfully. The world felt taut, my soul on the brink of exploding.
“You know what? You’re a fucking idiot.”
Calix’s mocking voice sliced through the haze like a blade. I spun to find him leaning against my car, arms crossed, with an infuriating half-smirk curling along his lips as if he’d been waiting the whole time.
A sharp ache split through my jaw. If I’d been human, my teeth would have splintered.He’s a boss. Her brother. Don’t let him get to you. Ignore him. Get to the car. Focus on Nova.
I tried, gods, I fucking tried, to pivot away and leave him standing there like the self-satisfied bastard he was. I should’ve known better. He was a Desmond after all.
“That’s why I don’t like you.” His voice followed me, lazy, cruel, his words tumbling out and picking up shards of my anger. “Pure idiotism. We don’t need that kind of trait in the family gene pool. So, keep this up.” He flicked his chin at the empty street where Nova had vanished. “You’re doing me a favor.”
Heat crawled under my skin. My muscles coiled tight as bowstrings. Beneath the surface, my demon magic hummed, a low, hungry vibration that wanted out. Wanted to hurt.
Only two people knew the truth, that I was powerful enough not just to read emotions but tomanipulatethem. My fingers twitched with the urge to make Calix cower, ripping that smug grin from his face and stripping away the oppressive superiority he draped over me like a noose.
It would feelsogood.
But I shoved it down. Hard.Remember the consequences.
One small moment of letting go, of letting myself feel, and my manipulation magic slipped out. I was devastated when her eyes changed and she said the words I’d always wanted to hear. All under the influence of my magic.
