As it thinned, his gaze caught on a raven-haired boy pressed against the wall by the front door, eyes wide and unblinking.
For a moment, all he felt was the fluttering in his chest, like tiny wings.
He’d given up on seeing August again, figured he’d returned to wherever he was visiting from. But he was here now.
Felix almost smiled.
Then comprehension dawned, and the fluttering turned to a lurching panic.
August had just seen him use magic.
“You’re late,” Felix said with a twitch of a smile. “By four weeks, actually.”
August stayed pinned against the wall, the terror immobilizing. His gaze jumped from the blonde woman pulling a knife free from the bar top to a group of rowdy men yelling at a nearby table, and finally, to the battered painting of his mother with knives buried in her face. He hadn’t noticed that the last time.
What was hedoing? He shouldn’t be here.
When he realized Felix was waiting for a response, he said, “I wasn’t going to come back.”
“Well, then I’m glad you changed your mind.” Felix moved closer. The air hummed around him the way it had before, barely perceptible, and August realized with sickening clarity what it was.
Wielder. Felix was a wielder. The buzz in the air was his magic.
Did all wielders affect the air like that? Why couldn’t he feel any of the others in the pub? Was Felix’s magic that powerful?
The thought sent his pulse soaring, his throat so dry it hurt to swallow.
Dangerous.
“You look like you’re in desperate need of a drink,” Felix added.
His eyes were a lighter blue than August remembered, but they held the same entrancing golden flecks. No rings.
How was he a wielder if he had no rings?
He said he wasn’t. He said—
“You lied.”
Surprise flickered on Felix’s face at the accusation. “About what?”
“You said you’re not a wielder.”
Felix ran a hand through his hair and gave a thin smile that did little to hide his tension. “You saw that, then.” A heavy pause. “And no, I said I didn’t have rings.” He pointed to his eyes, the way he had before. “Not a lie.” The smile dropped. “I understand if you want to go. It was a big omission on my part.”
August’s gaze flicked to the door.
Dangerous he’s dangerous he’s—
“Iamleaving. But not because of that.” The lie was obvious, so he added, “I just need some air.”
The hurt in Felix’s expression was devastating.
August didn’t want to go home. But the thought of staying now made him physically ill. Felix was a wielder. Chaos and destruction. He needed to get away from here. He had to go.
“Join me?” He surprised himself with the offer. What was hedoing?
In a blink, Felix’s smile was back. “Yeah definitely. I’m off tonight. Just let me…” He turned and walked away without finishing the sentence, ducking behind the bar to say something to the woman. The resemblance was unmistakable. His mother, August assumed.
