I glanced at Seth in his balcony. He merely watched with interest. But he wasn't watching Aaron, he was watching the crowd as we all had our hearts jammed in our throats. He wasn’t going to do a damn thing.
Power tingled in my chest and hands.
“Timothy,” Miranda warned.
I didn’t have to look to know blue glowing sparks were dancing around me. Thankfully, no one was looking at me. All eyes were rapt on Aaron’s fragile, dangling frame.
Even if he was an immortal vampire, he could be hurt. His head could crack open like a melon. I reminded myself he would heal…eventually, probably.
That somehow didn’t make me feel any better.
If he let go, would I react on instinct and throw my magic to catch him? Out myself as a god standing amidst humans? Seth and Grim had their flock of followers and fans but I’d managed to stay on the sidelines and out of the spotlight. Would I do something so crass as flaunt my power among mortals, for Aaron?
I didn’t want to find out.
Move, I willed, even as my chest locked so tight it hurt. Please move.
Aaron hauled himself up with a surge of strength that made several humans swoon. He crouched on the wire, breathing hard, then straightened with a shaky laugh that was eaten by the wind, as if nearly dying was part of the show.
Miranda’s death claws released, and she patted my arm. “That’s our boy. I knew he’d be just fine.”
I couldn’t answer. My whole body was fire and ice at once.
Because as long as he stood on that wire, I could not look away.
7
AARON
Rough hands pushed me to the wall with surprising strength. One minute, I’d been toweling sweat from my neck as I left the makeshift stadium through a private service corridor, the next I was being manhandled. Which was impressive because I wasn’t technically just a man anymore.
The air still vibrated with cheers and bass from the show.
“Don’t youeverdo that again, do you understand me?” Timothy stepped back, his face so red it reached the tips of his ears. His elegant three-piece suit stood out amidst Menaggio’s excess, a single tasteful note amid the cacophony of gilded walls, mirrored panels that screamed money.
He didn’t belong in this place. The hotel bent itself around Seth’s ego, but Timothy stood there like it all offended him on principle.
I couldn’t help the smile from spreading across my face. “You came.”
Why was it so hard to stay mad at him?
Maybe because he turned my insides into a carousel ride of dancing animals complete with cheerful music. Or maybe because he was fussy enough for the both of us.
“Yes, I came,” he hissed. “I’m here to keep an eye on Seth, to see if he’s going to cause me trouble, but no. It’syou.Youare the one driving me to the edge of my control.”
The edge of his control?
Well, wasn’t that interesting?
“I was fine up there,” I said casually even as I glanced down at his white-knuckled fists.
It was a lie. My body was still fizzing. The adrenaline laced every nerve ending, the ache in my ribs a living thing. I was seconds away from becoming an exploding flesh balloon on the concrete ground miles and miles below.
Granted, I had extensive healing abilities, but that didn’t mean I was in a hurry to test those out. But I wanted to see if Timmy would call my bluff.
“You…” His voice cracked. He inhaled sharply through his nose, nostrils flaring. “I watched you flip—FLIP—on a wire thinner than my finger, hundreds of feet above concrete, with the wind—” He gestured wildly with one hand, mimicking the gust that had nearly killed me. “And you, you reckless fool, I know you are going to do it again.”
The next words slipped out before I could catch them. “You could stop me.”
