Page 13 of The World Undone

Eli’s fingers tightened over his blade as he spun around. In one swift motion, he had Levi pinned to the wall. A bottle of wine crashed at their feet, bathing the floor in another layer of crimson. “What the fuck did you do to him?”

Levi arched a brow but made no move to resist or engage with him. “What had to be done. When the confusion settles in, he panics, and then the shifts start pulsing through him. That back and forth—it exhausts him. It’s literal torture—beyond what you can even imagine. The meds are the only way to help him rest.” He shook his head, lips turned down in a soft frown, completely unconcerned that Eli had a blade pressed to his carotid. “I’ve never seen him that bad though. I don’t know what triggered it, or if this is just the next stage. I’ve seen feral wolves before, but this is something else—something new.”

The next stage?

My stomach tightened and it took everything I had to hold back the urge to vomit.

Fucking hell.

I knelt by Seamus, repositioning his arms and legs in a more comfortable posture. It was probably irrelevant, silly even, to fret over such a small comfort. The man had broken every bone in his body, over and over again—had willingly obliterated his ankles and feet trying to gain his freedom. A bit of stiffness from an awkward nap was the least of his worries. Still, it was the only thing I could help with.

I was sick of feeling useless, didn’t know what to do with the jittering fear coursing through my blood.

I felt Levi’s gaze on me, studying me and peeling back my layers in that way of his.

“You have very good control over those flames. That was impressive.” He snorted, turning back to Eli. “Far better than your firework show, eh, brother?”

Eli stiffened, his blade drawing a small drop of blood from Levi.

Levi didn’t seem to notice. Instead, eyes wide, he shook his head, oblivious to the fact that he was making the cut worse. “You haven’t told her, have you?”

I closed the distance between us and put my hand on Eli’s bicep, silently asking him to release Levi.

He dropped the blade but kept him pinned. He wouldn’t meet my eyes. Instead, he glared at his brother with enough venom to make even me wither from the sight.

The two of them were locked in a silent conversation—though conversation might have been a generous word for it—the muscle in Eli’s jaw ticking with fury.

“Eli, what’s going on?”

Levi arched his brow, looking partially intrigued, partially annoyed. “You really haven’t told her? Why the fuck not?” His mouth curved like a scythe. “Don’t want your girlfriend to know that you’re stealing her powers? That you nearly burned the place down during one of your temper tantrums?”

Eli’s arm drew back before I could stop him, his fist pounding into his brother’s jaw with a vicious, resounding crack.

3

ELI

“Fuck,” I shook my hand, appeased slightly by the fact that Levi’s face was probably in more pain. But any appeasement dispersed the moment I turned towards Max, my stomach bottoming out at the look of hurt etched in plain text across her face. “Max, no—it’s not like that.”

She crossed her arms in front of her chest, her glare darting back and forth between me and Levi, like she couldn’t quite decide who deserved her ire more.

I could. I fucking wanted to kill him.

“What’s not like that? What’s Levi talking about?” Her voice cracked, the sound like a shovel digging into my chest and ripping my heart out. “Why are you still keeping shit from me? I thought we were over this.”

“Max, we are.” I reached for her, but she took a step back.

“So, it’s true then? You channeled my powers and didn’t think to fucking tell me about it?” A glaze of tears coated her eyes, and I could practically feel the tightness in her throat from holding them back.

“No—” I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to collect my thoughts. “I mean yes. We are over this. We were going to tell you. We just wanted to wait until things calmed down. And this just took a natural backseat—after everything. You have so much on your plate right now and you’re not sleeping—” my eyes darted to Levi. I didn’t trust him—the less he knew about her powers, about her dream-walking, the better. He grinned, reading my hesitation with ease, then spit a dark spray of blood on the ground before wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. His teeth were lined with red, eyes glistening as they watched me until he looked more feral wolf than my dad. I took a deep breath, gesturing with my hands in a silent sign of “you know.”

She took another step back, her eyes widening like I’d slapped her. “We?”

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck.

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