Page 22 of Fastlander Fallen

“From who?”

“From my people.”

“From your people,” she repeated softly, confused. “Another Crew?”

“You could say that.”

“What do they want from you?”

She could see the shutdown in his eyes. It was an instant thing. She’d pushed too far, and now he would give no more.

“Okay,” she whispered. “Okay,” she repeated, nodding. “We are friends, right?”

“Sure.” Even his tone was dead now.

“Friends don’t push each other. I will tell you something, and since you have superpowers, you will hear the truth in my tone, right?”

“Sure,” he said again, still dead-voiced.

“I won’t tell anyone the things you want to hide. Not even Hallie. I’ll take them to my grave, like a good friend.”

He didn’t say anything, just stared at her.

So she decided to tell him something he could hurt her with. Corey knelt down in front of where he sat on that stack of firewood, and looked straight up into his glowing eyes as she said, “For the last five months, I have been scared. Hallie came to me on the run. Her ex was stalking her, and it was bad at the end.” She twitched her head toward the house. “I’m pretty sure her ex is in the belly of the dragon now.”

Ace’s face lost its hardness, just slightly.

“You are the only one I’ll ever tell that to. I’m supposed to have that human sympathy, but every night before bed, I pray to God and I thank him that her ex is dead, because she is safe now, and so am I. Going through something like that forms a bond between people. I am very protective of Hallie, and I get scared of losing her. Terrified, actually. That’s the real reason I feel like I’m losing ground with her. The shifters are taking her, and I’m still here with this bond from a traumatic experience, and I don’t want to be alone with it.”

Corey stood. “And now you know my secret. See ya later, stud.” She turned to leave. “Never put your shirt on again, those abs are something else.”

“My shirt is shredded in the woods,” he said, and she turned to him.

“From the fights?”

He nodded. “I don’t take my shirt off for attention.”

“I have. Mardi Gras, 2019. I wanted some beads, so I—”

“Corey.”

“Right. A story for another time.”

“Were you there?” he asked.

“Where?”

“When the dragon ate the ashes?”

“I saw it from my house. I saw him in the air blowing fire, and I got in my car and sped in that direction because I just had this feeling that my cousin was there in the path of the dragon…fuck.” Her eyes burned, and she shook her head hard. She’d gone over this. She’d coped. She swallowed hard. “I just knew she was under those flames. Felt it in my gut. Worst half an hour of my life,” she admitted.

He blew out a puff of air and hung his head. “Ask me again.”

“Ask you again?” she murmured, confused.

“Ask me your question about my old Crew.”

“Oh. What do they want from you?”

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