Page 61 of Surge of Fire

“Maybe it is,” I say.

“Maybe all of this is,” he says, casting me a curious look.

Danger. Danger. It’s a trap.The warning flares through my mind, and I focus on my food.

We eat slowly, blowing on our soup, taking careful bites. Tension sings between us.

“Are we going to talk?” he asks.

“About what?” I ask innocently.

I can feel him considering me. “You know, I’m good at reading people.”

My gaze finally meets his dark one. “So am I.”

He cocks a brow. “Go on then, read me. What am I thinking about you?”

“Not a clue.”

His spoon drops in his bowl. “I think that you know as well as I do that there’s something between us on a biological level that can’t be ignored. It’s a part of us from this point forward, but you’re fighting it with every ounce of your being.”

I stare, feeling angry. “Let’s say I accept all that biological crap, even though we’re humans, and not animals. Are you really telling me you’re okay with all of this? You’re just accepting what this,” I gesture between us, “is?”

He shrugs. “I know that I’ve been trying to fight this feeling since the first time I smelled you as a dragon, maybe even before that, and I can’t, so why fight what I can’t? It seems you’re going to be a part of this new life I’m facing. And to be honest, being linked to you doesn’t seem all that bad.”

I keep eating, thinking. He makes this all sound so simple. Like I’m the only fool fighting against the current and tiring myself out. Maybe it’s stupid, but I’m not ready to give up on my old life the way Evander seems to be willing to so easily. For some reason, I still see a world where I escape the green dragon, slip back into my life at the Institute with Granger and Aydan at my side, and continue on, trying to get a job at the Phoenix Institute after graduation.

And this pulling… this feeling between Evander and I, maybe it’ll get better with some distance and time. All I have to do is get back to my best friends, and they’ll be able to help me figure out what to do. They’re my family. My rocks. Evander is just a stranger. That’s all.

“You’re not happy with my answer,” he says, continuing to eat. “You think you’ll be able to get your old life back after the dust settles?”

My spine stiffens, but I force myself to keep eating. “So what?”

“Trust me, that’s a foolish way of thinking. It’s never going to work out like that.”

The food is starting to lose its flavor. “Why should I trust you? The only things I know about you I don’t like.”

Surprise flashes across his face for the briefest moment before he conceals it. “If you want to know more about me, just ask.”

I laugh. “It’s that easy?”

He spreads his arms out. “It’s that easy.”

First, I think I should ignore him, but then I start to think. This is a moment to ask him questions. To figure him out. If I can, the ball will be in my court.

I lean back in my chair. “Family. Childhood. Career.”

He gives me a look, and for a second I think he won’t answer, but then he starts talking, his tone nonchalant. “I’m an only child raised in a home with a working mother and a father who stayed home. My father was an abusive piece of crap. My mom didn’t care because he was good to her. The second I turned eighteen, I enlisted as a way to get out of that house. Fighting, killing, and strategizing came easily, so I climbed the ranks fast, though I can’t talk about that much, but when I was finished in the military, I immediately started with Specter Inc. with a role that I couldn’t refuse, and the rest is history.” Then he gives a little smile that makes my blood heat up. “Your turn.”

My turn? I hadn’t thought about this being a two-way street, but the truth is that giving him a little information wouldn’t hurt. If only a little. “I’m an only child to two amazing parents, although I grew up with my best friends, so I was neverlonely. My dad passed away around my eighteenth birthday. I graduated high school and went to university, then attended this program at the Phoenix Institute.”

“Best friends? Are these the ones we’re going to save?” he asks, a touch of jealousy in his voice.

“Yes.”

“Tell me about them.”

“No.”

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