Page 108 of Of Flame and Fate

I pass the library, nodding to Hank and Agnes who wait by the large lead glass window. They seem angry, likely having heard every bit of the conversation next door, as well as sensing Misha’s frustration.

“You headed out?” Hank asks.

“Soon,” I say, hoping it’s true.

My stare falls to my feet as I continue forward, my hot pink shoes the only bright spot in the dark hall.

Although I shouldn’t, I smile softly when I sense Johnny’s magic pulling me toward the solarium. It’s familiar and welcoming, drawing me to him and away from the escalating voices.

Breasha and her guardian are long gone, tucked away and protected from the chaos. I’m still not crazy about Misha’s arrangement with her. But I trust Misha enough to do the right thing. If not for me, for Celia, who counts on him when it matters, and who can somehow see beyond the omniscient master he’s quickly becoming.

With a sigh that does nothing to release my stress, I step into the solarium.

The entire glass ceiling reveals a canvas of midnight blue and gleaming stars. It’s perfect, very unlike this less than perfect night.

Johnny paces near the wall of glass that gives a view of the lake, his tats snaking across his arms and back. Like him, every image he created is agitated. And like him, they’re probably worried what’s to become of them all.

I take a seat along the ridge of a giant planter, glimpsing at the canopy of Flame Mimosas branching out over my head. They partially obscure my view of the sky, not that I mind. Both are different yet neither is less beautiful.

Water trickling from the stone fountain at the center and Johnny’s nervous steps are the only sounds in the room.

“What’s going to happen to me, Taran?” he asks, stopping suddenly.

“What do you want to happen?” I offer a sympathetic smile. “Besides for all this to go away?”

“I want to feel safe,” he replies, his voice cracking. “I don’t want anything to hurt me.”

I glance behind me, hoping no one is close. The last thing Johnny needs now is to be perceived as weak or as another pawn any of the elite can move around as they wish. I don’t see anyone, but this is Misha’s home. He has eyes and ears everywhere.

My first thought is to shush Johnny, but the damage is done, and whatever he’s feeling, he needs to feel for the sake of his sanity.

“Theweresdon’t like me, do they?” he asks. “I don’t mean just Gemini’s pack. I mean all of them.”

It’s not the first time he’s questioned how theweresfeel about him. “It’s not dislike,” I say. “It’s what their animal instincts feel when they’re around you. They sense that you’re capable of more than perhaps you’re aware of. That unknown strength makes them leery and leads to distrust.” I cross my legs. “Keep in mind, belonging to a Pack is all about protecting your own. If they don’t know what you can do, they can’t guard against it.”

“They don’t have to worry about me.”

As much as I like Johnny, he’s dead wrong.

“Look,” I say. “The offer to join the Pack is a generous one. You’ll be protected and allowed all the benefits the title of national treasure affords.”

“Will I ever be one of them?”

“You’ll be as much ofwereas we are,” I reply truthfully.

“So I’ll never belong?”

“No,” I answer just as bluntly.

Johnny rubs his hands, the worry and thoughts troubling his mind drawing deep lines along his forehead. “The witches might not make it,” he says. “That’s what Omar was trying to tell Ines, wasn’t it? That she’s nothing more than a snack waiting to be eaten.”

“Ines and Genevieve are the strongest of your kind. Neither will go down without a fight.”

“That’s not what I’m asking,” he tells me. He digs through his jeans for a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. No doubt gifts from the vamps. He lights up, taking a drag. “They may be tough, like you claim, and like I saw when we were on that mountain. But shifters are stronger.”

The puff he releases turns into a dragon with large wings. He flies around the room, releasing gray smoke in long, swirly streams.

I watch it disappear, speaking slowly. “The shifters are the strongest of all the supernaturals,” I agree, trying to act and speak casually and failing miserably at both. “It takes many of us just to bring one down.”

---