Page 48 of Counting Quarters

Chapter Twenty Two

Blaire

Iwasonthe porch when Kyle got home a few days later. His words from the Fire Festival hung in the air between us, a promise that I hoped he was willing to keep. They rang fresh in my mind as if he had just said them. I was only having fun with him at first, but our flirtation had obviously taken on a life of its own.

Was it wrong if I was curious to see where it wound up?

My head rested in my hand as I sat forward in my chair, staring at the potted plant before me. Grammy mentioned to the Quarters that I was more powerful than them. Now that they were fully activated, I realized that I had hardly scratched the surface of my gifts.

I could feel the power flowing through me, buzzing in my veins, and yet, I had little control over it. Aside from the few instances I used it to still the wind or shift the earth, I was mostly afraid to wield it. That seemed foolish considering the threats we were up against, so I made a mental note to talk to the Quarters about how to use each element, and then I noticed the dead plant sitting before me. In my best attempt to harness my inner Enzo, I lifted my hand and willed the tiny flower to stand up.

And it had. Sort of.

Two hours later, I only managed to get one little sprout to bloom fully.

“You shouldn't do that out here,” Kyle warned as he walked up the porch steps.

“There's not much happening, anyway.”

“Still. Anyone could see you.”

I shrugged in defeat, abandoning the plant to sit back in my chair.

Kyle tilted his head toward his door. “Come inside. I want to show you something.”

I tried my best to stop the flutter in my chest at being invited into his space again, but failed miserably. For whatever reason, he didn't like sitting on the porch anymore. Whenever he arrived home, he refused to speak about anything related to the Movement or the Quarters until we were inside.

It didn't feel like a big deal to be in his space, given that he made a habit of offering to eat together since my first week here. But then, he made his intentions well known. Now, being alone with him had a whole new meaning.

He led me back to the living room and reached around his side to unlatch his holster, the way he did every night. My eyes followed his movements as he unloaded the magazine, knocked a bullet out of the cartridge, and then gently set it all in his safe before locking it away. This time, I was focused on more than just the gun, though.

I watched the way his long fingers wrapped around the barrel, gliding my tongue over my bottom lip as my imagination ran wild about those fingers on me. He moved from the safe and began unbuttoning his shirt, revealing his usual plain black tee underneath. How had I never noticed how well they hugged his body? How clearly I could make out his abs and biceps through the thin fabric?

I bit down on my lip, lost in thought, when his gravelly voice interrupted.

“Stop.”

My eyes snapped up, and I knew I'd been caught. He was frowning, lips pursed in disapproval. The random silver stands in his inky black hair caught the light of the window and glistened. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with his earthy scent—a mix of leather and cedar and a hint of the musky smell from the police station.

“What do you need to show me?” I asked on an exhale.

His expression shifted, as if he too had forgotten why I was here. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold pin, holding it in front of me so I could get a better look.

It was a five-point star with a circle around it. I had no idea what it meant.

“What am I looking at?”

“It's the symbol for the Beacon Grove council. Only members are allowed to wear them. There's a ceremony for being pinned and everything. They take it very seriously,” he explained excitedly, pulling his hand back to examine the pin himself.

“I found it on the ground beneath our most recently tied up deer,” he added.

My brows shot into my hairline. “You think it's a council member doing this?”

He nodded. “I know it is now. Given the circumstances, there's absolutely no chance this is a coincidence.”

I shifted my attention back to the pin, my mind reeling at the newfound information. We always suspected the council may be in Rayner's corner, but this made the situation a lot scarier. Just as Silas Forbes had done with Watchtower, they could hand control of the town over to him and his Movement, and there was nothing we could do about it.

That explained why Mayor Douglas was so interested in how the case was coming along. He wanted to know how close Kyle was to sniffing him and his peers out. But if he found the pin at the crime scene, he'd have to document it as evidence, right?

---