Page 54 of Moonlit Alexandrite

Lex.

The boy looked calmly around the inferno, then lifted his hands. At first, I thought the smoke was making me see things as the fire appeared to respond to his gestures.

No.

The fire was responding to him. Flames crawled backward along roof beams, ducking in through the shop windows and shrinking like a dog reprimanded by his owner, leaving blackened wooden framing and stone walls in their wake. The smoke lightened, making it easier to witness as the water resistant blaze came to heel, until all that remained was a tiny spark in the palm of Newt’s hand.

He leaned over Lex just as my feet started working again, and I could have cried as I watched him pull the smoke from her lungs.

Maybe I did cry, because things got blurry around that time, and all I could think was that Newt was going to be the most spoiled kid in history because “no” was no longer in my vocabulary when it came to him.

I owed him my life.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Dion

Colbie was going to be a great fit for Flare. I had spent much of the evening taking her through everything from pulling a beer to mixing cocktails, and she absorbed it all with single-minded focus. Her natural snark made her an instant hit with patrons.

Dash pouted on the periphery, growling when males spoke to the girl more than necessary and inventing increasingly ridiculous reasons to visit and check in on her. By the time he took it upon himself to hand deliver a dry towel, Colbie lost her patience and banished him from our level for the rest of the night.

Watching the two of them made me realize how stupid I had been trying to resist Lex. Thank God Tase had knocked some sense into my thick head because she complimented us perfectly. Despite some kind of magic bringing us together, we were a family by choice and considering none of us had a good frame of reference from our own upbringings, I’d say we were right where we needed to be.

The door to the staff entrance flew open, and Ren came toward us at a run with Newt in tow.

“We’ve got to go now, Lex is in trouble,” he yelled, not bothering to slow his pace as he continued through the club. I vaulted the bar and fell into step behind him as we raced up the two flights of stairs to the top floor, then up to street level. A flash of white blonde hair was all I saw of Toby as we sprinted by. He called after us in concern, but we were already ducking into Ren’s car and taking off with a squeal of tyres.

* * *

As the yellowVolvo rolled to a stop, Newt leaped out while his father appeared frozen in the driver’s seat. I threw open my door, intent on following, except a flash of movement caught my attention. A shadow disappearing between two shopfronts.

Tammilyn.

Knowing Ren could deal with fire far better than I could, I took off after her like a hound on the scent. She had messed with my mate for the last time. I pursued her down alleys and between buildings as she tried to lose me in the labyrinth of the town. It wouldn’t work, I was too determined, and this showdown was long overdue. Ren had been dealing with her to protect me, but no more.

We were near the sports stadium car park when she tripped. How she had run so far in damned heels, I would never know, but it looked like the red soles were now destroyed. I approached and watched dispassionately as she pulled the offending stiletto off; the heel flapping despondently. With a growl, she hurled the thing in my direction.

“What are you doing, Tammilyn?” My tone was icy as a winter storm, and it occurred to me she no longer had power over me. I was angry, yes, but it had nothing to do with our past and everything to do with her fucking with my family.

“She took what was mine.”

I recoiled at the venom in her voice.

“What do you mean?”

“You were supposed to be mine. Not hers.”

Was she rewriting history? Because she seemed to have forgotten a lot of what had gone down all those years ago.

“Tammilyn, I was never yours. You made that clear when you fucked my best friend. Why are you attacking my mate? Why now?”

Her eyes were glassy when she looked up at me, and I had a sudden memory, like a montage, of how many conversations we’d had where I made allowances and tried everything to keep her tears at bay. Dignity lost, points conceded, as she manipulated and lied again and again.

I had cared for her once; I knew that. She had represented the possibility of being needed, when for so long, I was an inconvenience, unimportant, another unwanted responsibility for a family too big and too self-absorbed to see one of their own screaming for help. She had played to every one of my insecurities and followed it up with the lure her succubus side used to make men stupid.

As I looked down at her, sprawled on the cobblestones, I realized she was completely irrelevant to me now.

Unfortunately, it seemed the opposite wasn’t true.

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