Page 14 of Firestorm
Zephyr clenched his jaw, but slowly pulled the door open. Thankfully I hadn’t locked it after breakfast.
My heart pounded in my chest. I glanced at the lady agent, but she didn’t react to my distress. She was scrolling through meme videos, completely oblivious.
Relax, Skye,Zephyr thought.Everything is okay.
I breathed out slowly, trying my hardest to chill the fuck out.
Zephyr followed Stevens down the steps, and I quickly calculated what we could do to get out of this. The lady agent wasn’t paying attention, I could knock her out without moving a muscle. Zephyr and I could run easily, we’d just have to–
“Huh,” Stevens said. “You weren’t kidding.”
I held my breath as Zephyr’s eyes took in the basement.
The wall of books was untouched. The plush chairs were empty. The cabinets were all closed, revealing none of the medical supplies inside.
The bed was empty.
I exhaled slowly.
“How much this cost to put in?” Stevens asked as he pushed past Zephyr to go back up the stairs.
Zephyr kept his eye on the empty bed for just a moment longer before stalking up the stairs after Stevens.
“Came with the place. It was probably some speakeasy cellar back in the day,” Zephyr replied casually.
“That’s awesome. One of my Link-mates would have turned it into a wine cellar. He’s into all the special notes and whatever with wine-tasting.”
“Nice,” Zephyr commented politely even though he rolled his eyes. They emerged from the café doors the next moment.
“Alright, time to talk.” Stevens said.
I practically flew into Zephyr’s arms. He pulled me tight to his chest again, soothing me easily.
“We can talk about that in a few minutes, surely…” The lady agent said slowly, noticing how I was still in distress even though she’d just ignored me for the last seven minutes.
“We don’t have a few minutes, Seward.” Stevens said with a sigh.
I sniffled into Zephyr’s chest as the woman, Seward –talk about a name that screams water affinity– watched me with a sympathetic expression.
With a dramatic flourish of her wrist, and a hard clench of her jaw, Seward managed to conjure up a glass of water for me from the tap.
I took it, trembling as I swallowed it down with a sense of relief.
Somehow, they were buying our act. Stevens looked at Zephyr like he was trying to glimpse inside his mind, but there was no way that would be happening. Not while I shielded us.
Thunder rolled softly in the distance, and I stiffened in my brother’s arms. Zephyr continued to soothe me, quickly running his hands up and down my shoulders in a calming motion while humming softly under his breath.
“I’ll give y’all a minute,” Seward drawled before stepping back outside.
Confident that Stevens wasn’t getting anywhere telepathically, and that Seward could really only wield a glass of water, I decided to reach out to Zeph.
They’re going to send me away, I pushed into his mind.What will we tell him?
Zephyr exhaled slowly.You’ll be alright. This will help us.No one will question you again after you’ve attended an academy.
What if I slip up again? Shit, Zeph. I’m so fucking scared.
It’s alright, Skyes. Everything will be fine.
