Page 65 of Firestorm
“I know whatyouare,” Skye drawled. “A fucking idiot. Back off.”
“Landon?”
Oh, Jesus.
I moved from the trees just as Landon’s sister, Lana, made her way down the stone path. This was about to go from bad to worse. If Landon was a loose cannon, Lana was a nuclear bomb.
“Landon, what happened?” Lana asked.
“I found her,” Landon slurred. “I found her. She’s right here. She,” –he hiccuped– “When she f-fought me, I f-felt it, I–”
“What?” Willow said, confused, while Mia pulled her back from the impending standoff.
“Landon, back off.” I called out, making my presence known.
Sometimes, another guy joining a confrontation could help defuse the situation. Sometimes, though, it made it worse. And unfortunately for me, because this was a night straight from fucking hell, things got worse.
Skye’s eyes flashed with irritation at the sight of me, and I ignored the urge to curl in on myself. I was so beyond sorry for the stupid shit I’d said to her. I only hoped I’d have the chance to apologize.
“Fuck off, Aiden. I don’t need you.” Skye said. I winced, my heart clenching painfully as I hoped that sentence only meantright nowand notforever, but I continued forward.
“I know what she is,” Landon slurred again, swaying toward Skye. “She’s the ph-phan–”
“Landon,” Lana hissed harshly, grabbing one of Landon’s arms and trying to pull him back. He didn’t budge.
“Listen to her,” I warned. Fire itched along my veins at the way Landon was looking at Skye.
Landon had always been a dumb jock type, so he was a big guy. He lost control easily, as demonstrated during the catastrophic sparring match. Meanwhile, I’d always prided myself on how I could remain in perfect control of my affinity, even in the face of a beating.
I could see the heat rising off Landon’s skin in the dim light of the street lamps. His arms didn’t glow like mine, so I could only assume that meant he wasn’t as too far gone as I dreaded. But then Landon was reaching for Skye and all my shining control evaporated.
The moment his hand touched her arm, I threw a fireball right at his head and then vowed I’d melt his face if he’d burned her.
Willow screamed, and Mia yanked her away. Lana cried out, rushing toward Landon, who pulled his hand off of Skye as ifshe’dburnedhim. His eyes were wide, and he stumbled back, then stared at his hand before it began to glow.
Vomiting aside, I was still too fucking high for a confrontation like this. I was pissed off at Landon, desperate to apologize to Skye, and hating myself for even saying that stupid shit to her to begin with. But there was no backing down, now. I had to end this.
Landon’s stream of fire hit me full force, but I was ready. I took hisfire and added it to my own, sending it into the sky and away from the building.
“Landon,fuck, stop!” I shouted. He wouldn’t burn me, but there were several old trees nearby. He could easily light up the quad if he didn’t rein it in.
He sent another stream toward me, but then Skye was there.
Her shoulder bumped against mine and she sent a blast of her air affinity directly into the flames, forcing them straight back into Landon’s face.
Landon yelped before dropping to the ground. Skye took my arm and pulled me away as Lana dropped to her brother’s side. I jumped, trying to push Skye away as my glowing arms should have been too hot for her to touch, but she didn’t react. Her grip tightened on me and she jerked me along like I weighed nothing.
“Landon!” Lana screamed, then looked at us. “Why did you do that?!”
“Are you serious?!” Skye cried. “Everyone here saw him touch me first.Again.”
“You didn’t have to burn him, you crazy bitch!” Lana screeched. Then her bland green eyes narrowed on me. “You’re in so much trouble, Brandt. Your mother’s going to have a fucking field day with you!”
Oh, hell no.
She was right.
The blood drained from my face while my heart began to pound. My hands were instantly sweaty, saliva filling my mouth as I dropped to my knees with the urge to throw up again. My vision blurred while I breathed heavily, trying not to completely freak the fuck out.
