Page 156 of Firestorm
“Are you okay?” Landon asked, then he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I upset you again.”
“I have to go,” I choked out.
I turned and ran, using a burst of air to push Landon back as I heard his footfalls behind me.
Chapter 43
Rafe
Wyatt didn’t blockmy first punch.
Or the second.
Or the fifth.
The fucker was letting me beat him down, and it pissed me the fuck off.
I never thought I’d want to kill Wyatt, but here we were. Me straddled over his torso, pounding into his face while he half-ass blocked me with a flimsy arm.
“I warned you,” I growled. I lurched off of him abruptly, then began to pace. I needed to fix this.
Not Wyatt, fuck him. I’d kill him if it weren’t for the fact that it would hurt Skye. Losing a Link could be life-ending, and while I knew my sweet Skye was stronger than I could have dreamed, I didn’t want her to face the pain of losing Wyatt. Knowing how kind she was, she’d probably forgive his dumbass someday.
Wyatt let out a wet cough, and I scowled at him.
The moment Aiden told Skye what’d happened, she’d come in here ready to kill, I just knew it. I hadn’t lied to my mother at that gala. Aiden was a good man, much better than Wyatt or I could ever hope tobe. The way he went from kid-next-door to ready-to-murder and go on the run should be studied.
Wyatt and I were the losers in this situation. Him for rejecting her, and me for allowing him to convince me not to meet her.
I’d been so close.
So close.
After watching her read about healing affinities, I’d gone right to the Craig residence and stolen one of Richard Craig’s old books on healing. He fancied himself some sort of collector of banned books, especially the kind that were related to his son’s secret affinities.
When I’d brought the book back, and Skye had found it, she’d been so happy. Genuinely smiling right at me, even narrowing her eyes slightly as if she could see me in the shadows.
I wasn’t sure exactly when I’d fallen for her. Wasn’t sure exactly when I’d gone from intrigue to obsession to infatuation, but it’d happened. With how quickly she’d defended Aiden, how firm she was in punishing Wyatt, how insistent she was in speaking to me even though I hadn’t spoken back…I couldn’t stay away. And that smile she gave me at the library sealed my fucking fate.
Finding out she was my Key should have been one of the happiest days of my life. Wyatt operated almost exclusively on fear, pushing her away out of fear of how his father would react, and it had hurt all of us. A girl like Skye was already scared of Chains, for whatever reason, and Wyatt had only served to make that fear worse. I wasn’t sure I could ever forgive him now that I realized the extent to which he’d hurt Aiden.
Wyatt wheezed something, snapping me out of my wallowing.
I whipped around to face him, my rage so barely contained, my skin was crawling. His ragged breathing grew heavier as he tried to lift one of his hands to his chest. He looked up at me pleadingly, and I rolled my eyes dramatically before moving his arm to lay across his chest.
Wyatt began to heal himself, his breathing becoming clearer as his affinity made its way through his system.
I flopped down to sit on the couch –now pushed crookedly againstthe wall– and tilted my head back against the cushion to stare into one of the busted lights overhead. How had Aidendonethat?
Wyatt wheezed again from the floor where his desk used to be, and then he turned on his side, breathing heavily but looking a lot less like he’d just had his shit packed in.
“You’re a fucking idiot,” I said.
Wyatt groaned as he settled onto his side, his right hand now healing what looked like a snapped wrist on his left hand. I almost grimaced, but I wasn’t sure if that break was from me or Aiden.
“Aiden has trust issues,” Wyatt panted heavily. “He c-can’t…he w-won’t stay. With her. When he finds out she’s h-hiding…affinity.”
I stared at him.
