Page 103 of He Who Ignites The Flame
Micah cursed under his breath as his head fell back, but he then smiled and threw his hands up in defeat. “Fine, I’ll take over tomorrow’s shift for you.”
Barrett huffed a laugh as he lifted his glass to take another swig.
“You can join him,” I growled, my gaze shifting to him.
Barrett’s steel eyes lifted to me, the glass hovering at his lips, a hint of challenge gleaming within his metallic stare. “Last I checked, I outrank you.”
“And last I checked,” I said, meeting his gaze with a challenge of my own as the beast relished how he stood against me, how he rarely cowered or backed down, “if I told Damien you were shirking your duties, he’d tear you a new one.”
He took a drink, his throat bobbing as he swallowed, and I tried not to focus on it. “More important things required my attention.”
I arched a brow. “Drinking is more important than training?”
The smile faded from his lips, and his eyes dipped. “I can assure you, I wasn’t drinking.”
I frowned and my lips parted, but I halted at the faint presence of someone at my back.
“Barrett.”
The air around Barrett changed, heated with a dull anger, just enough to allow an inkling of his magic to permeate the air like the molten breath of a wyvern, and I turned to find Aiden standing at my back. The fully tattooed male looked to have acquired more ink since I’d seen him last, the black markings peeking from beneath the collar of his shirt where they crawled up his neck.
“Atlas is ready to see you,” Aiden said, his face unreadable save for the cold flame that lingered in his gray eyes.
“Hey to you too, Aiden,” I said bitterly, allowing the annoyance to coat my tongue. “How kind of you to grace us with your presence.”
The male was a notorious asshole in The Order, constantly picking fights with others in his unit. I’d gone toe-to-toe with him a time or two, and while I’d won out in the end, I’d spat blood to do it.
“He expects you in two hours,” Aiden said without acknowledging me. The beast within me bristled at the disrespect, and, for a moment, I nearly considered paying Semele more than the cost of repairs to slam the bastard into her bartop.
Without another glance, Aiden turned and stalked back through the crowd.
“Nice talking to you too,” I said sarcastically before turning to Barrett, whose eyes were cold and distant as they followed Aiden’s path.
“Atlas?” I asked. Where had I heard that name before?
“As in,” Micah’s voice dipped, “The Underworld Atlas?”
Barrett downed the last of his liquor before saying lowly, “No one for you to worry about.”
“What are you getting involved in?” I asked. “Is there some way we can help?”
A muscle ticked in Barrett’s jaw. “Forget about what you heard. That’s an order.”
I ground my teeth, stifling the urge to call him out on his heroic bullshit and the way he shut me out every time I tried to help. The fucker sure loved to pull rank when it benefitted him.
He let out a sigh, set his glass and a handful of cash on the counter, and rose from his stool. His irritation painted each short, tension-laden movement, like he was a cord wound too tight, ready to snap. Micah and I exchanged hesitant glances before looking back at Barrett, who was pulling on his coat.
“I’ll try to show up to tomorrow’s training to make it up to you for missing today,” he said, his eyes slipping from mine, and despite the annoyance coating his words, something else lingered in his eyes when they briefly flitted to mine once more. Guilt?
“Don’t be late,” I said wearily, watching as he slipped through the crowds. “You know what’s going on?” I asked without looking at Micah once Barrett was out of earshot.
Micah shrugged, looking just as confused as I was. “Damien’s got him working on some sort of case; that’s all I know. He’s got it tight under wraps.”
Whatever it was, it seemed to bother him. I hadn’t seen that look in his eyes for years, and something about the sight of it left me unsure of what to feel. Worry? Concern? I resisted the urge to follow him, to demand he let us help him.
It wasn’t like it was for any reason other than our friendship. At least... I thought we were friends.
There had been a shift in the atmosphere the last several years, and while I wanted to pretend I couldn’t place it, I knew. Despite my continued dance around the fire, narrowly avoiding its burning touch, just as I had for centuries, ignoring how badly I would burn if I got too close, I continued to pretend it wasn’t there...
