Page 63 of Rebel Spell
She brought her hands together and wriggled her fingers. “He was leaving, and Zoe hadn’t arrived, so the plan changed.”
“No. I couldn’t let you do that. You’re not trained to handle the situation.”
She dropped her hands to the sides and her eyes widened. “Oh, so you’re saying I couldn’t handle it? I’m not smart enough to help my friend?”
I jerked back. “That’s not what I said at all.”
Nova’s face turned red. “I’m sick of people making decisions for me.”
“What?” Why was she getting all indignant over this?
“You didn’t trust me to be capable of carrying this out. Just like my parents.” She threw one hand up and dropped it to her side.
“Nova, what’s going on?”
“Everybody thinks I’m some big fuckup who’s gonna burn the house down and kill everyone in it.”
What was she talking about? I blinked at her and slowly raised a hand. “Are you all right?”
“No, far from it. This is bullshit.”
She turned and walked away.
After gaping at her retreating back and wondering what the fuck I’d said to set her off like a firework, sense returned to me. I ran up to her. “Where are you going?”
“I don’t know.”
“You can’t be out here alone. Not with what’s been going on.”
She released an exasperated sigh. “Yeah, I’ll get myself killed.”
“Possibly.”
“Screw this. I’m an adult. From now on, I decide what’s best for me.” She continued walking.
“That’s fine.” I kept up with her. “I’m not trying to make any decisions for you. But I’m also not going anywhere until I know you’re safe.”
She grunted, but didn’t try to stop me. We didn’t say a word on the way home. Once we arrived, she entered her side of the apartment without turning to me. After the door closed with force behind her, I stared at it.
What the hell was that about?
All I’d done tonight was try to look out for her. From forcing myself to endure the forced conversations during the speed dating and then through that painful silence as we returned here. If she couldn’t appreciate what I’d done and wanted to freak out on me instead, to hell with her.
It proved that I was better off without her. Why deal with all this drama when I could avoid it? I could go back to simply existing and not feeling for anything or anyone.
It was safer that way.
Nova
The next day I avoided Diego.
It was easy to bury myself with activity. Not only did I have cleanup tasks and calls for what I needed to get done around the house, but I had to work remotely on some projects that my boss asked me to take care of. It wasn’t easy to forget about last night. I was still fuming about it, sick of people deciding what was best for me. Why couldn’t Diego have trusted me and followed my lead?
Zoe called around ten in the morning, apologizing for not getting to the club in time.
“More craziness going on?” I asked.
“Like you wouldn’t believe.” She snorted. “It’s like we have pranksters setting up magical mishaps throughout the region. As soon as we put out one fire—sometimes literally—something else comes up.”
