Page 125 of Fangs
Wolf and I glared at him, but he just shook his head, chuckling. Wolf heaved a sigh and turned back to me.
“All I’m sayin’ is that if more people are developing powers, this is much bigger than you and me.”
Developing powers.
How was this happening?
My stomach suddenly dropped, and all the blood rushed out of my face with it. What would the other powered person do when he found out about Clarity? About Mac? Clarity was possiblyseeing the future.People would kill for that kind of power. No, people would do much worse than kill for that kind of power. I tried to swallow the urge to be sick. What if he put out a bounty for them? Would Wolf go for it?
“What’s wrong?” Wolf asked.
My brother would never traffick people with powers, right? He’d been so angry about what happened to Sable. It was a risk, but I needed to know for sure.
“I just know what kinda bounty someone would pay to own a person with powers.”
Wolf’s brow furrowed, but then I watched the realization dawn on his horrified face. “Is that what you think I’d do? Traffick people with powers? Ember! What the fuck?”
It was a relief to know he was telling the truth despite the guilt I felt for asking. “I don’t know. I don’t know you.”
“We’re very selective in what jobs we take. There’s gotta be proof that a person committed a crime, aviolentcrime. We only hunt the worst kinda people. The kinda people who like tohurtothers.”
People like me. That’s the kind of person he thought I was. It stung, which frustrated me. Iknewthat’s what he thought of me, so why did it keep fucking hurting?
“Did any of the Reapers ever show signs of powers after you healed them?” Wolf asked abruptly.
His question startled me, but then I felt my cheeks warm. “No,” I hesitated, “I didn’t use my power on them.”
There was a pause.
“I thought you were their healer.”
My voice came out wooden. “Juck made me keep my powers a secret. I only healed him and two other men who knew. I was just a regular healer for everyone else.”
He was quiet for what felt like a long time. I didn’t dare look at his face.
“Did any of those three ever show any signs of power?”
Did he think I wasgivingpeople powers? Was I?Oh fuck.Horror rushed through my body, paralyzing me. What if I had given Juck powers? No, what if Idid?What if he had a power that revived him? What if he was out there right now?—
“Em, calm down,” Wolf said, stepping toward me.
I held out a shaking hand, wordlessly pleading for him to stop, and he did. “You thinkI’mgiving people powers?”
“I don’t know,” he replied evenly.
Fuck.I couldn’t breathe. Wolf took another step toward me, but I retreated, and he halted once more, glancing at Lee. The responsibility of bestowing powers on potentially everyone I’d ever healed felt like an entire mountain dangling over my head and threatening to crush me. My vision swam. People were going to be hurt andused,and it would be?—
Warm hands cradled my face, and I blinked in surprise at Lee’s face close to mine.
“What do you hear right now?” he asked in a low voice.
“What?” I choked out.
“What do you hear? Tell me.”
I stared at him, confused, but I tried to focus. “Birds?”
“Good. What else?”
