Page 70 of Livewire Witch

I take in his appearance for the first time in weeks. He somehow looks even worse than the last time I saw him when he was in an unconscious heap on the ground.

The guy is a mess.

This disheveled, greasy-haired idiot wearing dirty clothes is the person I was afraid of spilling my secrets. My resolve hardens further. I’m so done with fear ruling my decisions.

I’m done with being pushed around and living like I’m nothing.

I just about manage to keep my temper in check, noting how his pupils are blown wide, once again. He’s flushed too and sweating profusely. He must be on some pretty heavy shit.

Which makes him dangerous and unpredictable. We need to get away from him without causing any new issues.

Then his eyes jerk over my shoulder again. “Hmm, and you are? Your face is familiar.”

I feel, rather than see Ember stepping closer and I remember all the things he said when I first got out of the Buried Citadel, all that stuff about melting Felix’s brain.

Shit. Between Ember and Seb, it’s possible theycouldmess Felix up pretty badly. Except, I don’t know exactly what Ember’spowers allow him to do. He’s spent so long hiding them and trying to push his powers down, it might not act like he expects. Magic doesn’t exactly take kindly to being ignored, after all.

And the last time Seb used his power, things didn’t exactly go as planned.

We also can’t start a brawl with the leader of the Nexus district in broad daylight.

Luckily Roscoe is here, and he asks Felix something that draws his attention as I grab Ember’s arm and give it a warning squeeze.

“Don’t try anything with him.”

“But I want to see if I can pop his brain in his head like a pustule.”

I stifle a snorted laugh. “Dude, in no world can you do something like that. I’m serious. We should get the fuck out of here before he decides to cause any real trouble.”

That makes Felix sound like a schoolyard bully, but it’s true enough. It also goes against my brand new attitude of not cowering from him, but I know it’s the right thing to do at this moment.

The last time we went in against someone powerful with a half-cocked plan, things didn’t go well for me.

I still have the nightmares of Simpson tearing out my throat to prove it.

Ember slips his arm out of my grip. “Fine. Only because it’s the middle of the day and I wouldn’t want to traumatize the kid.”He jerks his head in Seb’s direction.

An odd moment follows where Felix breaks off from what he’s saying to Roscoe. His eyes have gone even more glassy and he just... stops talking. He then glances over one shoulder and strides off without another word, muttering something about important business he has to get to.

I glance at Ember once Felix has safely disappeared from view. “Was that last little display of weirdness your doing?”

“I might have reminded him that he has a meeting in twenty minutes he can’t be late for. Arrogant fuck has always thought he’s the bee’s knees.”

I pull Ember into a hug. “Just don’t put yourself in danger to try to take that asshole down. He’s not worth it.”

Ember slaps me on the back and makes a half-hearted grunt which I take as his agreement.

We then make our escape, heading in the opposite direction to the route Felix took. “Have you met him before? He seemed to recognize you,” I ask.

The instant I ask, all cheerfulness fades from Ember’s expression. “I’ve met a lot of people in my life, Silv. Can’t recall ‘em all.”

I roll my eyes and shove his shoulder. “Fine. Keep your secrets, then.”

I’m not an idiot. I can appreciate when he doesn’t want to tell me things, and I also know when to avoid pushing. It’s not news to me that there’s plenty I don’t know about Ember. He and Rook are the biggest mysteries in our little group.

But their pasts are their own and I wouldn’t want them to share anything more than they’re comfortable with. They’re my family and I trust them implicitly.

“Oh, I will, Ms. Clements,” Ember replies drily.

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