Page 14 of Twilight of Embers
It wasn’t a game I should be playing, pushing Knox’s buttons. The only one with a quicker trigger than him was Cáel. And Cáel didn’t have emotions besides rage and nothingness.
My lips twitched. “What? I can’t say hello to your little friend?”
I said the word as if something smelled bad. And it did. The scent of the girl was too pure, too enticing. Jasmine, dew, and us.
Fuck.
Knox had been right about one thing, the girl had to be one of our kind. And from the confusion on her face right now, she had no bloody idea.
“You can if you aren’t going to be an asshole,” Knox snarled. “But that seems like an impossible feat these days.”
He wasn’t wrong. There was so much anger brewing inside me that it had started to spill out, lashing at the people I was closest to. And when they played with fire, like Knox was now, it was even worse.
I gave a casual shrug. “Just being honest. Got your panties in a twist over this one. Not your usual game.”
The girl pushed to her feet, grabbing her backpack and the paper cup. “I’m going to let you two deal with whatever this is.” She looked to Knox, her expression softening. “Thanks for breakfast.”
I scoffed. “Breakfast.” My brother was a fucking idiot.
She turned those violet eyes to me. “I’d say it was nice to meet you, but I don’t make a habit of lying.”
I grinned at her, but it was all teeth. So, the kitten had claws after all. “See you around.”
“God, I hope not,” she mumbled as she headed down the stone path.
I was so caught up in watching her, the sway of her hips and the way her blonde hair caught the light as she walked, I didn’t see the fist coming.
Knox didn’t pull the punch. It connected with a force that meant I’d likely have to shift to heal it. The crack echoed in my ears as my entire body lurched to the side.
“Fuck, Knox,” I snarled.
He moved to level another blow, but I side-stepped it, my eyes bleeding to gold. “I’ll give you that one, but that’s it.”
“You’re lucky I don’t gut you where you stand,” he growled.
My eyes flared. “You’re going to let a piece of ass come between us?”
He charged, taking me down in a tackle that had us landing in the grass. We rolled and tussled, each landing various blows until shouts sounded.
“Jesus!” Frank muttered as he grabbed me by my shirt.
I could’ve thrown him across the quad if I’d wanted. But we’d learned time and time again to hide our gifts from humans. Even knowing that, it took everything I had to let him pull me back.
Jason had my brother by his T-shirt, creating more distance between us. “What the hell, you guys?”
I shoved out of Frank’s hold. “None of your damn business.”
I had no interest in these idiots. Knox liked to play the human role. Football team. Friends. I had no need for it. I’d rather have a small circle that truly knew me. My brothers.
But now, it seemed I could be losing that, too.
Knox struggled to get his breathing under control, and I knew by his clenched fists that his claws had elongated as he battled his fury.
Fuck.
What was wrong with me? Risking Knox’s exposure wasn’t something I’d ever want to do. But I had.
Knox jerked his chin at Jason. “I’m good. But I need to talk to my brother.”
