Page 160 of Ignition

M: Come down in half-glam if you must.

I just found out something huge

I winced as I hit send, expecting another one of her bad jokes.

My mind was still buzzing with the prospect of a real case, questions swarming like bees against the inside of my skull, when a shadow fell over me.

My head snapped up.

My eyes made up the picture in flashes as disjointed as my brain: messy black hair, dark half-lidded eyes, a flash of silver on his lip.

I shouldn’t have noticed that.

My eyebrows knitted together, searching for the why, before my gaze dipped.

He was holding my pencil case.

Light snagged on the silver rings on his fingers as he held it out. Wordlessly, unceremoniously.

His head cocked sideways at me, like this was the most he’d speak, and I shouldn’t expect any more.

I blinked and reached out to grab it, brushing his palm in a barely-there touch. I almost didn’t register the tiny jolt passing from my fingertips to my wrist.

His eyes held mine, and I couldn’t for the life of me make out their colour.

My gaze snapped away a fraction too late.

What the—

Without a word, he turned, tugging the hood of his black hoodie up, footsteps heavy and unhurried as he walked away, leaving me with a glimpse of broad shoulders and a big question mark on my face.

The end of book one.