Page 65 of Diary from an Inked Throne

I grabbed his hand, gripping it so hard he grunted uncomfortably, but he squeezed my fingers back. Like he knew I needed to remind myself he was standing right there next to me, and that he wasn’t in that fire.

But X…fuck, X was.

It sank through Nyah’s brain quicker than the rest of us, and she lurched forward. “X!”

I grabbed her, hauling her back, not able to handle the thought of her or anyone I loved near those flames. “Hold her!” I shouted at Luca, and then sprinted for the car, not turning back to see if Luca had listened.

I knew he would have. Dax pounded the pavement beside me, both of us running hard, dodging people on the sidewalk just standing there staring.

“Call 911!” I shouted at them.

What the fuck was wrong with these people? When the hell had standing by on the sidewalk, watching and filming on your phone become the norm instead of actually helping?

We reached the fully engulfed car at the same time Levi and Whip did.

All we could do was stand there and stare in horror at a fireball that was clearly meant for us.

“X!” Whip shouted, his voice hoarse. He edged toward the flames, only to be pushed back by the heat.

Levi had his fingers in his hair, helpless despair in his expression.

And then the sweetest sound of all.

“Help! I’m on fire!” X ran from the other side of the car in a blind panic, his arms waving around in the air like one of those inflatable people car dealerships used to attract attention.

All four of us did a double take, like he’d been delivered back to us from the dead.

He stopped in front of us, shouting at the top of his lungs. “Help me! I’m too young to die!”

I put a hand out toward him. “X. Wait—”

“I only just grew my eyebrows back, and the fire captain won’t accept my loyalty punch card!”

Whip tried next. “X! Stop!”

“I have a duck I need to see grow up!”

Levi scrunched up his face. “What about the kids?”

X blinked at him. “They need to see Reggie grow up too!”

We all stared at him for a long second, then burst out laughing.

Though admittedly, it was the sort of laughter that verged on hysteria.

X stopped and put his hands on his hips. “I’m not on fire, am I?”

I clapped him on the shoulder. “No. You’re definitely not. You’re fine.”

I stepped aside as Violet struggled free from the crowd that had been holding her back and threw herself at X.

His demeanor changed instantly, and he cradled the back of her head gently, holding her to him while she sobbed into his shirt.

“Hey,” he said quietly. “I’m okay. Turns out I wasn’t on fire at all. Squirmy and Moe live to see another day.” He rubbed his still slightly patchy eyebrows to prove the point.

She raised her tearstained face up to his. “Thank God for that.” She kissed her fingertips and pressed them to the space between his eyebrows. “I’m kind of in love with them.”

“Even when they’re slightly singed?”