Epilogue
AUGUST
ONE MONTH LATER
“I can’t believe Damien continues to invite back this many potentially cosmically destructive beings in his house at one time. Harley is lucky I even let her near where I live. Much less hold an entire kegger of Elementals.” Quinn presses into my side as she stares out over the Sunday gathering.
Her concern is understandable. Now that I’ve joined the party, every sect of Elemental is present.
Squids, Petal Pushers, Airheads, Stoners, Pyros, and—
“Snow Cone!” Harley strolls up to us, expertly carrying multiple beers in her splayed fingers. “One of these is yours if you use your iciness to give ’em a good chill.”
The eldest Byrne sister has declared that Ice Elementals shall henceforth be known as Snow Cones. At first, I was put out. I make ice cream. A culinary art form. I don’t peddle shaved ice out of a cart that you just dump flavored syrup on top of.
Quinn then pointed out that she didn’t start fires for fun and my cousin didn’t spray ink out of his ass when he was irritated. All the code names are slightly insulting, and I got off pretty easy.
“She could’ve picked Snowflake or Santa Claus or something worse. Believe me, she has an evil, inventive mind.”
I’ve decided to embrace the nickname. Especially because it means I’m part of this increasingly tight-knit, supernatural group. One more member of this massive family.
“Sure thing,” I say to Harley, accepting a bottle for myself and one for Quinn, scoping out my girlfriend’s ass to make the chill easy to manipulate. Frost speckles the glass of the bottles.
Harley gives a finger wave of thanks as she saunters away.
As I sip on my beer, I catch sight of Damien flipping burgers on a grill on the opposite side of the yard. He’s got a massive amount of meat cooking, ready to feed the entire gathering of close to thirty people.
“Damien’s kind of paternal,” I point out, nodding his way, and Quinn follows my eyeline. “I think he likes giving our kind a safe place to just exist. I’m not sure we’ve ever had something like this before.”
I found that out almost immediately upon moving here. In this backyard oasis, I’m safe. We’re all safe.
“Hmm. I guess you’re right. I never thought of these as more than parties, but I’m so used to hearing all the college-Damien stories.
The guy’s grown up.” Quinn traces the fingers of her free hand over the back of mine, where it rests on her hip.
“That’s really sweet. Him doing this for us all.
Showing us we’re not alone in the world.
That we don’t have to turn into secretive, magical hermits. ”
I grin at both her comment and the teasing way she strokes me.
“Don’t let him hear you say he’s sweet. Pretty sure he’s still trying to cling to a little bit of his bad-boy cred from the old days.”
Quinn snorts before taking a long pull from her drink.
But a moment later, her relaxed demeanor stiffens.
“What’s up?” I keep my voice low in case she doesn’t want other people to know about whatever the issue is.
“What? Oh, just … I think things might get a little dramatic here in a moment. We have a new player on the field.” With a hot hand pressed to my side, she shifts me to face the porch. “You see that? Over there?” Quinn gestures toward the doorway that leads from Damien’s kitchen to the backyard.
A man walks out—slim build, skin tanned by more than the sun, with brown hair lightened in places to an almost-gold color. He looks familiar, and I realize I’ve seen him in a few pictures at Sammy’s place. A childhood friend. Another Elemental.
“That? You mean the new Squid?”
“That’s the reason Cat goes into a rage whenever she’s around these guys.”
“I thought it was because Sammy was always teasing her.” I love my cousin, but he’s far from perfect.
“Well, that doesn’t help. But no. That”—she jerks her chin toward the new guy—“is the only thing I’ve seen fully demolish Cat’s sweet exterior.”
“So, we’re supposed to hate him?”
Quinn taps her beer against her bottom lip, considering my question. “You know, I think I’m going to hold off on my judgment.”
“Really? I have to admit, I thought you’d be more protective.”
Quinn shrugs. “Sometimes, people need protecting from themselves. Besides, we haven’t seen the guy in years. People change.”
“You mean, like becoming a badass at controlling their fire powers and falling madly in love with a Snow Cone? That kind of change?”
My girlfriend’s lips pinch together, and she makes a big production of peering around the yard. “You think he fell in love with a Snow Cone? Where’re they hiding?”
“Smart-ass,” I mutter, leaning down to steal a kiss while palming said ass.
Quinn laughs against my lips, tasting better than the drink in my hand.
For the next few minutes, we banter with each other, flirt in our little bubble while the barbeque exists as a joyful whirlwind around us.
But after swallowing the last bit of her beer, Quinn abandons me for the bathroom. As I make my way around the pool, considering if I want to ask for a burger or hot dog off the grill, a small, hot hand grabs my arm.
“I need you, August!” Cat’s whisper is low and desperate.
She presses her back to mine, and when I stare straight in front of me, I catch sight of the Squid Quinn pointed out earlier and realize I’m the only thing between the youngest Byrne sister and the guy from their past.
“Please, just be a wall,” she begs.
“Um, sure. I can do that.”
There’s not much I wouldn’t do for Quinn’s family. Plus, Cat has an air of innocence that hangs around her. Makes people want to keep her safe.
“Good. You’re the best.”
After a second of deliberation, I take a chance. “Can I ask why you need a wall?”
She keeps quiet, and I wonder if I’ll get an answer. Now that I’m with Quinn, I find myself more and more interested in the little quirks of her family. Which means I’m fascinated by this unknown history between Cat and a mystery Squid.
“That guy over there”—she tilts her head—“his name is Rafael. We don’t get along.”
Rafael. The name sparks a memory, and I remember Quinn’s story on the flight to Alaska. About a Squid family they were neighbors with while growing up. A boy named Rafael, who was friends with Cat.
I guess that didn’t last.
“He’s mean to you?” I ask.
“I have no idea how he’ll be to me. But I know how I’ll be to him. And if we throw Sammy into the mix, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that I’ll start a fire somewhere. Possibly on the roof of Damien’s house.”
“Really?” Pyros are fascinating.
“Not on purpose.”
“Of course not.”
“But it could get out of hand.”
“Can’t have that.”
“No, we cannot.”
“Do you want me to help you escape?” I glance over my shoulder in time to see Cat scowl. “Sorry, is that not what you want?”
“I want …” She trails off, and I watch in wonder as the normally cheerful, helpful, caring Cat grinds her teeth in anger as steam rises from her short red hair. “I want to not care.”
Ah. Been there before.
“That’s tougher than escaping.”
She grimaces up at me, but then the expression morphs into something more rueful. “He makes me feel like a child. And now I’m acting like one, hiding behind you.”
“You know”—I shift so I’m not craning my neck to look at her—“everyone gets pissed off sometimes. That doesn’t make you immature.
If you want me to keep an eye on your heat so there are no disastrous side effects, I can do that.
Same as I did with Quinn in the beginning.
Everyone should be allowed to feel how they feel. ”
Cat stares up at me, eyes wide. A slight shine overtakes her gaze before she blinks it away. “You’re a good guy, August. I’m glad you’re part of our family.”
Shit. Her words are a gut shot to my heart, and I get the sudden urge to heave this guy Rafael over the fence and out of Cat’s life.
But she takes a bracing breath and squares her shoulders. “I think I’ve got this, but, yeah, if you could be my backup, I’d appreciate that.”
And with a straight spine, Cat strolls away from me, not sparing a glance for the Squid from her past. Her entire focus is on a cornhole game happening in a sandy area up against the privacy fence. I silently cheer her on as she dons an almost-visible cloak of confidence.
Unfortunately, it’s at that moment that the asshole spots her.
I see it—the way the guy goes still, his mouth slack, eyes wide under the rim of his baseball hat. Rafael leans toward the little Pyro before his feet move, as if she were the sun and he were some dinky asteroid sucked into her orbit.
Damn it. It’s pretty obvious the douchebag wants her.
This is going to make things complicated.
“Cat!” the Squid calls out, circling the pool to reach her.
Her confident stride from a second ago falters, and she whirls faster than a panicked rabbit.
The guy, Rafael, jogs toward her with a hopeful grin on his face. “Hey, Cat. I wanted—”
We don’t get to find out what he wanted because the moment he’s within reaching distance of her, the woman’s arms shoot out.
The movement is so fast that I doubt anyone could’ve stopped it.
One second, the Squid is on dry land, expression all happy and hopeful, and the next, he’s a messy splash in the pool.
“What the hell?” My girlfriend is back in time to catch the drama.
“Quinn!” Cat says her sister’s name with a tinge of desperation coloring her voice.
Understanding flashes in her eyes. “Get out of here.”
Quinn is already palming a set of car keys. She tosses them, her sister snatching the key chain out of the air and jogging to the exit.
“Cat! Wait!” The Squid is at the edge of the pool, hoisting himself from the water, eyes locked on the retreating redhead.
He might be fast enough to catch her too.
That is, if it wasn’t for Harley.
“Not gonna happen, fucker.” The announcement comes as the oldest Byrne sister places her heeled sandal in the center of Rafael’s chest and shoves him back into the pool before he’s halfway out.
What shocks me the most is the glare on the woman’s normally smiling face. I might not have known Harley long, but I’ve found she enjoys interacting with the world with a raunchy style of humor the majority of the time. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her angry.
Right now though, she’s pissed off.
As Harley struts away, back toward the house, likely to make sure her sister’s getaway is successful, the Pyro bends her arm behind her back, throwing Rafael the middle finger.
Quinn leans into my side, smirking as the Squid slaps the water and mutters a string of curses.
“What happened to protecting Cat from herself?” I ask out of curiosity more than judgment.
My girlfriend shrugs. “That doesn’t mean forcing her to be around him. Especially because he has a lot of amends to make before he has a chance at deserving my little sister.”
I nod, wondering how long I’ll have to wait before I hear the story of their falling-out.
But I don’t push. We’ve got time.
“You ready to be a part of this?” Quinn wraps her arm around my waist, her touch warmer than the sun on my shoulders.
I’m not sure if she’s asking about her fiery family or the no doubt drama-filled world of Elementals in Phoenix.
Either way, the answer is the same.
“Nowhere else I want to be.”