Chapter Seven #3
“Wait. What about the other day?” I ask. “I heard multiple voices. How is that possible when only Kylo and the others were here?”
Marco grins, a piece of gristle caught between his teeth. “I had friends over.”
The sound of Zayne’s fork scraping against his plate stops.
“You had friends over?” Carter asks, using the tone of a man deciding exactly where to bury a body.
“It’s football season.” Marco shrugs, stuffing a massive piece of steak into his mouth. He chews loudly, groaning in mock appreciation. “A guy can’t have a few guests?”
“Why the fuck would you do that?” Zayne snaps. “You know the rules, Marco. You can’t bring random people here.”
“Last I checked, you kicked my only real friend to the curb thanks to her.” Marco points at me. “I was bored and met some guys at the bar.”
“You brought strangers,” Carter says slowly. “Into our home.”
“They don’t have abilities. They’re a bunch of regular schmucks.”
“The schmucks have cell phones, Marco. They have GPS. They have mouths.” Carter leans forward, his shadow stretching across the table. “Do it again and you’ll be joining Abel.”
Marco slams his silverware onto the porcelain. “So what, Radshaw? We do something you don’t like and that’s it? We’re trash you dump at the curb?”
“You break the rules, you’re a liability. You compromised our location. I expected more from you.”
“I’m human with social needs. I’m not some grunt soldier you can boss around day and night.”
“That’s exactly what you are. It’s what you signed up for when you joined this team,” Carter says. “I only work with people who understand what’s at stake.”
Marco laughs harshly. “You traded years of loyalty for a pathetic, hormonal kid because Abel got a little flirty?”
One second, Marco is mid-shout, his face contorted in rage. The next, he’s airborne. He hits the far wall, pinned three feet off the floor by nothing but air.
A violent drop in temperature hits me, an icy current that leeches the warmth from my skin. The pressure in the room holds my jaw shut.
Kylo is just… there. He hasn’t moved a muscle, yet the air around him shimmers with a cool intensity.
Marco’s boots scrape uselessly against the drywall as he flails against the invisible vice.
“Shut your mouth,” Kylo says. “This is the only warning you get. Do your job. Follow the rules.”
“Release me,” Marco seethes, his face flushed a dark, angry purple.
“As you wish.”
Marco hits the linoleum, his breath leaving him in a sharp grunt. He scrambles up, storming toward the hallway.
“Bastards… Abel would have killed them both… traded for a pair of useless runts…”
The thoughts fade into a resentful throb as he disappears around the corner. I press my palms to my temples, trying to rub away the lingering heat of his rage.
“And you say I have an attitude problem,” Kylo tells Carter.
“Keep an eye on Marco. Put him on patrol to let him walk it off,” Carter tells him.
As quickly as the temperature dropped, Kylo is gone.
Leo lets out a long, shaky breath, looking at the empty doorway. “How did that guy make the cut? He’s a raging dick.”
A startled laugh bubbles up in my throat. My shoulders lose their hunch.
“I met him on a mission in Kauai,” Zayne says. “Aether Hunters had been tearing through residential communities. There was a trail of bodies across the islands. I found Marco standing over what was left of his home, drenched in blood. Anger like that needs somewhere to go, so I recruited him.”
Leo and I exchange a look.
Joaquin’s name lands between us, unspoken.
Draven, too.
“How did you end up here?” Leo asks Zayne.
Zayne’s lips press into a thin line, his whole demeanor shutting down. A wave of grief slams into me. I gasp and press my hands against my chest.
“What’s wrong?” Leo asks.
“Zayne’s emotions. I can feel them. I didn’t think that was possible with a shielder.”
“Unless the shield drops,” Carter says quietly.
All eyes turn to Zayne.
He shoves back from the table. “Dinner’s over.”
He’s gone before anyone can respond.
“That’s enough for tonight,” Carter says.
“Agreed.” Leo sighs. “I crossed a line.”
“You’re getting to know us. That’s expected,” Carter says. “Zayne is guarded for a reason. Best to leave him be.”
Zayne’s grief doesn’t leave with him.
It clings to me like a shadowed veil.
“I’m going to bed. Thanks for the food, Carter,” I say, gathering my plate.
After rinsing my dishes, I head down the hall.
“Lia, wait,” Leo calls from behind me. “Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I’m fine,” I lie, though my voice sounds like it’s coming from the bottom of a well.
“Talk to Kylo tomorrow. About the empathy. You can’t keep carrying other people’s emotions like this. It’s wearing you thin.”
“I will,” I murmur, the words feeling like lead in my mouth.
He presses a quick peck to the top of my head and disappears into his own room. I stand alone in the hallway, the silence of the compound pressing in around me.
The dark crack beneath my bedroom door is an invitation I don’t want to accept. I’m exhausted, but closing my eyes is like stepping into a void.
I know what’s waiting for me on the other side.