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It’s not fair. I needed you, Mom needed you, why couldn’t you be there with us?
The air shifted, and a warmth settled in my chest. A presence soothed my hurt just a little, just enough that I could finally draw in a deep breath.
“I don’t know why, but I’m not surprised to find you here, Killer.”
My body shot tense and my eyes snapped open.
Varon.
Searing rage sparked to life inside me between one heartbeat and the next.
“Easy, there, woman. I didn’t come out here to fight with you.”
“Then what do you want?” The words scraped up my tight throat and past my gritted teeth.
“I needed some air and happened to come in this direction. Didn’t expect to see you sprawled there on the grass.”
“Hmph.” He may not have come here intentionally, but his presence threw me back to the day I watched him torch my single material connection to my father. “And I’m not ‘sprawled,’” I muttered.
“Was this your doing?” he asked, waving a hand in my direction.
“Excuse me?” I had to be hearing things, because he knew exactly whose doing this whole situation was.
“Did you come here to fix it?”
“Fix what?” My irritation snapped out like a whip, and from the tensing of his perfectly carved jaw, I almost swore he felt it. It wasn’t fair for such a callous son of a bitch to be so damn pretty. His warm brown skin seemed so at odds with the hard flint of his umber eyes.
But then, they didn’t seem as hard as they usually were. In fact, they looked almost… normal. For Varon, that was basically giant, glittering anime eyes.
“The mark.” He dipped his head to indicate I should look down. When I did, my breath escaped in a whoosh.
The patch of charred, ruined grass that stood as a reminder to one of the worst days I’d experienced in ages had disappeared, leaving in its place lush, verdant blades gleaming with health and fresh dew. Hell, the former scorch mark was now the most vibrant spot in the surrounding area.
“I didn’t… I mean, I didn’t intend to, it just kind of… happened.”
“Ah, so the usual ‘Killer Special’ then, huh? You lose control and shit just happens around you?”
The statement incensed me, but he wasn’t wrong. That did kinda seem to be my thing, no matter how hard I tried to get a handle on things. Still, having that flaw thrown in my face by the person who confused my feelings the most was an uncomfortable feeling.
He must’ve seen how his words upset me because he scrubbed a hand across the back of his neck and averted his guilty gaze.
“I’m sorry, Thea, I wasn’t trying to start anything. I meant it when I said I didn’t come out here to fight with you.” To my surprise, he sank down on the grass beside me. Not close enough to touch, but enough that I could feel the warmth emanating from his body in the chilly night air.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you call me by my first name before.”
“You haven’t, because I never have. But I figured it was the easiest way to let you know I’m sincere.” His expression was earnest, his gaze clear as he took me in. He turned his eyes forward and looked off into the distance before he spoke again. “For what it’s worth—and I know it’s probably nothing—I never would have burned that shirt if I knew what it meant to you. I thought it was just a t-shirt you’d been wearing, it didn’t look like anything special.”
My heart beat harder and my chest constricted, the two sensations warring with one another as I processed his apology. I couldn’t detect any dishonesty, but then I didn’t know him well enough to spot a lie coming from him.
In the end, it didn’t really matter. He had no real reason to lie, and sorry or not, the shirt was gone.
“Okay.” There really wasn’t anything else for me to say. He must’ve known it too, because all he did was nod. It was a strange sensation, though. Just voicing his regret and acknowledging the pain he had caused me with his action alleviated some of the fierce tension that always surged between us. I might be loath to do it, but perhaps it was my turn to offer up an apology.
“To tell you the truth, I didn’t mean what I said that morning. I was surprised and upset, especially after Sam promised not to leave me alone. You and I have… whatever bad blood is between us, so I didn’t know how to respond without making myself vulnerable.”
“I get that. Being vulnerable with someone you don’t trust is insanely difficult. And we clearly don’t trust each other, and we don’t really have a reason to.”
That was true, but for some strange reason I couldn’t name, I wanted to trust him. I wanted all the negative history between us washed away so we could start over and get to know each other as people instead of enemies.
