He began telling his story. "So, I met this guy, Kyle, at a bar.”
Kyle. Sitting in on this meeting was a great idea. Insane fire-wielding maniacs without names seemed much scarier than… thanKyle.
“He’s sexy, kinda dangerous, and he made literal sparks dance across my skin the first time we touched. His kinks weren’t even that out there in the beginning.”
He didn’t get far before Aaron cleared his throat. “Uh, Rob—"
“This is related, Aaron. See, he liked fire. Why not? I’m down with some melting wax and temperature play, I’ve sure done worse andmmm.” Rob seemed to be imagining this guy, intimately. “His freckles and big green eyes looked so pretty in the firelight, especially when he literallyheated things upin bed."
"Ahem."
"But he’d take it farther. Too far.” Rob shuddered, shaking off the fantasy. “Sometimes he’d conjure fireballs in the palm of his hand and just… let them burn… guy was covered in scar tissue and burns.”
Lysander leaned over towards me. “Are you sure you should hear this?"
"Yes.” Since he still tried to look at me from too close, I added, “I’ll leave if it’s too much.”
"He calls the fire, then it’s out of his hands,” Rob explained. “That’s what they all do. The coven lets the flames burn until it ‘decides’ to stop. And if they happen to go up in flames, well, that’s just proof of their deity, proof they’re devoted and strong enough to handle communing with their master.”
“You really need to meet some nicer people,” Aaron decided.
Rob waved a hand. “People who wield the elements believe in a balance between all of them. Anybody who goes rogue and throws themselves intooneelement gets a little nutty, like the element consumes them. Becoming more than a simple mage is no joke. That’s why I’m careful about specializing.”
Chase snorted. “Yeah, that’s why.”
Rob twitched like the comment struck a nerve. He shrugged it off a second later. "Anyway, that’s about it. Are we done here?"
The professionals in the room all conferred wordlessly before they all nodded. Aaron informed Rob, “You definitely need to give the taskforce this information.”
"What, this isn’t it?"
"Think of this as a preliminary hearing."
"Why do I get the feeling this taskforce is even less fun?" Rob groaned.
"Because they are," Chase supplied.
"Chase!" Aaron laughed.
The agent only shrugged. "What? He isn’t wrong."
Rob tilted his head at Chase and Lysander. "At least there’s eye candy here."
Chase nodded. "I hear that.”
"Behave,” Aaron reminded everyone.
"Just saying!"
"He’s not wrong!"
"Can I talk to you both for a minute?" Aaron asked Chase and Lysander. “Be right back.”
Lysander said a few words to me before he left. They were right outside, and this guy didn’t exactly seem dangerous. He started playing with the picture frame on the desk.
“Behave,”he mimicked in a poor imitation of Aaron’s voice while holding up the frame.“I know everything because I’m a feelings ninja and werewolf married to the big boss.”
I laughed and he startled and dropped the frame. It broke when hitting the desk.
