Oh, there would be hell to pay later.
So worth it, I thought, navigating the freshly plowed roads with ease.
Tray stood waiting for me on his porch, a broad smile on his face as I parked Ryan’s car haphazardly in the street. Maybe I’d get lucky and someone would scrape along the side of it.
“I sensed your magic,” he said as he sauntered toward me. “What’d you do? Other than steal the queen bitch’s car?”
“I zapped her,” I said, holding up my hands to show him the still-flickering embers. “Is it a protection spell or something?”
He took my wrist to examine the blue sparks. “A protection spell?”
“Like something you did?”
His amused eyes lifted to mine. “No, El. This is all you, baby.” He laced our fingers together, the hum of electricity sizzling between us and intensifying. “Your power is growing by the second.” He sounded excited, tugging me through the threshold into his house and closing the door with his foot.
“It wasn’t doing that until you touched me,” I whispered, marveling at the current heightening between us. “All I did was grab Ryan’s wrist, and it jolted her. Then Carmen tried to poke me, and the same thing happened, only it knocked her out.”
“Your inner fae is coming alive,” he said, leading me into the kitchen. “What did they do?”
“Shoved me,” I muttered. “Kicked me, too.”
His nostrils flared, his grip tightening. “That explains the spell you evoked. It’s instinctual barrier magic. Or protection, as you surmised.”
“But you didn’t cast it?”
He shook his head. “No,youdid.”
“How?”
“Natural defense. Similar to the fight-or-flight response. Your fae chose to fight.” He cracked another smile. “Ryan and Carmen are lucky to be alive.”
I told him how I almost hit Ryan with her own car.
Which earned me a harsh laugh in response.
“Too bad,” he drawled. “Wouldn’t have killed her, but I’d enjoy seeing that bitch in a wheelchair.”
As cruel as it sounded, I couldn’t exactly disagree. “We need to take them down, Tray.” Because once I was gone, they’d just find a replacement target. “I can’t let them pull this shit with someone else. The same goes for Dash and Charlie.”
He palmed my cheek, his skin sizzling against mine. “We’ll destroy them,” he vowed, brushing his mouth over mine. “But first, we need to tame your power. Before you burn my house down.”
I frowned. Yeah, I felt hot, but notthathot. “I’m hardly about to explode.”
“No?” He cocked a brow and glanced over my shoulder. “Then why is my dining room on fire?”
I spun around and gasped at the sapphire flames dancing over the wood table.
And crawling up the wall.
“Oh…” I covered my mouth.
He circled my waist with his arms, his head touching mine as the fire slowly died, leaving scorch marks behind. “I need you to close your eyes, Isabella.”
“Because that’ll help?” I scoffed, cringing as another inferno spun to life a few feet away.
“Shh, trust me,” he whispered. “Close your eyes and picture yourself in the water, listening to the waves rushing the shore. Each cool, crisp drop touching the sand and drawing back, to rush forward again. Rhythmic. Soothing. Serene.”
My breath raced out of me, his words seeming to calm some chaotic nerve inside me. I clutched his hands, holding on as I allowed the vision into my mind.
