I let sarcasm drip from my response. “Wow, with your ability to make huge assumptions based on the most random of evidence, I’m surprised you haven’t joined the Flat Earth Society.”
Cole blinks at me, momentarily baffled. It doesn’t seemlike a good time to try to explain my extensive knowledge of humanity’s most bizarre beliefs.
He recovers quickly enough, folding his arms over his chest and sharpening his glower into a glare. “What’s the real explanation then, Miss Devine? Are you going to enlighten us or continue leaving your matches in the dark?”
My mind scrambles for any excuse he might believe. “I can read ephemera too, you know. I sensed that someone might want to hurt me, so I started focusing on skills to defend myself. When my food tasted strange, I wasn’t taking any chances. I’m trying to piece this puzzle together like the rest of you. And Ijusttold you why Byron and I decided to awaken his glim. Maybe you should work on your hearing as well as your logical reasoning.”
I probably shouldn’t have included that last barb. I was trying to sound tough enough to be convincing, but Cole just bares his teeth like he wants to tear out my throat with them.
He manages to keep his voice even despite the anger tingeing it. “So we’re supposed to believe that you made these major choices based on nothing but a vague suspicion?”
I stare back at him unflinching. “Yes. You’ve seen how my family reacts when we’re aware of a threat. I don’t know why it’s easier for you to believe in a vast conspiracy than me simply looking out for my own safety.”
“No one improves their abilities that suddenly. And if it’s a legitimate threat, why didn’t your family get the police involved earlier?”
“How do you know when I started training in anything? I was being cautious at first about how much I put what I’d learned into practice. And I didn’t tell my family about my worries at first, because I didn’t want to freak out my dad if I was wrong.”
The lies tumble easily enough off my tongue, but Cole still looks unconvinced.
He scowls at me. “I know there’s more to it. If that’s all it is, let me read your ephemera right now—everything, no shielding. Since you obviously have nothing to hide.”
Send me straight to Tartarus.
I open my mouth, groping for a response. “This is bullshit. I don’t want you gawking at my private time with Byron or my dad’s work secrets. What areyoureally after?”
The flipped accusation brings a blotchy flush to Cole’s cheeks. He jabs his finger toward me. “You’re trying to dodge the question. Because there’s something going on, and?—”
“That’s enough.” Byron’s firm baritone cuts through Cole’s spewed complaints, clipped with the hint of a British accent that reveals his own anger. “She’s answered your questions. It isn’t her fault you’re caught up in a delusion that she’s screwing us all over. I know she isn't. And she's right—she shouldn’t have to expose herself to you to prove it.”
His faith in me sends a sickly pang through my chest that’s both love and shame.
Salvatore jerks his head toward Byron. “What Worth said. You’re fucking insane. Let her go,now, before we have to knock the magic out of you.” He balls both of his hands, his eyes gleaming fiercely.
Cole pauses. For a second, I think their pushback will be enough, he’ll back down. I’ll still have a problem on my hands, but one I’ll have more time to solve.
Then his back draws straighter, and his face sets with resolve. “No. If we let her weasel out of a full accounting now, who knows when we’ll have another chance.”
His gaze flicks back to me. “What about the woman?—”
“You’re done!” Salvatore lunges at Cole again with magic thrumming around his fists.
He smashes into the professor’s conjured barrier—but with enough force this time that Cole stumbles backward, sending the stool clattering toward the wall.
Byron steps forward too. The hissed flickering of the overhead light echoes the fury etched on his face.
Cole raises his hands as if to ward them off. More energy wavers off him, and the bonds around me slacken—but only slightly. They still restrain my limbs when I yank at them. His expression tightens with concentration.
Salvatore batters Cole’s shield again, and Byron lashes out with a strike that sizzles when it lands. A dissonant quiver of ephemera shakes the air.
“Hold on.” Asher steps toward his brother, his voice quiet but taut, his own hands extended in what looks more like a plea than an attempt at defense. “None of this is okay. We can’t attack each other.”
“This might be exactly what she wants,” Cole says grimly. “Taking the heat off her to put it on us all over again.”
My heart wrenches. “I don’t want any of this! Just stop.”
Cole doesn’t even bother to look at me as he braces himself for Salvatore’s and Byron’s next blows.
When Salvatore rams his whole shoulder toward the professor with another crackle of ephemera, Asher’s jaw clenches too. More energy quivers through the room as he must toss in his efforts to protect his brother.
