Page 34
No matter how high I count, the feeling in my chest doesn’t change. And being up here feels wrong without Mack. Like he’s gone already.
I flex my fingers, and shake my shoulders, trying to dislodge the tension. It doesn’t work. Then I hear Kole.
Miranda is here. She has the elixir. Everything really will be okay, Little Star.
A grin stretches my lips. I let out a small squealing sound and jump up and down. I’ll come. I’ll come now.
He says not yet. He wants to be himself again.
I hug my waist. The thought of running into the room, flinging the door open, and seeing Mack standing with his arms outstretched, simmering and silver-haired, and gorgeous, makes me fizz all over.
I release my wings and return to the edge of the roof. I stretch them as wide as they will go, then I see something down below. Tanner and Thornfield. They pause, Tanner grabbing Thornfield’s arm. They’re talking, deep in conversation, which surprises me.
I leave the roof and rush to Thornfield’s office. I’m pacing back and forth, waiting for them to appear, when my phone rings.
“Luther?” I peer into the screen. It’s dark at first, but then there he is. My heart swells, then relaxes. He’s okay. He’s alive. He’s okay.
“Nova…” The crack in his voice brings tears to my eyes. I’ve only ever heard him like that once before; when we were in the hotel together the night we had to go to Spine undercover. And he told me the truth about what happened to his family.
The memories that must be swirling in his head right now…
I need to hold him. I need to wrap my fiery wings around him and keep him safe.
“It’s alright. You did what you had to do. It’s okay.”
“You know?” He asks, meeting my gaze through the screen.
“I was here when Nico called. I know.” I hesitate, gripping the phone as if it might make him feel how badly I’m trying to help. “And I mean it; it’s okay. You were put in an impossible position.”
“I thought you’d be ashamed of me.” His voice really does break this time, and I shake my head.
“Ashamed of you? Never. I’m proud of you. So proud.” I will him to look at me again.
He takes a long swig of whiskey, then looks up.
“I mean it. You got out. You’re alive.”
“Only because of Nico.”
“But you were smart enough to let Nico stay with you. If you’d wanted to lose control and hurt that man, you’d have told Nico to leave. You didn’t. You let him stay because you wanted him to stop you if you got out of control. Right?”
Luther nods slowly.
“Then no more talk of being ashamed.” My lips twitch as I smile, trying to make him see that I mean what I”m saying. “Or I’ll have to punish you when I see you next.”
“Nova…” Luther speaks my name like a filthy word that’s designed to turn me on. Like he knows he shouldn’t be saying it, but wants to anyway.
“Or maybe I’ll just distract you.” I position the phone on Thornfield’s desk and stand back, slipping my sweater over my head and then peeling off my tank top, too.
“Nova, we shouldn’t. I need to—”
“I haven’t seen you for days, Luther. And you’re alive when you could have been dead. And Mack’s going to be fine. Miranda finished the elixir. He’s taking it right now—”
Luther’s eyes sparkle. “He’s going to be okay?”
I nod, trailing a finger down my chest. “And you look incredibly hot right now with your smoke charred skin and your haunted eyes.”
He shakes his head and chuckles darkly at me, swiping a hand over his shaved hair.
