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“Maybe if you’d quit with the shitty attitude I could say, yeah, I do, and yeah, you can stay with me.”
Now they were all staring at him. For the first time, Tyler looked uncomfortable. He shrugged and looked back at the door. “If you need a place. I have a spare bedroom. I’m just saying.”
“Why would you do that?” said Michael.
“Because it’s the right thing to do.”
Michael didn’t buy it. “You? Altruistic? Try again.”
“Because it’s what my sister would want me to do.”
That, Michael bought. It had been years since Tyler’s sister had died, but Michael still had clear memories of Emily Morgan. She’d been the first Elemental in town who treated him like a human being instead of someone who needed to be put to death.
“Won’t it piss off your parents?” he asked Tyler.
“You going to call and tell them?”
“No, but I don’t want to wake up chained to the bed and set on fire, either.”
“Look, man, whatever you want to do with your sex life is your business—”
“I’m serious,” said Michael. Tyler and his friends had once trapped Michael in a parking lot. They’d pinned him to the ground with a truck chain and Tyler himself had put a butane lighter against Michael’s face.
It had been years ago, but Michael hadn’t forgotten. Tyler’s sister had rescued him—but that moment had led down the path that had ended with Emily’s death.
Tyler hadn’t forgotten either. He looked at Michael. “I can’t play both sides anymore. I’m either one of you or one of them.” His expression didn’t waver. “I don’t know who blew up the restaurant, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he sent you to a place my parents own. A place where I’d be. Do you?”
Michael hadn’t considered it. He’d been focused on the people he’d been told to bring: his brothers and the police. He hadn’t thought about the people who’d already been there.
“No,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence at all.” He paused. “What if he targets your place?”
Tyler’s expression darkened. “He already tried to get rid of me once.”
“You afraid?”
“Fuck that,” said Tyler. “I dare him to try. What do you say, Merrick?”
Michael looked at him, and realized he could see something in Tyler that couldn’t be said for anyone else in his life. Tyler was an adult. He was a powerful Fire Elemental—possibly more powerful than Gabriel. He owed Michael nothing—and vice versa. Tyler wasn’t an obligation or someone who needed protection.
Tyler was an equal.
Michael smiled, and for the first time in forever, he felt a shadow of genuine emotion behind it. “I say bring it.”
CHAPTER 19
Michael sat at Tyler’s kitchen table and studied the list he’d made. He couldn’t decide if it made him feel better or worse about the state of things.
4) Find out status of truck
5) Find place to live
6) Cancel jobs? Rent truck?
7) Talk to David about custody stuff
8) Talk to David about legal stuff
9) Call insurance. House secure?
