How many people would notice if I slid under the table and hid?
Hiding is my thing. I’m good at hiding.
“You’re right,” Greyson adds, looking as if he’s enjoying this—whatever this is—as much as his brother. “This ought to deflate his ego a bit.”
To my absolute horror, Sterling starts waving his arms in the air and shouts above the chatter. “Yo, Steel. Looks like you don’t have a perfect record anymore.”
A teal-blue gaze swings to our table and lands on Sterling before sliding over to me. The girl at his side continues to talk even though she no longer has his attention.
I try to look away—I swear I try—but can’t.
“Grey, this is classic.” Sterling is standing up now and pointing at his older brother. “Does he have a black eye?”
It’s hard to tell from so far away, but it does look like the skin under Steel’s right eye is slightly discolored by a greenish-yellow hue. I remember the punch I threw before I was hauled over his shoulder. I can’t muster up the strength to feel sorry for it though. In fact, I’m glad I clocked him instead of Sable.
“You punched him?” Ash’s voice is full of awe. I break eye contact with Steel to answer.
“He was trying to kidnap me.”
Howls of laughter start from the brothers again and I roll my eyes.
“I wasn’t trying to kidnap you. I was rescuing you from the Fallen.”
A zing of awareness shoots up my spine when the words are uttered in the familiar deep timbre. I may not have recognized his face, but his voice certainly left an impression.
Greyson and Sterling laugh so hard, their faces turn red and blotchy. Not a great look on either of them. Sterling’s eyes have even started to water.
Well, these two are obviously useless.
Kenna and Hadley stare slack-jawed at a point above my head—presumably where Steel is standing. Their eyes take on a bug-like quality and if I’m not mistaken, a few stars float in them as well.
After a beat, Hadley’s gaze moves to me before she looks down at her plate like it holds the answers to the universe.
Kenna keeps staring at Steel with those otherworldly eyes of hers.
Is that drool?
She hasn’t spoken a word since I joined the table. Maybe she’s mute?
Ash is the only reasonable one. The grimace on her face conveys her apologies.
Bringing a hand to my face, I pinch my nose. The back of my neck is hot—I imagine it’s because Steel is trying to burn a hole there with his gaze.
I slowly twist in my seat and find myself facing his broad, t-shirt covered chest.
Yikes, maybe this guy is older than I thought? There’s just so much of him.
“Listen, I didn’t mean to offend you or anything . . .” Of their own volition, my eyes travel up the remainder of his chest and connect with blue fire.
Oh man, big mistake.
The intensity in his stare freezes the words on my tongue. And I just . . . sit there . . . gawking at him.
And he just . . . stands there . . . staring back.
The cafeteria has suddenly gotten uncomfortably muggy and suspiciously quiet. I’d bet money that I’m once again the star of the evening, but I’m too overwhelmed to check.
Why isn’t he saying anything?
Why is he just staring at me like this? Like he doesn’t notice or care about anyone else in the room.
It’s incredibly unnerving. I wish he would stop.
“I . . . ah . . . there were . . . um.” Words stutter out of my mouth in an incomprehensible mess.
I’m seriously considering crawling under the table when an alarm sounds loud enough to jolt me almost out of my seat. The lights in the cafeteria pulse red.
What’s happening?
Gasps echo throughout the room. A recorded voice blares above the alarm. It repeats the words “level one breach” over and over.
I can only hear the sound of chairs scraping over linoleum as students jump up and scatter in some sort of organized chaos.
Ash grabs my arm and tries to pull me to my feet. My confusion makes me sluggish to respond.
Hadley and Kenna have already disappeared. Greyson and Sterling round the table and stand by their brother. And Steel . . . he towers above me, eyes unfocused and head tilted at a forty-five degree angle, as if listening for something. What he can possibly hear over the alarm, recorded voice, and pounding of feet as people run from the room, I have no idea.
“Emberly, come on.” Ash’s eyes are wide and wild. I don’t like that look one bit. Panic is already crawling up my gut.
Steel’s voice cuts through my anxiety. “Grey. Sterl. Don’t even think about phasing.”
Phasing?
“Don’t give us this big brother crap,” Sterling shoots back.
“I’m not arguing with you two. I outrank you in age and class. You’ll follow orders like you’ve been trained.”
At Steel’s barked command, Sterling clamps his mouth shut. If he were Superman, lasers would be incinerating Steel right about now. Grey doesn’t look much happier.
Wiping a hand down his face, Steel tries to soften the blow. “Listen, you need to help get Newbie to one of the bunkers. She has no idea where to go. Then find yours and make sure Blaze and Aurora are there. But I’m not kidding, don’t phase.”
“Yeah, sure mom,” Sterling grumbles under his breath, but not quietly enough to go unnoticed.
“Let’s go, girls.” Greyson jerks his chin toward the exit, seemingly unconcerned with speed.
“Get out!” Steel suddenly yells. “They’re here.”
In a flash of light, Steel disappears. I gasp as the two remaining brothers and Ash herd me toward the exit.
“Show off,” Sterling mutters.
“Where did he go? Is he all right?”
What the heck is going on right now?
“Steel knows how to take care of himself.”
Their somewhat blasé attitude to the obviously tense situation does nothing to calm me. In fact, my heartbeat ramps up and I can feel my adrenaline spike.
Multicolored lights explode around the outside rim of my vision.
There’ll be no stopping my slipped reality now.
Just hold on a little longer, Emberly. Maybe you can find somewhere safe to hide.
I make the mistake of glancing behind me before we leave. Color bursts, and from one blink to the next, I slip into the spectrum world.
The hands that had been propelling me forward fall away. The ringing of the alarm fades, but snippets of broken conversation reach my ears. It sounds as if people are talking very far away from me.
“Where is—?”
“—she partial phased, because that—”
“—see her, but I can’t hold on—”
“What should we—”
Confusion circles me until my gaze lands on a very large, very golden, very familiar lion posturing in the middle of the room.
His fur stands on end and a low growl emanates from his chest. I spot the same shock of black hair slicing through his mane.
Steel. As sure as I am of my own name, I know it has to be him.
The gold beast starts to prowl back and forth and my heart jumps into my throat. A pale, emaciated man crouches on the ground just beyond the lion.
Shrouded in a mist of darkness, he scurries like an insect, his movements jerky but swift. The man’s dark hair reaches his shoulders and if I had to guess, I’d say it hasn’t been washed in months. Chunks of it hang in limp, greasy dreads that obscure most of his face.