by H G Lynch
“Why don’t you give it a break already? Christ, you’d think I’d actually done something wrong!” Hiro snapped, his amber eyes shining, his lips pulled back from his teeth in a feral grimace.
“I’ll give it a break when I’m sure you’re not going to kidnap my girlfriend, you stupid rat!” Reid yelled back, fists clenched.
Hiro pulled a face. “I’m a fox actually,” he said with a smirk.
“I don’t care what kind of fucking animal you are! I don’t trust you as far I can throw you—”
“And just how far do you think you could throw me?”
“Shut up! I swear to God, I will rip you apart limb by furry bloody limb if I find out—”
“Find out what? That I’m secretly in love with your girlfriend? Sorry, dude, I’m loyal to her, but like I said before, she’s not my type.” Hiro, who was facing the doorway — Reid had his back to her — very discreetly shot her a wink while Reid was trying not to snap altogether.
“If I find out that you’re with The Society, you’re dead. I don’t care how cute you are as a fox, or how much Ember loves animals. I. Will. Kill. You! Got it, fox-boy!” Reid snarled, right in Hiro’s face, his voice so sharp it could’ve cut concrete.
Ah. So that’s what is going on. Reid thought Hiro was a spy or something for The Society. A traitor as such. Hell, she’d known he didn’t like the Kitsune, but she hadn’t realised he was so damned paranoid. That was her job.
And now, there was a distinct tension building to boiling point, at which point someone would throw a punch. Probably Reid. It was time to break this up before someone got hurt.
Ember, folding her arms over her chest, cleared her throat. Reid whipped around blurring-fast, and Hiro leaned around him, giving her a casual grin.
“Hey, Cutie. Enjoying the show?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “I was, but an argument stops being fun when someone starts bleeding,” she said.
Hiro tilted his head. “But nobody’s bleeding.”
“Yet.” She raised her brows, shot a look at Reid. He was still trembling with fury, his eyes fixed on her feet. “I think you should scram, Hiro. Like, now.” She made sure he knew it wasn’t a suggestion so much as a concealed command.
He sighed, but brushed past Reid, who growled in response, and then wandered off down the hall and out the front door. Good. Better he was far away before Reid exploded and decided to chase after him.
Once he was gone, Ember sighed and stalked forward to stand in front of Reid. He didn’t move a muscle, looking past her with eyes as bright as burning magnesium. She waited for him to talk, staring at him steadily with one eyebrow arched expectantly. He had to know she wasn’t going to let this go without an explanation. And yet…
He made a sharp sound like a snarling sigh, and tried to step past her. She stuck out one arm to block his way. “Nuh-uh. You’re not going anywhere until you explain what that was all about.” She could feel that he was so rigid with anger, she expected he might shatter if she tried to touch him.
“You know what it was about. I don’t trust him,” he said in a low voice, so low it was almost a growl.
She snorted. “Yeah, I got that. Why don’t you trust him? Why the sudden snap? Unless you two have been clawing at each other behind my back, but I doubt that I wouldn’t know about it.”
Reid finally looked at her, his eyes narrowed and his jaw set. “Why do you trust him? Just because he’s half-animal? You don’t trust the viper that moves into the nest just because it hasn’t eaten the eggs yet.”
Huh? What the hell is he on about? She gave him a condescending look that bordered on suicide with the mood he was in.
He visibly clamped his mouth shut to keep from growling at her.
As scary as it should’ve been, she kind of wanted to laugh. All her vulnerable, human feelings from last night had vanished, and she felt as strong and powerful as ever. She supposed it had something to do with helping Sherry, teaching her to bring her own power under control. It made her feel…good, to help her friend, knowing she had so much power at her own fingertips and she could use her knowledge of it to teach others to have the kind of control she did.
“Okay. So, we’ll try this again. Why did you suddenly decide he might be part of The Society? Did you find an ‘I heart The Society’ badge buried in his blankets or something?” Ember smiled blandly at Reid, and he glared back.
“Last night. You saw him. He was curled up next to that professor, perfectly comfortable! Sure, the professor threatened to hurt him, but he didn’t! How do we know he really would’ve hurt the little rat? How do we know it wasn’t all a show? Maybe the Kitsune is working with the professor as a spy, gaining our trust before he attacks. It makes sense! Somebody had to let the professor in last night. There’s no way he could’ve gotten past the wards.”
“Unless he really didn’t intend on hurting anyone when he first stepped through the door. Remember, the wards are set to protect against anyone who means to harm us. What if he didn’t? What if he really just wanted to talk? The wards wouldn’t have reacted. And Hiro was drugged! You know what that’s like. I’d have thought you’d have a little sympathy,” Ember countered, pushing down the anger that wanted to rise in her chest. She didn’t like being yelled at. Especially by Reid. And she had no reason to doubt Hiro, after all he’d done to help them. She didn’t necessarily trust him as much as Reid seemed to think she did, but she figured he deserved to be given the benefit of the doubt.
"Damn it, Ember! He can't be trusted!” Reid snarled, his lip curled back from gleaming fangs.
Ember gritted her teeth, hands clenched into fists at her sides. She knew she shouldn't argue with him — Hell, she sort of agreed with him even, but she hated being yelled at like she was some clueless, naive moron. And, honestly, Reid should've known better than to yell at her like that.
"Maybe not, but so far, can you honestly say he's been anything but helpful? For Christ's sake, I'm not saying we should all go have a tea party with him in the middle of nowhere, but we should give him a goddamned chance, don't you think!” she spat back, prickles running up her spine in indignation.
Reid's eyes narrowed, his jaw working, and he looked very much like he was considering hitting her. He actually looked a little scary, and she thought about backing off, but she stubbornly held her glare.
"Have you learned nothing from what happened with Owen? Hell, you trusted Cris too much and he turned out to be lying as well. Sure, he didn't try to kill you, but he as just as easily could've! And now, this guy shows up out of nowhere, as a fucking fox, and you—” He snapped his jaw shut, whipping his head away.
He growled, and Ember flinched. She knew she should walk away, she shouldn't push him, not when he was this angry, but...
"And I what, Reid? I let the fox into the house because I didn't consider the possibility that it might be a fucking Kitsune! How was I supposed to know Kitsunes even existed? And anyway, if he wanted to hurt me, he could've done it any damned time he liked, he could've killed me in my sleep, and he didn't! So I think, just maybe, it's an idea to give him a tiny bit of credit! Hell!"
That was it. Reid snapped.
He whirled and his hand shot out to grasp her throat, lifting her off the floor.
She gasped in shock and then choked on the air, her hands instinctively going for her neck to pry his fingers off, though he wasn't hurting her really. If he'd meant to hurt her, he'd be crushing her windpipe. Instead, he was just holding her off the ground...by the throat.
Fury and fear welled up uncontrollably in her chest and she wriggled, spitting expletives at him. "Put me the fuck down, you stupid asshole!” She kicked him in the chest, but it did nothing. In fact, she didn't think he'd even noticed.
He was glowering up at her, hissing with his fangs flashing, his eyes narrow and bright. She blinked, and for a moment, she didn't really recognise him. Then the silvery glint in his eyes brought up a memory, of the night she'd found out he was a vampire
, and she remembered who she was dealing with. And who she was.
She smirked a volatile, dark little grin, and saw Reid's expression shift ever so slightly, turning to suspicion as well as fury. Burning heat crept down her throat, but not from a blush. Reid yelped and jerked his hand back so fast she fell instantly to the floor in a clattering heap. He was shaking his hand like he'd burned it on something —and he had, technically.
"Bitch! What'd you do that for!” He blew on his red fingers.
Ember coughed, rubbing her throat. It hurt a little, but it wouldn't bruise. She'd be fine in a minute.
"What do you mean, what'd I do that for! You were fucking strangling me!” she growled, glaring up at him.
A sudden, rough chuckle came from the corner of the room, and they both glanced over to see Hiro standing in the doorway like he'd been there for hours. For all she knew, he’d been watching the whole thing. It seemed like something he would do. "Hell, someone call the cops on this domestic.” He laughed, his red hair covering one glinting amber eye.
"How long were you standing there?” Reid hissed, and Hiro shrugged.
"Long enough to see you choking your girlfriend,” he said simply, like someone else might say, I'm just going to the shop for milk.
Ember bristled as she got to her feet. "Thanks for the help,” she muttered sarcastically.
Hiro grinned. "I'm not your damn social worker,” he replied.
Ember shot him a glare and turned to Reid…who suddenly disappeared.
One second he was there, glowering at Hiro, and the next, he was outside the front window, looking around in confusion.
Despite herself, Ember snickered and looked to Hiro, who shrugged again. "Couldn't have you trying to tear him apart. Might need him later. Plus, we need to talk.”
There was a thump on the window and Reid yelled through the glass. "What the hell do you think you're doing, fox-boy! Let me in!"
Hiro went to the window and snapped the blinds shut. There was stream of cursing on the other side, but Hiro ignored it. Ember, normally, wouldn't have approved but...well, Reid just tried to choke her, so he could stand to be locked out for a bit. Dog in the doghouse.
***
“Fucking Kitsune!” Reid spat, thumping the window one last time. He was only mildly surprised it didn’t smash. He did try the door, but with the damn wards up, he couldn’t get in because he quite literally wanted to strangle that damn Kitsune. He wasn’t getting back in until the wards were sure he didn’t mean harm to anyone. Stupid wards.
Sighing, he stalked into the park next door. Maybe sitting alone in a snowy park for an hour would chill him out. But he doubted it. Ember was frustrating him to no end today.
“Hey, Reid. What’s up? You look like a storm cloud.”
Oh, great. Apparently, he wasn’t going to get to sit on his own for an hour. Ricky was in the park, swinging casually on one of the swings, watching him with those perceptive, maddeningly calm eyes of his.
With a sigh, Reid crunched over in the snow and flung himself down onto the swing next to Ricky’s, ignoring the angry squeal of the chains as he gripped them in his fists.
“Whoa. Don’t break the swing, man. This is a kid’s play park remember?” Ricky joked lightly, but Reid really wasn’t in the mood.
He glowered at his feet as he kicked at the snow viciously. He could feel Ricky watching him, and after a minute, it really bugged him. “Stop staring at me, Kee!” he snapped.
Ricky didn’t even flinch. Instead, he leaned back and started swinging again, just a little. The chilled chains clinked and groaned. “That bad, huh? What’d she do, try to rip your face off?” he asked offhandedly.
Reid turned to glare at him. “How do you know Ember did anything?” he hissed. Pointlessly. Ricky could read him like a book at the best of times. It never ceased to annoy him.
“Dude, only Ember can piss you off so much…Plus, I could hear you two yelling from here. You really hate Hiro that much?” Ricky asked serenely, giving no hint of whose side he was on. Probably Ember’s. The boy was too…nice, sometimes.
“I’m not talking about it,” Reid huffed, returning his glare to his snow-glossed boots.
“Okay. Whatever,” Ricky said sceptically.
It irritated Reid’s already-unbalanced temper. “What? I’m not. I don’t want to talk about it!” And yet…He knew he would. Just because he was angry and Ricky was sitting there, looking at him expectantly. No matter what, Ricky always made him talk, just by watching him like he knew, eventually, Reid would have to talk about what was bugging him. Nobody else in the world could do that.
“So…what’s really bugging you? It’s not just about Hiro,” Ricky said patiently, still swinging. Still watching him.
Reid kind of wanted to hit the boy. Knew he wouldn’t. He ground his teeth, determined not to cave. But the urge to rant was too much. As Ricky had known it would be. Smug bastard.
“It’s Ember. She just…I feel like…It’s like she’s deliberately arguing with me just to see if I’ll give in. To see if I’ll stop fighting back and just agree with her, just because…just ‘cause it’s her. It’s maddening! It’s exactly what I’ve been trying to avoid my whole life. Getting involved with a girl who’ll only want to control me. I’m not going to be her lapdog, no matter how much I love her.” Reid sighed, hung his head, ashamed he’d opened up to Ricky. Again. Damn. What happened to his ability to keep his damned mouth shut?
Ricky was silent for a moment, gazing evenly at him. Then he ran his hand through his brown hair, a gesture Ricky often made for several different emotions. “I don’t mean to act like I know her better than you do, but, Reid, I don’t think she’s arguing with you for that reason. I think she’s arguing with you because she honestly wants to trust Hiro. And she won’t just sit down and explain it rationally to you because, well…You piss her off as much as she pisses you off. You two are so much alike and you hardly realise it sometimes. Plus, dude, can you even imagine the kind of stress she’s under? The fate of humanity could very well rest with her, and she knows it. I think she’s handling it pretty damn well, but the cracks are going to show sooner or later,” Ricky said logically. Indifferently. Like he wasn’t taking sides.
Reid knew he was.
“Yeah, yeah, I get that,” Reid said dismissively, though he hadn’t really thought about it before. He hadn’t considered how utterly horrible it would be to be in her position. She’d been so freaked over…just about everything lately, he hadn’t stopped to think about the bigger picture, why she might have a right to be freaking out over little things.
“I’m not sure you do, Reid,” Ricky said knowledgably, as if he could read his mind.
Reid bristled, though Ricky was probably right. “Fine. So she’s freaked out. Still doesn’t mean she has to take it out on me. I swear, she’s just waiting for me to break and become her tamed little pet. It’s not going to happen, man.” He was stubbornly holding onto his irritation. He didn’t want to feel sorry for Ember just yet. He was still pissed at her for burning his hand.
Absently, he looked down at his palm. The skin was a little red, but otherwise fine. Didn’t hurt. Much. He supposed it was his own fault. He shouldn’t have choked her the way he did, even if he knew he wasn’t actually hurting her. In fact, the more he thought about it, the guiltier he felt.
“I don’t think she can help it. You practically make yourself the target for her anger. And if you dare say, she could learn to control it, I will personally hit you on her behalf. Did you see what she did to that guy last night after he staked you? Dude, she blasted a hole right through him. Just like she did to the old lady. I’ve never seen anything like it. That kind of power…It’s no wonder she’s fraying at the edges, man. That much power is going to mess with her system.” Ricky sounded sympathetic, and a little awed.
Reid hadn’t seen the blast last night, but he’d felt the heat of it go right past him, and he’d seen it that day with the old woman. It was insane.
>
“I guess. But I still think she—”
“She is not trying to control you…Or if she is, it’s her way of trying to get a grip on something in her life. She can’t control her fate, she can’t control her powers, she can’t even control her fear anymore. You saw the way she seized up when she saw that knife last night?”
Yeah, he saw it. It was the same way she’d frozen up when the first guy attacked her at the university. Yet, she hadn’t freaked out when that potion-wielding, Greek bitch had broken into the house. What was that about?
“I think there’s something else going on with her. Something she’s not telling me about. She keeps waking up in the middle of the night, shaking. It’s happened a few times now. Whatever nightmares she’s having, they are seriously messing with her. I’ve been pretending not to notice when she wakes up in a cold sweat, but, hell, how do you honestly not notice something like that? Man, I’m worried about her.” He hated to admit it. Hated to have to tell Ricky these things. But it was true. He was worried. And he didn’t know how to help her.
Ricky was quiet for a long time. He’d stopped swinging and was looking out over the snow intently, lost to his thoughts. Reid waited impatiently for a response, fidgeted needlessly with his fingerless gloves.
Eventually, Ricky sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know, Reid. I know Sherry’s been talking to her about something, maybe the nightmares, but I don’t know for sure. And if I were you, honestly, I wouldn’t ask. Don’t let her know you know. There must be a reason she’s not telling you about it. Whatever that reason is, you’ll just have to accept it and believe she can handle it herself.”
It seemed like sound advice, but still, Reid didn’t like not knowing what was going on with his girlfriend. Even when he was supremely pissed off at her, even when he really wished she would just shut up, and though he was still partly convinced she was trying to control him —even if it was just to be able to control something— he still cared about her. Still wanted her to be able to confide in him.