didn’t flinch from his look. “Dial it back a notch.” He glanced up.
And then Hunter realized that the overhead light was buzzing more frantically, making loud clicks within the tube. The air in the room had to have dropped ten degrees.
He’d always been able to sense the elements, and control was a newer talent, but he’d never affected anything to this extent.
Hunter closed his eyes and took a slow breath. In through his nose, out through his mouth. Then another. His hands unclenched, and he dropped back into the chair.
“Very zen,” said Gabriel. “Should I light a candle?”
Hunter’s eyes snapped open. “Fuck you.”
“Gentlemen,” said Vickers.
Damn. Everyone was managing to burrow under his skin today.
“I’m sorry,” Hunter bit out. “I’ll stay away from Calla.”
“Three strikes and you’re out, Hunter.” She shivered and pulled a cardigan off the back of her chair, then forced her arms into the sleeves. “If we have this conversation again, you’ll be looking at a three-day suspension. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes shifted to Gabriel. “The same goes for you, Mr. Merrick.”
“Roger.” He mock-saluted her.
“Can the two of you make it to next period without fighting? Or should someone stay with me?”
Hunter shot out of his chair. “I’m good.”
Gabriel followed him into the hall. Hunter ignored him, though he wanted to slam him into the bank of lockers. The bell hadn’t rung yet, and the halls were still empty.
“Nice shirt,” said Gabriel.
“Go away.”
“What, you’re not still tracking me so you can report back to your keeper?”
Hunter ignored him and kept walking.
Gabriel kept after him. “Don’t like being called a traitor?”
“I’m not a traitor.”
“Did you turn on your dad, too? Is that what you feel so guilty ab—”
Hunter spun. Gabriel caught his wrist before he could throw a punch.
“Don’t be an idiot,” he snapped. “Do you want to get suspended?”
Hunter jerked free. “I want you to leave me alone.”
“Oh, it’s okay for you to follow me around—”
“I wasn’t following you around!” God, Hunter would pay good money for a handful of ibuprofen. “And you know what? Why don’t you cut the martyr act?”
Gabriel looked incredulous. “Me. The martyr act.”
“Yeah. You.” Hunter glared at him. “Like I screwed you over. You didn’t even give me a chance to explain—”
“All right.” Gabriel stopped walking. “Explain.”
Hunter took a breath—and had nothing to say.
“Yeah, whatever.” Gabriel moved away.
“Can you blame him?” called Hunter.
Gabriel hesitated, but didn’t turn. “Blame who?”
“Bill. Becca’s dad. Can you blame him for thinking you’d cause trouble? I didn’t drag you to that first fire.”
Gabriel laughed low, under his breath, but not like it was really funny. He turned and walked back to Hunter. “No, jackass. I blame you. Where’d you learn how to be a friend, anyway?”
Hunter stared at him. “What does that mean?”
“It means you need to pick a fucking side.”
Then the bell rang and people flooded the hallway, separating them until Hunter lost Gabriel in the sea of students.
CHAPTER 6
At the end of the school day, Kate burst into the afternoon sunlight with the other students.
Then she got a glimpse of the roadway in front of the school and sighed.
Silver was waiting for her, leaning up against his truck, one hand hooked into a pocket. The sun caught the lighter strands in his hair and turned them gold, and the black T-shirt he wore didn’t leave a whole lot to the imagination.
She wasn’t the only one appreciating it, if the number of giggling girls passing close to the truck were any indication. But Silver was only looking at Kate.
She sighed and pulled her sunglasses from her bag, slipping them onto her face along with a bored expression, before looking both ways to cross the street.
For a moment, she wished she’d asked Nick Merrick for a ride home, just to get under Silver’s skin, but at lunch she’d met Quinn.
“Nick’s girlfriend,” the other girl had emphasized, her voice full of steel daggers.
Kate had picked up one of Nick’s fries—he’d offered—and smiled back sweetly. “Sounds like paradise.”
Then Nick had smiled that wicked way and said, “See? I knew you’d have no trouble making friends.”
Kate crossed the street with a bored expression on her face. “Haven’t you ever seen Sixteen Candles?”
That threw him. Silver tilted his head to the side. “I’m sorry?”
“It’s a classic. All you need is the red sports car. Come on, Jake, I’m hungry.”
But as she moved to walk past him, he caught her around the waist and drew her into his body. She gasped, and he caught her breath, pressing his lips against hers. Despite the shock, he was one hell of a good kisser. She made a small sound, her body softening against his automatically, enjoying the feel of his hands sliding under her leather jacket to warm the skin at her waist.
Her power sparked with his, pulling heat from the sunlight and kicking the air into little whirlwinds around them.
Silver pulled back, lifting a hand to push her sunglasses up onto her forehead.
She stared up at him, feeling a bit dazed, though she didn’t want him to know that. “Missed me, did you?” she said, mocking his accent.
“Not at all.” He kissed the end of her nose. “Just setting a story so we have a reason to be seen together. Get in the car.”
Then he smacked her on the ass and stepped back.
Kate’s hand formed a fist, but before she could get past her shock and move, Silver glanced over. “Hit me and I’ll hit you back.”
He was smiling, but the glint of danger in his eyes said he wasn’t kidding. She couldn’t let him see that he’d gotten to her. She pulled her sunglasses back into place and drew a slim tube of lip gloss from her bag, deliberately moving slowly though her fingers were shaky with adrenaline. “Is that a promise or a threat?”
“Both. Did you mention you were hungry?”
Silver took her to the Pizza Hut near the school, a place with sticky tables, a sticky floor, and sticky toddlers screaming over the ancient jukebox in the corner.
It probably had sticky buttons. She didn’t want to find out.
Kate raised her eyebrows at him when the waitress brought thick plastic cups of soda. “Really. I say I’m hungry and this is where you take me.”
He ignored her. “What did you learn today?”
She took a sip of her soda