“It’s not. They’re just stuck. They won’t hurt us, I swear.”

“No.” Nick pulls me back. “This is too much.” I wrench out of his grasp and shove him away. It burns where we touch. “If you’re going to act like this, we’re leaving.”

I bare my teeth. Even though it’s behind the mask, even if he can’t see it, it feels right. Showing my teeth like a Grace, like Seraph. “No.” I’ve never said no to anyone before. Not in any way that mattered. “We’re not.”

We watch each other. I’m skimming him for weapons the way I did in the office that first day. He has a knife in his pocket. He could have it at my neck in a second and slit my throat in another, and I know it.

I have a knife too.

And an idea.

I snap it open and dive for the Grace.

I jam the blade into the crook of their thumb and shove it between the bones and wrench it until something snaps. The Grace shrieks, and Nick’s body slams into mine, taking us both down to the floor. He bashes my knife hand into the concrete and the blade clatters away.

“Get off!” I howl. His knee digs into my hip. I try to twist him off but, God, why are cis boys so much stronger, it isn’t fair, I remember when Theo held me down almost just like this and I hate it, I hate it. “Motherfucker!”

Nick’s weight disappears from my chest. A mass of flesh hits the cot beside us, sending it across the floor with a screech and taking Nick with it.

I sit up. The Grace has Nick trapped against the floor, strings of saliva trailing from their gaping mouth. The thumb I broke hangs limply by the rest of their clawed fingers, just enough to help them slip their cuffs.

Nick has gone completely still, dark eyes wide and jittering.

It’s beautiful, and I come back to my senses immediately.

I clap my hands as if scolding a puppy. “Hey!” The Grace’s head snaps up. “Don’t hurt him!”

The Grace snuffles and backs away, taking their hand off Nick’s shoulder. Nick scrambles to his feet, wheezing. The fire of Seraph chews through my stomach, and it hurts, but it hurts like growing. Like setting a bone, or popping a joint back into place.

This is control. This is what I wanted.

This is what I was made for.

“All right,” Nick rasps. His hand hovers by his shoulder where the Grace held him down. “All right. You want to join the Watch?”

“I do.” More than anything. I do.

He looks to the Grace.

“Good. You start tomorrow.”

The Acheson LGBTQ+ Center, Youth Services, is a crucial resource for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and other queer and questioning youth. From providing free meals for those in need to readying students for a career through job counseling and volunteer work, we do everything we can to offer opportunities to those who need them.