“Shit,” muttered Colin, moving so that he was halfway in front of me.

“I didn’t miss.” Another voice floated out of the darkness. A spark of red light formed, casting the holder in an eerie red glow. “That was just a warning.”

Then I saw the second guy, and my stomach dropped all the way to my toes. It was him—the guy Seth had knocked the hell out. Even in the poor light, I could see that his jaw was a brutal shade of purple and swollen. And there was no mistaking the fury and promise of retribution in his expression.

I could only think of two words.

Oh. Crap.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

My heart pounded in my chest, and a sliver of fear mingled with unease as I stared at the two pure-bloods. The one Seth had punched into next week tossed around the ball of abnormally bright flames like a mortal would play with a baseball.

Keeping an eye on him, I took a small step back and to the side, out from behind Colin. Deep down, I knew reasoning with them was going to be pointless, but I had to try. “We don’t want any problems. We’re just getting something to eat.”

“Does it look like we care what you want to do?” Icy Blond asked.

“You should,” Colin challenged. At his sides, his hands curled into hefty fists. There was no missing them. “I don’t think you want to piss off the Apollyon again. Messing with her will do that.”

“Fuck the Apollyon,” Icy Blond shot back, and the ball of flames hovering above his palm pulsed. “He’s still just a fucking half-blood when it’s all said and done. He isn’t worth shit.”

The other pure-blood shot a nervous glance in Icy Blond’s direction. It didn’t look like he was that on board with what was going down.

“You’re a bigoted idiot,” Colin spat. “And you’re—”

Everything happened so fast, and I just reacted without thinking. Icy Blond cocked his arm back, and I knew he was about to let the ball of fire go. There was a chance that Colin wouldn’t be able to move out of its way as fast as he had the last time. I just really didn’t think.

I threw out my arm, tapping into the power coursing through my veins. Figuring that putting the flames out would render the least amount of damage, I summoned the water element. The immediate buzz of energy was magnificent. It lit up every cell in my body as if they had been starving for it. Tapping into the aether, well, it was like coming home at the end of the day and finally being able to take a bra off.

It was that good.