Page 48 of Burn of Obsidian
Thea kept herself quiet, letting her sister get it out.
“I know you’re working to pay for dad’s treatment, but if you carry on, I’m scared you’re going to get yourself killed.” Strength burned in her eyes, barely keeping the tears at bay. “I know you’re not human like us, but you can still die, Thea.”
Ruhne floated, his wings silent as he dropped to stand on the end of the bed.
“I’m being careful,” Thea said, and Molly snorted a forced laugh. “Seriously, I promise you.”
“Then why are you hiding out over here? Are you in trouble?”
“Of course not,” she said without hesitation.
Molly shook her head. “You’re hiding from something.”
“Yeah, from her stalker,” Ruhne added, his pearlescent wings catching the light.
“Stalker?” Molly asked before Thea could reply.
“Ruhne,” Thea barked. “Shut up!”
He simply stuck his tongue out, glitter gently falling around him. He was leaking too much. Surely not all pixies oozed glitter constantly?
“Thea, what stalker? Is it Jax? You know, the boyfriend you didn’t tell me about?” Molly threw the pillow to the side, hurt flashing across her features before she disguised it beneath worry.
A seed of guilt bloomed. “I’m sorry, I should’ve told you about Jax. It just happened so suddenly.” Which wasn’t a lie. She shared everything with her sister, well, as much as she could tell a seventeen year old.
“Are you scared of him?” Molly asked.
“No, of course – ”
“She wants to fuck him,” Ruhne interrupted. “And he definitely wants to fuck her.”
Thea closed her eyes, praying for patience not to squish him like a bug.
A weight settled on her shoulder, and she fought not to dislodge the bloody pixie.
“Thea, if you’re in trouble, you need to tell me.” Molly frowned at Ruhne. “I can help.”
“I’m not scared of Jax,” she said, and it was the truth. He’d had multiple opportunities to hurt her, and he hadn’t. For some strange reason, she trusted him, but that didn’t mean she’d allow him control over her.
“Then why are you hiding?”
Because he’s overwhelming, she thought. Because teasing him is the most fun I’ve had in forever, and when I’m with him, the crushing guilt at our father’s cancer lessens.
“I think it’s some weird foreplay,” Ruhne answered before she could think of a more appropriate answer.
Molly’s face wrinkled in disgust. “Okay, too much information.”
If looks could kill, Ruhne would topple off the bed with a dramatic thump. “It’s complicated,” Thea said instead. “But you need to trust me that I know what I’m doing.”
Molly pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled a slow, controlled breath. “Okay.”
“Good, because I need a favour.” Thea glanced towards her old, empty wardrobe. “Actually, two favours.”
Her childhood bedroom was like stepping inside a rainbow. The walls were painted in splashes of purple, blue, and pink, contrasting against the pale white of the ceiling. Star-shaped lights hung above her bed, long enough they began to wrap around the frame.
Even her wardrobe was colourful, the wood hand-painted by her mum when she was little. She didn’t know why her parents kept it exactly as it was, considering she hadn’t lived there in years.
“I need to borrow a dress.”