Page 82 of Stealing Embers
He’s taking it upon himself to shadow me? I don’t like the sound of that one bit. There isn’t any stretch of the imagination where Steel and I exist peacefully in the same space. This has disaster written all over it. And it’s not like he can be with me twenty-four-seven. What exactly is going through his head right now?
“Whoa, man. That is not cool.” Sterling’s complaint zaps me back to the here-and-now. His face has almost returned to its regular color after his near-asphyxiation. “You don’t think Grey and I can take care of ourselves? Or Emberly if it came down to it?”
“We may not have morphed yet, but that doesn’t mean we’re defenseless,” Greyson adds.
“What do you mean, ‘babysit’?” Nova asks.
Ash closes out the peanut gallery comments with, “Have you even asked Emberly how she feels about this?”
Steel looks utterly unphased by the havoc he just created. He munches on another one of Nova’s fries and I have the errant thought that she’d better move her plate away if she wants to eat any of her dinner.
“I never said you were defenseless,” Steel addresses his brothers. “And what’s to ask about?” he answers Ash. “This is life or death. I’m hardly concerned with her wants.”
Ash’s mouth gapes open.
“You realize how much of a brute you’re being right now?” I ask Steel.
“Does it look like I care?”
Well, then.
I sit back in my seat and cross my arms. “So, what’s your plan, then? You aiming on sleeping on the floor by my bed? Following me to the bathroom? Sitting behind me during classes?”
He tips his head in my direction. “If I have to.”
“Wait a second. Let’s not get hasty.” Nova’s face is pinched. “If you feel like Emberly needs extra protection, I’m sure Sable can assign some people to help. Somefemalepeople.”
Steel’s hand zips toward my food, and I lurch forward. The fry is past his lips before I can grab it this time. I consider trying to fish it out of his mouth, but dismiss the thought. He’d probably bite my finger off.
“Already talked with Sable,” Steel says around the food. “She doesn’t think Emberly needs watching here at the academy. I disagree.”
“What? You went to Sable behind my back and tried to get me a bodyguard?” My face heats and for once it’s not from embarrassment. My food becomes a secondary thought as I squeeze my right hand into a fist so tightly the nails bite into my palm. “You had no right.”
Steel’s face hardens and his eyes deaden. The transformation from nonchalant to austere is so complete, a heavy knot twists in my stomach and I subconsciously lean back a fraction. When he speaks his voice is only a breath above a whisper, but he may as well be shouting at me. “When it comes to protecting my family, I have every right. There isn’t an act I won’t commit and a level I won’t sink to in order to make sure they are safe. You’d do well to remember that.”
He doesn’t make a move toward me, but it feels like his hands wrap around my throat and squeeze. It takes me a beat to swallow a gulp of air.
“Hey, what’s going on over there?” Ash asks. Her gaze boomerangs to me before resting back on Steel.
Steel levels me with one final, chilling look before veiling his emotions under a pretense of levity. “It’s all good. We were just getting some facts cleared up. Anyone have any extra fries?”
Looking down I notice all of mine are missing, but in that moment, I no longer care.
* * *
Tipping forward, I face-plant into my pillow. Screaming into the soft cushion releases some of my frustration, but not nearly enough.
Steel. Is. Everywhere.
After a very uncomfortable meal, I escaped the cafeteria only to have him dog my steps. He followed me to the library, the science room, and to the gym for my evening workout.
Leaning against the wall, he watched my every move. I stumbled my way through box jumps and burpees, tweaked my lower back during barbell deadlifts, and almost tripped over my own shoelaces during my cool-down run.
I couldn’t shake him until I entered the girls’ locker room to shower and change. And the only reason he didn’t park himself in front of my shower stall is because one of the instructors caught him trying to go in after me and refused him access.
I had to slip out the locker room’s faculty exit and tiptoe through the hallways to get to my room unaccompanied.
Dude is tenacious.