Bright Blaze of Magic
Page 75

Victor might be dead, but Nikolai Volkov was still out there, and no doubt he would start plotting to take over the void that the Draconis had left behind. But that was a problem for another day. And there would still be fights and skirmishes between all the Families, including the Sinclairs, Itos, and Salazars, as everyone tried to figure out how things would work in a town where Victor Draconi wasn’t king anymore. But we would work it out. I knew we would.
Behind me, a door creaked open and footsteps sounded. I breathed in and the sharp, crisp scent of pine—Devon’s scent—wafted over to me. In addition to acquiring Victor’s lightning power, I also seemed to have enhanced senses now. All day long, I’d noticed that I could smell, hear, and even see better than I had before. I wondered just how much of Victor’s magic—and how many Talents—I might possess now.
The thought of where they had come from still made me sick, but the magic didn’t seem to be burning out of my body. I supposed I would just have to live with it like I did everything else. The important thing was not to be like Victor—and not to use this new power to hurt people the way he had.
Devon walked over, leaned his arms down on the railing as well, and stared out at the view with me.
“I thought I might find you up here,” he said.
“I just needed some time to myself. Some peace and quiet to think about everything that’s happened.”
He nodded. “You missed dinner in the dining hall. The pixies made BLTs. Felix and I thought about sending out a search party when you didn’t show up to get your bacon fix,” he joked, trying to make me smile.
And I did, just a little, just for a few seconds. But then I turned and looked out over the Midway again, watching the lights wink on and off like stars cupped in the evergreen heart of the mountains. And I asked Devon something that had been bothering me all day long.
“Do you think it was all worth it? Everything we went through? All the fights and pain and heartache and loss?”
He sighed. “I don’t know. We lost a lot of good people, a lot of close friends. I wish things had been different. I wish we could have stopped the very first fight at the restaurant before it ever got started. But Victor is gone now and he can’t hurt any of us again. That’s something, right?”
“I guess it is,” I said. “I guess it will have to be.”
We stared out at the view for a while longer, both of us lost in our own thoughts, memories, and aching regrets. Finally, Devon turned to me and placed his hand on top of mine.
“You know, with everything that’s been going on, we never really did get to have a proper first date,” he murmured in a husky tone. “And before you say otherwise, sneaking over to the Draconi compound all those nights and stealing weapons doesn’t count.”
“Well, I think stealing weapons makes for an excellent first date myself.” I arched my eyebrows. “Are you saying that you want to take me out, Sinclair?”
He flashed me a grin. “Always.”
I looped my arms around his neck. “Why do we have to go anywhere when I have everything I want right here?”
He grinned again, and I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his.
The past would always be dark, always haunt us. But suddenly, the future was as bright as the two of us could make it.
A door slammed open, but Devon kept right on kissing me, and I did the same to him—at least until a voice called out behind us.
“See? I told you they would be up here.”
The door slammed shut, and Devon and I finally broke apart to find Felix and Deah standing on the roof. Felix was shaking his head, but he was grinning, while Deah was looking around at everything. She eyed the punching bags dangling from the scaffolding like she wanted to slam her fists into them over and over again. I knew the feeling and how much she had to be hurting right now. Whatever else they had been, Victor and Blake had been her family and she still grieved for them.
I went over and gave her a hug. The motion seemed to startle Deah, but after a second, she hugged me back. We stayed like that for close to a minute before we finally broke apart.
“How are you holding up?” I asked.
She gave me a tight smile. “Fine. Although if someone else asks me that, I just might scream.”
“Believe me, I know the feeling.”
“I was showing Deah around the mansion,” Felix said. “I told her that we’d find the two of you up here making out.”
Devon slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me close. “Absolutely. The question is why aren’t the two of you doing the same thing?”
“Yeah,” I said. “What was it you said in the woods a few days ago about working your romantic A game from start to finish?”
Deah arched her eyebrows at Felix, and a hot crimson blush flooded his bronze skin.
“Um, well . . . you see . . .” His voice trailed off under her steady look and he gave her a sheepish grin.
She arched her eyebrows a little higher, then winked at him. “Well, just remember that you’re not the only one around here with game.”
Felix grinned and he slung his arm around her shoulders. “Oh, girl, you have no idea . . .”
And with that, he was off and running, talking a hundred words a minute about how great he thought Deah was, how much he loved her, how happy he was that she was going to be part of the Sinclair Family now. And he would have kept right on talking, all night long, if Deah hadn’t let out an exasperated sigh, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him.
She drew back and Felix just stared at her, his face soft and his dark eyes shining with all the feelings he had for her—feelings that were mirrored in Deah’s gaze.
“Sorry about that,” she said, turning back to me and Devon. “But most of the time, that’s the only way I can get him to shut up.”
Devon laughed. “Not a problem. Believe me, we’ll take what peace and quiet we can get around here.”
Felix gave him a mock glare, but he slipped his arm around Deah’s waist. Together, the four of us walked over to the railing and stared out into the night, just enjoying the fact that we’d won the fight that truly mattered.
 
 
CHAPTER THIRTY
“When you said that you wanted to finally go out on our first real date tonight, I didn’t think you’d want to come here,” Devon said.