Autumn Storm (The Witchling #2)(25)

“I take it you read the book.”

She smiled faintly at his look. “It fits you.”

“Does it?”

“Impulsive and unrestrained. Good in a dark alley, as I learned the other night,” she paused. Her instincts prodded her. “Probably not so good in normal relationships. Too much potential for collateral damage.”

“Interesting,” he said. She thought she saw anger in his gaze. “Beck doesn’t usually date girls who can think.”

“We’re not dating, and at least he tries to be sweet.”

“Or he’s taking pity on you. You’re not his type.”

This time, it was anger that made her face warm.

“Sucks when someone reads you like that, doesn’t it?” Decker asked.

She dropped her gaze to his chest, repeating, “Like I said. Collateral damage.”

“Collateral damage implies innocence.” He tipped her chin up to meet her gaze again. He traced his thumb against her lips. A charge tore through her. Her breath caught at the sensation of yearning that skimmed her blood and settled at the base of her belly. “Innocent people don’t react like you are.”

Pain in her temple. His husky voice and charged touch, fire, a cabin in the woods. The memory faded, replaced by another that tugged free of the depths of her mind.

She’d visited a zoo once and paused in front of the cage of a growling panther. It paced back and forth behind its enclosure, eyeing the onlookers in a way that said it was choosing which one to eat first when it escaped. Decker was as sensual and strong as the great cat, unafraid to use that power and magick, and there was no cage between them.

Autumn lifted her chin to break the connection, anger burning alongside the desire and fear in her body. She’d felt helpless too often to let anyone wrest her control from her, no matter how aroused she was at the idea of discovering how deep his passion ran.

“That usually works,” he said.

“The last thing I want is to be burned or boiled or whatever might happen next,” she replied.

“Some other time then.”

Though he stayed in her personal space, the magick around her shifted, releasing her. The heat in her blood was replaced by the chill of the snowy morning. She shivered.

“My spirit magick can’t read you,” he said, studying her with less intensity and more genuine interest.

“Maybe she’s immune to *s.”

Decker didn’t flinch at his brother’s tone, as if already knowing he was there.

Autumn took a step to the side, exhausted by the effort of resisting Decker’s draw. Beck stood at the edge of the forest at the end of the corridor. He was dressed in a cream jacket, boots and jeans, though his gaze was intent.

“You look cold,” Beck said to her.

She nodded. He unzipped the coat to display a light blue sweater that almost matched hers. He left the corridor, pulling off the jacket as he went. Decker turned at his approach. Beck faced his brother and handed the coat to Autumn.

She took it and huddled into it, grateful for its warmth.

The brothers were staring at each other. Autumn glanced up from zipping the coat, her gaze lingering. Side-by-side, she saw how much they looked alike and how different they really were. Beck’s magick was a white mantle, and it rendered his features and the air around him brighter. Decker’s magick, on the other hand, was black.

“This is the second time I’ve had to find her for you,” Decker baited.

Autumn sighed, her blood agitated by Decker’s magick and soothed by Beck’s. The sensations warred within her while the testosterone and magick between the twins was like the tension before a storm.

“I can’t be everywhere at once,” Beck snapped. “None of us are allowed down here.” This he addressed at her with a pointed look.

“Just don’t knock this one up,” Decker said.

“At the rate you’re going, you’ve probably gotten close to a hundred girls pregnant.”

The twins stepped closer to each other in a sign Autumn knew was not good. She didn’t want to be the one nearest the cliff when their fists started flying. She breathed in deeply to pull at the air magick. It filled her.

“She’s smart, Beck,” Decker continued. “Smarter than you. Didn’t think smart, crippled girls were your type.”

“Leave the poor girl alone, Decker. She’s been through enough.”

Her face flamed. Decker toyed with both of them on purpose, and Beck was too stupidly honest to think before speaking. She released the air magick without really knowing what it’d do.

It shoved them away from her and away from one another with enough force that both gave her startled looks.

“Oh, no,” Beck said with a shake of his head. “You can’t use magick against us.”

“Stop talking down to me,” she snapped. “I’m not poor, crippled invalid.”

“I didn’t mean-“

“Shut up, B-“

“You’re both *s.” Her words silenced them. She limped towards them, fed up and ready to go back to her warm room. “If running into both of you is why this path is off limits, I totally get it.”

Neither spoke, and she reached the corridor without sliding in the snow. Her back was stiff and her leg swollen again. Sonya’s magick had worn off. Autumn gritted her teeth as each step grew more painful. She made it halfway across the clearing when she heard someone trotting after her.