“I was in a fire.” I blurted it out in the hopes it might distract those two from coming to blows. But I had no idea what came after that fact.
​
Atlas turned back to me. “When?”
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“I was eight. We still don’t know exactly how it started.”
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Kai let one hand drop away but left the other on my neck, his thumb stroking back and forth. “But you got out.”
​
“I almost didn’t.” The words were barely a whisper. “I got trapped in my bedroom. The window was too high to jump out of. The fire was outside my door. I hid in the closet. The floor beneath me collapsed and I fell through to the basement, and a beam landed on top of me. Thought I was going to die.” I rubbed at the raised skin on the inside of my arm.
​
Phoenix stalked forward, grabbing my arm. He let out a string of curses. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
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I shrugged. “I told you I didn’t like fire.”
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“But not that you’d been burned. I wouldn’t have pushed so hard if I’d known you’d been through this.”
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I tried to tug my arm free, but he held firm.
​
Atlas studied the scars leading up my arm as Phoenix held it. “You’re okay? Those look bad.”
I gave my arm a hard yank and finally broke away from Phoenix’s hold. I wanted a sweatshirt more than anything right now, but I hadn’t shoved one in my bag this morning. “I know they look gross, but they aren’t that bad.”
​
Atlas got right up in my personal space. “That wasn’t what I said and it sure as hell wasn’t what I meant.” He lifted my arm gently and traced his fingers over the mottled and twisted skin. “There isn’t a thing about you that isn’t beautiful. But I know these mean you were in excruciating pain. That you were terrified. That’s what I meant by bad.”
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I swallowed against my suddenly dry throat. “Oh.”
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His lips twitched. He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his fingers tangling in the waves. “I could only ever see beauty when I look at you.”
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Atlas leaned forward and my breath caught, but this time for an entirely different reason than panic. He pressed his lips to the corner of my mouth.
​
The buzz that lit my muscles was like nothing I’d experienced before. It was its own form of fire that terrified me in a completely different way. Sensation swept through me like a flood on the heels of the buzz.
​
Atlas jerked back, his fingers flying to his mouth and eyes going wide.
“What the hell was that?”