My back burned as I stood. Every movement wiggled the glass lodged in my skin. My jacket had kept a lot of it out, but there were still some good-sized shards in there. Even the little ones burned.
A van pulled up outside the broken door. A logo on the side said Origin Enterprises, and two men in blue polo shirts hopped out. They nodded at Aidan and went to the back of the van.
As they pulled out big pieces of plywood, I asked Aidan, “Can these guys watch the shop while we get our wounds taken care of? We’ll only be ten minutes, then we need to go after the thief.”
“Yeah.”
“Then let’s do this upstairs.” I’d have to take my shirt off, and I really didn’t want to do it in the middle of the shop.
Aidan spoke to the repair guys while I retrieved my copper-hilt daggers and headed out the door, Nix and Del behind me. He caught up to us as we were letting ourselves in the door that led to our apartments.
We climbed silently up the stairs, Del and Nix veering off to go into Del’s apartment. Aidan followed me up the next two flights to my place. I let myself in and headed straight to the bathroom.
“Give me a second alone,” I said. Then I shut the door in his face.
I tried not to make any noise while I peeled my jacket off, but I really wanted to curse a blue streak. The leather pulled some of the glass out of my skin, and it tinkled when it hit the tile. I couldn’t tell, but it felt like more was lodged in my t-shirt.
It took me a minute to find some scissors in the cabinet—I preferred to cut my own hair because I hated the small talk in the chair—and I cut my shirt off. It was toast anyway, and just the idea of peeling it over my head sent a streak of pain through my back. No way was I trying it in real life.
“Are you all right?”
I jumped at the sound of Aidan’s voice.
“Fine!” I stifled a curse as I gingerly removed the shirt. Even more glass fell to the floor. I was sweating as I turned my back toward the mirror and peered over my shoulder.
Blood streaked everywhere and glass glinted in the light. A sigh heaved out of me. Okay, so I wasn’t going to be able to take care of this myself. Hopes officially dashed.
I faced my back to the door and crossed my arms over my chest, then called, “Okay, you can come in.”
Aidan’s footsteps crunched on the glass as he stepped in. “Holy hell, that’s bad.”
“Yeah. Can you do something about it?”
“Yeah.” His fresh forest scent washed over me as he stepped close.
Suddenly, my back hurt a lot less. I was more focused on how close he stood than on the glass lodged in my skin. When he laid his big hand on my shoulder, I thought I stopped breathing. His palm was warm and a bit rough, as if he worked with his hands.
Warmth radiated out from where he touched me. Sharp little pricks of pain shot from the shards of glass as my skin pushed them out. They plinked when they hit the floor.
“Most were shallow because of your jacket,” Aidan said.
I’d known those jackets were a good idea.
“A few of the deeper ones will take another day to heal fully, but they shouldn’t give you much problem.”
“Good,” I said.
“You know, you’d get hurt a lot less if you practiced and used your powers.”
“I said I didn’t want to talk about it.”
“We don’t have to talk about your parents or your past, but this is important.”
My parents and past? “How do you know I have a past?”
He pulled me around so I faced him. I covered my bra with my arm. Fortunately my tits were small enough that this did some good, but I still felt exposed. His nearness made me jerk back, but he held me firm. Was I ever going to get used to how he loomed over me? His freaking shoulders were twice as wide as me.
“Everyone has a past.” His voice was soft. “Most supernaturals have at least one miserable thing in it they’d like to forget. Someone with power that feels like yours probably has a really interesting past. Or a tough one.”
“Powers that feel like mine?”
“Yes. Different. Stronger. There’s something odd about your magic.”
“I’m not odd. I’m totally normal.”
“You’re far from normal, but in a good way.”
“Well, focus on that then instead of my weird powers. I don’t use them, so it doesn’t matter.” I knew I was speaking too quickly, but I couldn’t help it.
“It matters to me. They could protect you.”
“I can protect me.”
“Magic would be better. Let me help train you.”
“I already told you, I blow things up. Even you can’t keep me from blowing things up.”
“No, but I have a lot of land. It’s private. You can practice there. No one will know your powers are so uncontrollable. Temporarily uncontrollable.”
“I don’t know. That sounds risky.” Though I really liked the idea of it. Being able to moderate the amount of power I used would be amazing. I could start to use my magic on the occasional job. More importantly, if the terrifying man from my dream ever showed up in my life again, I’d be able to fight back.
“I’ll keep your secrets.” Aidan’s voice was rough as he lowered his head toward mine. His evergreen scent enveloped me, and I swore I could feel the warmth of him. “Whatever they are.”
“I don’t have any secrets,” I whispered, my gaze caught on his mouth. He had the best lips. I could just stand on my tiptoes and press mine against them.