far corner of the patio caught my eye. I selected a seat against the building that allowed me to look out toward the bustling restaurant and brewery surrounding the plaza.
Settling back, I breathed in the fresh air as the slight breeze played with the festival lights strung overhead. If I closed my eyes, I could almost imagine I was back in Point Reyes and Aunt Viv was only moments away with doughnuts from our usual bakery in hand. Even though I was still upset with her, I couldn’t help but wish she was here. She would make ridiculous jokes about overloading on sugar and somehow have all the right answers.
But she wasn’t here, was she? Wasn’t here to give me answers when I needed them most. My throat burned as I thought about launching both pastry bags across the plaza, but thankfully Kaden placed a cup in front of me, saving the doughnuts from a concrete landing pad.
“I’ve never seen anyone get emotional over a pastry before.” Kaden sat next to me. “But I guess there’s a first time for everything.”
I blinked a few times to clear my blurry vision. What a time to unlock my emotional baggage—not.
“You need me to teach these doughnuts a thing or two?” Kaden pulled the brown bags away. “Cause I can always remove the offensive pastries if needed.”
“Never,” I snorted, halting the doughnut heist.
“Good.” Kaden relinquished my bag, scooping up his own and popping a section of sugary bread into his mouth.
I followed suit, and we enjoyed the companionable silence, each of us alternating between our doughnuts and drinks. The steaming tea was a welcomed comfort. As I leaned back in my chair, I noticed he was already one doughnut down.
Kaden paused pre-bite. “What?”
“Low on sugar?”
“I’m feeling rather judged right now.”
“Not judging.” I two-handed my cup. “More like assessing.”
Kaden lounged back. “And what’s your assessment, Firefly?”
“Still compiling data,” I evaded.
“My sweet tooth is well known around the Breakpoint.” Kaden sipped his coffee.
My eyes widened. “Really?”
Kaden grinned. “Is that so hard to believe?”
I circled a hand in his direction. “It’s just with your…”
“Oh, please continue.” Kaden’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “I think I want to hear this.”
“I assumed with your, um”—warmth splashed across my cheeks—“training, you wouldn’t haul down sweets.”
“Well, you assumed wrong.” Kaden bit into his last doughnut like a hungry, hungry hippo—a very well-built hippo. “So, now that you know I have a sweet tooth, is that worth a trade for why these pastries upset you?”
I shook my head. “Nope.”
“Fine.” Kaden chuckled. “A sweet tooth, then?”
I shrugged. “Don’t have one.”
Kaden arched his brows, glancing from me to the doughnut in front of me.
Right. Guess that wasn’t exactly true. “Okay, this is an annual exception.”
Kaden frowned. “Annual exception?”
I looked down at my sugary treat. “It’s complicated.”
“Does this have anything to do with why you were teary-eyed earlier?” Kaden tilted his head, his midnight hair falling forward. “Any chance you’d trade for that?”
I took a long sip, debating whether to share. Then again, he had risked a lot by coming here with me. I picked at the edge of my cup sleeve. “What’s the trade?”
“Something of equal value, I promise.” Kaden’s sea-blue eyes locked with mine. No nickname. No jesting. He was asking me to trust him. Giving me the choice to trust him.
“It wasn’t the doughnuts that upset me. Well, not entirely.”
“I’m leaning toward it having something to do with the reason behind this little reckless escapade.” Kaden leaned toward me. “Emma, you’ve only seen a small portion of what the Clinic is capable of. How can a doughnut be so important to endanger yourself like this?”
As I scanned the plaza, it hit me that I had no clue what someone from the Clinic even looked like in a normal setting. Anyone on the street or in the coffee shop could work for them. Hell, for all I knew, Coffee-Kitty could be one of them.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “I didn’t mean to be reckless. I just…”
My words faded out as my vocal cords constricted, not quite believing I was about to grant him access to this emotional rollercoaster.
“When my mom was sick.” I swallowed hard as the vice around my heart tightened, realizing he was the first person at the Breakpoint I was sharing this with. “During breaks in treatments, doughnuts were her favorite go-to. Even if they made her sicker later, she’d always get them. She said life was too short to let doughnuts pass you by.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Kaden smiled softly. “Is that why you came here? Because of your mom?”
“Yeah.” I reached absently for my empty neckline, only to stop myself. “After she died, my aunt started this tradition. Every year on the day we lost her, we’d go get doughnuts and light a candle in her honor.” My throat tightened as I looked away. “And sure, as I got older and our lives got busier, we missed a few years, but this year I…”
“You didn’t want to miss it.”
“I owed her that much, especially after all the damage I’ve caused.” The guilt from my Stabilizer theory about my mom threatened to consume me.
As silence fell between us, I envied the moonlit clouds drifting aimlessly by, not a care in the world.
“Guilt is a powerful thing.” Kaden’s stare was fixed on nothing in particular. “It sticks with us, especially after the lives we’ve lost—and the ones we’ve taken.”
Taken? What was he talking about?
“After getting extracted from the Clinic, I used to take my little brother for ice cream,” Kaden said. “That was our tradition.”
My heart stilled. Kaden had been in the Clinic.
“He used to pester me all the time to take him.” He chuckled without humor. “Would give me the most innocent face and say mint chip is life, Kaden until I gave in.”
“Sounds like he knew how to play you.” I smiled softly, imagining a younger Kaden with a mini-him in tow.
“Even with him being two years younger than me, he always got the upper hand.” He grinned, running a hand through his hair. “He also teased me relentlessly about my favorite flavor and how I wasted my options on lemon, of all things.”
I giggled. “Lemon? Really?”
Kaden tossed up a hand. “It’s a severely underappreciated flavor.”
“Well, I have to side with your brother on this one. He sounds like a smart kid.”
Kaden’s jaw flexed, making his scars stand out. “He was.”
Was. As in past tense…
A knot twisted in my stomach. Saylor mentioned that Kaden had lost someone to the Clinic. That must’ve been his brother.
“We should get back.” Kaden uncoiled himself from his chair and took his empty items to the trash can.
Too stunned for words, I tossed back the rest of my lukewarm tea and rose on stiff legs.
When he returned, the icy mask shrouding his features shot straight to the center of my chest. I knew that pain. I was all too familiar with it.
I fumbled for the right thing to say. “Next time, we should get ice cream with our doughnuts. That way, we can both honor the ones we miss.”
The moment those silly words left my mouth I wanted to snatch them back. Like there would be a next time.
Just then, the side door to the coffee shop opened and a determined Coffee-Kitty strode over. No doubt about who she was after.
Fantastic.
Not wanting to witness the oncoming pursuit, I attempted to sidestep out of the way but was impeded by a bionic hand on my waist.
“You have a deal, Firefly,” Kaden whispered. “But only if you help me now.”
Help him? With what—
“I wanted to check and see if there was anything else I can get you?” Coffee-Kitty’s smoky voice intruded on my confused thoughts as a calloused hand curled around the nape of my neck, capturing all my attention.
I felt the heat rolling off Kaden’s body as his intoxicating scent enveloped me. His cologne was extra minty today and sent shivers pulsing through me. Without thinking, my eyes fluttered shut as my hand latched onto the silky material of his athletic shirt. Beneath the thin fabric, I felt the hum of restrained power as his nose brushed against my cheek, the soft contact causing my stupid heart to race.
What was he doing? What was I doing? There were three states’ worth of reasons why I shouldn’t let anything happen between us. But mainly, the temporary transplant situation that was my life right now.
Kaden leaned over to my ear. “I’ll count this as my treat for being a good boy last night.”
My eyes blinked back open, and I dropped my hand.
Kaden turned, a satisfied grin gracing his rugged face. “I’m all good here.”
An exasperated huff sounded out, reminding me we had an audience. I watched Coffee-Kitty walk off.
“I think our performance delivered the message.” Kaden chuckled, sending ice straight to my chest. “Thanks for helping me out.”
Did he really just… I stormed away without looking back.
***As I hurried down the sporadically lit sidewalk, I knew I shouldn’t have stormed off like that. Shouldn’t have let our, um, close encounter get to me so much. But I couldn’t help it. I needed time and space.
Otherwise I was liable to push Kaden. Off the curb. Into traffic.
You know, reasonable impulses after being used for ulterior motives. Not to mention his on-again, off-again non-girlfriend girlfriend whom I’d seen earlier.
I shook myself mentally, struggling to overcome my growing collection of frustrations. But not with Kaden—well, mostly. Mainly with myself. I’d been aware of his reputation, and he’d been very clear about where he stood. And what aggravated me the most?
I’d wanted him to kiss me.
It’d be one thing if it was only about physical attraction—which was present and accounted for. But no, it was his shield-summoning heroics and his stupid lemon-loving personality that were the bigger concern.
And even though I liked Kaden and he seemed to enjoy flirting with me, I reminded myself that nothing actually happened between us. And nothing ever could. Especially since I’d probably be who knows where in the next few days. I needed to stop this little crush from getting blown out of proportion before it turned hazardous.
I dashed across the crosswalk. A couple of cars lined the streets with their hazards flashing, either picking up or dropping off their riders. The few other pedestrians that were out were too engrossed with their own drama to pay any attention to me.
I should figure out where I was. After my quick exit to lose Kaden, I had gotten a little turned around. But taking some time to cool off was probably for the best before I made my way back home—whoa. I’d meant the Breakpoint, but somehow my mind had autocorrected to home. But that wasn’t right. Not even close.
Thankfully, at that moment I spotted a familiar marker—the retail center where I’d bought the lighter earlier—and down the service alley I spied the glowing sign of the pharmacy. From there, I could easily retrace my way back to the Breakpoint—not home.
The pungent smell of the dumpsters made my nose wrinkle, but taking the service alley was a hell of a lot shorter than going all the way around. I passed the empty pharmacy drive-thru—no shock there. Anyone seeking meds at this hour wasn’t looking for the legal variety.
Up ahead, I spied two people and a delivery van outside the pharmacy loading dock. My heart rate sped up as my steps slowed—until I noticed the scrubs. Clearly they were taking a break, which was supported by the lit cigarette in the man with the light blue scrubs’ hand. That or a delivery or pickup was in the works.
I squared my shoulders and resumed my pace as I entered into earshot of their conversation.
“…just need it with the pickup. Come on, it’s not a big deal,” said a woman in plum scrubs. She gave a flick of her fiery red hair, her voice giving sugar cookies a run for their money.
“All right, all right. But you owe me.” Blue-Scrubs extinguished his cancer stick.
“My hero.” Plum-Scrubs placed a hand over her heart.
“Yeah, yeah. Be right back.” Blue-Scrubs chuckled, disappearing through a door.
I had to give props to Plum-Scrubs; she knew how to use her flirtation skills to her advantage. It was never really an art form I’d comprehended. Sure, I understood the premise, but the execution? Not so much. I’d never been the girl with the world wrapped around her finger. It was usually the other way around—the wrappee, instead of the wrapper. And I was fine with that… truly. But if I had to guess, Raine looked like an experienced wrapper—nope. Not going there.
I closed in on the far side of the pharmacy, exchanging a polite smile with Plum-Scrubs. The alarm on her smartwatch went off, reminding me that I should get back to—
Without warning, someone crashed into me, the impact knocking the air from my lungs. Fire radiated along my kneecaps as they slammed into the asphalt, causing my eyes to tear up. There wasn’t even time to scream as a hand clamped over my mouth, cutting off my agonized curse. Only the sudden pressure and biting sting at the side of my neck was enough to pull my attention away from the blazing pain. Had I just been injected with something?
I grasped at the forearm of my attacker as panic dug in and a faint sweet taste coated my tongue. I grappled for my self-defense training, but I was having trouble focusing. It was like my brain was trapped under plastic wrap and the layers were only growing thicker. I swung my elbow back, but my limbs felt weighed down with cement.
“That should calm you down,” a vaguely familiar voice said. “Can’t hide from us.”
Horror paralyzed every muscle as Plum-Scrubs’s statement connected. But then a heavy wave of dizziness washed over me, obliterating everything until the world faded out and there was nothing.