Smolder by Abigail Livinghouse (best young adult book series TXT) 📕

Dimitri's lively eyes widened, and he shook his head with more strength than I thought he could muster. "No. Not in a million years."

Felix sighed, leaning against the wall next to the now empty doorframe. "I can wait. Keep In mind, I can stand here all day for weeks at a time. But you, your time is limited."

He checked a nonexistent watch on his wrist and smirked, because he knew that we were all too aware that he was right.

"You have to go with him." I said. Dimitri frowned at me, shaking his head.

"You don't understand, I can't risk infecting anyone there. It's too much of a chance to take."

"You can't just sit here and die." I snapped, frustrated that he was acting with no regard for his life.

Dimitri looked at Felix, no longer listening to what I had to say. I felt my face flush as my fire flickered to life. I wasn't a child who needed to be coddled, and Dimitri didn't need it either. What he needed was aid, some sort of medical attention. I didn't want to get my hopes up that he would survive, but trying was better than wasting time in an abandoned apartment.

"She's right." I tuned back in to the conversation and to my surprise heard Felix defending me.  "You're not prone to giving up, Veksler, and I'm not going to let you give up now."

I blinked, surprised at Felix's compassionate words for Dimitri. I hadn't known he actually cared about some of his Prophets, that he saw them as humans and not just weapons. It was the first kind thing I'd ever heard Felix say. He shot me a look of disgust, rolling his eyes.

"And it will be the last, if Dimitri doesn't get in the fucking car." Felix snapped.

That was also the first time I had ever heard him curse like that. I rubbed the back of my neck, uncomfortably shifting my weight from foot to foot.

"Just do as he says." I said, addressing Dimitri who continued to ignore me and stare at the floor.

Felix shook his head. "I hoped I wouldn't have to do this."

And before any of us could react he picked up Dimitri, slung him over his shoulder like a child, and began descending the stairs. I hurried after them, grabbing Dimitri's bag. Dimitri seemed resigned to his fate, he didn't even struggle against Felix. Once we got out in the open, I held my knife at the ready. There weren't many Half Deads wandering, but just the sight of them set my teeth on edge.

Outside, Felix had the same black Sedan parked at the entrance of the apartment. He opened up the backseat and tossed Dimitri in, opening up the passenger side for me. I climbed in, buckling up and digging my fingernails into the seat. I hadn't forgotten how Felix drove, like a bat out of hell, and I wasn't about to nearly go flying like last time.

Dimitri grunted from the back as he sat up looking around and seeming to realize where he was. His eyes widened and he screamed. "Get me out of here! I'm not going with you!"

He put his hand on the door handle, and I spun around in my seat, ready to stop him. I held my palm out, feeling my fire warming it.

 "Don't make me do this." I warned sternly.

Before I even had a chance to do anything, Felix took off at full speed. My head slammed against the seat's headrest and Dimitri's bounced off the side of the window, affectively knocking him unconscious.

I relaxed against my seat and brushed stray hair out of my eyes. I glanced over at Felix, whose eyes were firmly locked on the road. I pursed my lips, and said what was on my mind anyway.

"Do you have a cure? For the Plague? And you just haven't shared it with the rest of the world so that everything can be fixed?" I asked. Even after the words were out, I knew they sounded childish and needy. However, I didn't really care. My main concern right now was finding out if Dimitri would live or not.

Felix's hands tightened on the wheel and he sighed. "I wish it was that simple, Sirenia."

I deflated, my shoulders slouching. So that was that. There really was no cure, and Felix was just trying to buy Dimitri some time. I didn't expect Felix to elaborate further, but he spoke up again.

"Madrassa. She's one of my Prophets. She's a healer, and she can cure the Plague."

I was silent for a few moments, soaking in what Felix had just told me. A cure, for the Plague that had been mercilessly destroying the world for six years. And Felix was keeping it all to himself. At first my thoughts screamed selfish. How could he be so selfish? He had the power to save the world, which is what I had assumed he wanted to do, and he was keeping it to himself?

Except there was another part of me that completely understood why he was keeping it to himself. There would be a huge uproar if word got out that there was a girl who could cure the Plague. People would be killing one another just to get close to her. She would be put in huge danger if anyone shared her secret. In Felix's own way, he was protecting her.

I swallowed, finding the first question that came to mind. "How old is she?"

"Only seven. She doesn't even fully understand what she can do. The power she holds, or how compromising it could be to her safety." Felix said in anger, shaking his head. "If Cal knew-"

Felix was cut off when a body went flying into the windshield. He swerved, and I didn't even have a chance to scream before the body went sprawling across the hood.  

"Do you know what you've just done?!" I shrieked at Felix, about to unbuckle my seatbelt when he reached out and touched my arm, stopping me.

I stared frantically at him, my body shaking with adrenaline. He had just hit someone. It seemed so unreal. Car accidents just didn't happen anymore, at least not that anyone heard about. And we were just sitting here.

"We have to help them!" I said breathlessly, reaching for my seatbelt again when Felix gripped my wrist.

"I don't think you should see this, Sirenia." He cautioned, and got out of the car without another word.

I watched him, weighing my options. I wasn't sure which was worse; staying here and doing nothing or disregarding Felix's orders. While contemplating, I watched. I watched Felix pick up the person by their shirt, set them on their feet, and calmly say something to them. Whoever it was, was alive and well even after the hit. I watched, dumbfounded, as the man and Felix shook hands after they were finished with their discussion.

The guy's hair was tinged red, and he stood with a knife held in his right hand, a gun tucked in the waistband of his jeans. I frowned. There was something familiar about the way he stood and held his weapons. Something from another time, it seemed another lifetime, came floating to the forefront of my memory. He holds his knife like that, in his right hand, clutched so tightly you can see the whites of his knuckles.

A surge of excitement blossomed in my chest, and I tried to squash it, but it refused to be contained. That couldn't be him, it just couldn’t.

And just as I thought it, the man turned around, and I was staring right into the sky blue eyes of Trenton Albany. The one who tried to take me as a hostage of Cal's. The one who, at a time, I thought I loved.

Trenton's face went blank before he said something to Felix. It seemed he didn't get the answer he was looking for, because he scowled and shook his head, jutting his chin at me. Felix put up his hands in a gesture of confusion, but Trenton wasn't having it. He went to move past Felix, to the passenger side of my door, and Felix abruptly sprang into action. It appeared with barely any effort, he took hold of Trenton and easily wrapped him in a chokehold. Trenton gagged, shouting something at Felix.

All the while I sat in stunned silence, not moving a muscle. There were so many questions I had for Trenton, so many things I wished I would've said before all of this happened. But I knew there would be plenty of time for that later, and now certainly was not it.

I took a breath, moving my fingers and managing to unbuckle my seatbelt. I rested my hand on the door handle, and that's as far as I got before I stopped. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to do this. If I really wanted to go out there and talk to Trenton. A part of me, the one that had its hand ready to open the door, said: this is Trenton. Trenton. The boy who found you and offered you a place to stay. You should be ashamed you're not out there already just to talk to him.

And then there was the other part of me, the one keeping me in place and in the car, was saying that this is Trenton. The boy who valued the life of a lowlife maniac over mine, a person he supposedly cared about. Felix had once told me that Trenton loved me, but in the past few days I spent with his and Isabella's group, I hadn't felt any of that affection Felix was talking about.

 He doesn't love me, he loves his group and the safety of his group. And there's nothing wrong with that, but Trenton values the wellbeing of the whole rather than any individual. While that's a great strategy when it comes to fighting, if you're looking after a group as a caregiver than it can backfire badly. Which is exactly what happened when Trenton and I reunited.

I turned around and looked at Dimitri, still asleep in the back seat after he took the blow to his head. I reached back, despite all of his warning and foreboding, and touched his cheek lightly with my knuckles. My fingertips