Ignited (Ignited Series, #1) Chapters 1-8

Chapter 4

"Shit," Alec muttered under his breath as his arm dropped from around my shoulders.

It was him—my mystery guy, my secret, my whatever-he-was. He stepped forward, into the eerie glow cast by the parking lot's lone street light, and I saw his face. In faded jeans, a grey long sleeved thermal shirt, and a tattered blue baseball cap, he didn't appear threatening. Yet, he had Alec on edge...

And me confused. Aside from his unexpected presence at the school a few weeks ago, that I still thought he hadn't meant for me to know about, he only showed up when I was in some sort of trouble. Surely, he didn't think I was in danger now.

His eyes moved from me to Alec, shifted from curious to menacing. From the way he stared at Alec, and the way Alec glared in return, it almost seemed as if they knew each other. From the tension that radiated off both of them, it was clear they were not friends.

"Hey, Kris," Alec said without looking at me. "Why don't you go wait in the car?"

He held out his car keys to me, but I didn't take them, hesitant to leave the two of them alone on a dark empty trail. It didn't seem like a good idea with the way they were sizing each other up. Anyone with half a brain could have smelled the fight brewing.

"She's not going anywhere. I know your buddies are lurking around here somewhere."

"There's no one else," Alec returned.

The guy snorted and, in a flash, lunged at Alec and pinned him against the rock wall as I watched with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. "What do you want with her?" he growled, and shoved Alec's head against the hard earth wall.

It looked like it hurt, a lot, but Alec barely seemed fazed. If anything, he looked annoyed. "So...you're the one?"

The one? It wasn't possible. Alec couldn't know my secret. Yet, he knew something...

"I'm surprised you kept such a distance until now." Alec's gaze fell on me and, in that second, he didn't look like the Alec I knew. He looked dark, dangerous even.

My eyes flicked between the two. Both of them, both of whom I thought I knew, in different ways, at different times, were strangers to me.

"You let me get so close..." Alec continued his icy taunt.

"Long enough for me to realize you're up to something." The other guy slipped a hand under his shirt and produced a knife, which he pressed to Alec's neck. Alec pushed against the wall, in an attempt to put distance between himself and the blade, but he had nowhere to go.

It took me a stunned moment to register the appearance of the knife, and now that I saw it, I realized it didn't look like any ordinary knife. Its sharply curved blade caught the faintest light, and seemed to sparkle with an unnatural radiance. It was actually a pretty knife. Aesthetics aside, it was deadly, and currently pressed to Alec's neck.

I stepped forward in Alec's defense. Both sets of eyes turned to me, both looking as if they had forgotten I was there.

The one with the knife looked irritated. "Stay out of this," he said.

"Like hell I will."

Before I could take another step, I was shoved to the side, and fell to the ground several feet away. Sounds of a struggle reached my ears as I got to my feet. Apparently, after my mystery guy had pushed me out of the way, Alec had tackled him. The two toppled over in a deadly wrestle for control—fists flying and connecting. The occasional flash of the blade caught the light.