Burning Bright (Going Down in Flames #5)

Bryn came to accept Jaxon as her ever-present escort. He didn’t seem to mind, which was strange, and he even joked around with her. Maybe they were reaching a comfortable stage of their not-quite-real relationsip.

At dinner Thursday night, Bryn was grateful to be alone with Clint and Ivy, which made her feel guilty. “I feel like a terrible person because all I want is to walk somewhere by myself.”

“Being around Jaxon almost twenty-four hours a day has to be an interesting experience,” Clint said. “Who knows, maybe you’ll find some common ground.”

“Maybe. And he’s been great about everything, but I’m pretty sure he’s over there telling his friends that he’s tired of being my shadow.”

Ivy peered past Bryn. “He’s not at his table.”

“What?” Bryn turned around. Quentin sat there with some other Blues, but Jaxon wasn’t one of them. Maybe he was in the food line. She checked the buffet. Nope. “Okay, where did he go?”

“He could be in the restroom,” Clint said. “Give it a few minutes before you panic.”

It seemed like anyone within her gravitational pull eventually ended up in trouble. “I’m hoping my chaos magnet hasn’t rubbed off on him.”

When he didn’t show up in five minutes, Bryn stood and approached Quentin. “Excuse me. Sorry to interrupt, but I noticed Jaxon wasn’t here.”

Quentin pointed at a plate of food, which looked untouched. “He said he’d be back in a minute, but it’s been awhile.”

“Not to raise any red flags, but I’m not a fan of people going anywhere alone.”

“Understandable,” Quentin said. “Why don’t we go check on him.”

Jaxon had known Quentin forever, so Bryn had no reason to mistrust him, but she also didn’t know him very well. “Let’s grab Clint just in case we’re outnumbered.”

Quentin didn’t comment. He just followed Bryn back to her table. “Clint, come for a walk with us.”

Ivy stood. “You’re not leaving me here by myself.”

“The more the merrier,” Bryn said.

“Let’s check the restroom first,” Quentin said.

When they reached the restroom, Clint and Quentin went in and came back out thirty seconds later. “We need to alert the guards. There’s blood on the floor.”

Damn. Damn. Damn. “Clint, you and Ivy go find a guard. Quentin and I will keep looking.”

“If he wasn’t injured, he would’ve come back to our table,” Quentin said.

“Unless someone cut him off.” She looked around, getting her bearings. There was a long hallway to her left. “There are private dining rooms down that hall.” There was a short hallway to her right. “I think that leads to the kitchens.”

“Let’s go this way.” Quentin headed to the private dining rooms.

Splitting up would save time, but it wouldn’t be smart, so Bryn followed him, activating her elemental sword. Quentin glanced back and his eyebrows went up, but he didn’t comment. They approached the first dining room but didn’t see anyone inside.

Voices came from farther down the hall. The words were indistinct. Quentin ran ahead and threw open the door and then laughed. “It looks like we were worried about nothing.”

Bryn pushed past him and saw that Jaxon had a Green male pinned to the wall with one of his elemental swords, while another Green lay bleeding at his feet, trying to stand back up.

“I wouldn’t mind a little help.” Jaxon’s lip was swollen and bleeding and he appeared winded.

Bryn walked over and got a better look at the student on the floor. He was the one who’d pretended to offer help and then drugged her. She turned off her sword and nudged the guy with her foot. “Hello, there. Remember me?” Anger over what he’d done stoked the fire inside of her. She focused on cold and then blasted the young man with ice, building layer after layer until he was covered with ice from the shoulders down. “Not going anywhere now, are you?”

The sound of several people running came from the hallway. Quentin waved out the doorway. “We’re in here.”

Two guards entered and assessed the situation. One approached Jaxon. “Are you all right?”

Jaxon nodded. “I can see myself to the medical clinic.”

“One of us will escort you there, for the sake of protocol. If you’ll release him, I’ll restrain him.”

Jaxon released his elemental swords and the man who’d been pinned against the wall sagged with relief. The guard grabbed his shoulder, spun him around, and not so gently pushed him against the wall before putting on a pair of handcuffs.

The other guard pointed at the Green on the floor. “Who did this?”

Bryn held up her hand. “He’s one of the Greens who ambushed me, and sometimes payback is a bitch.”

The guard nodded. “I’ll have to defrost him.”

“That’s a shame.” Bryn approached Jaxon. “Where are you hurt?”

“Just my face and my pride,” he said.

“Can you give a rundown of what occurred?” the first guard asked as he pulled a small recording device from his pocket and pressed a button.

“There’s not much to tell. These idiots tried to jump me when I was leaving the restroom.”

“That didn’t go how they expected it,” Quentin said.

“No. I’d just washed my hands and reached for a paper towel when the one on the floor tried to grab me and sedate me with a drug-soaked rag. I elbowed him. The other one caught me by surprise with a sucker punch. I activated my elemental swords. After that it was me chasing them down so they couldn’t escape.”

“Your story is way better than mine,” Bryn said.

“I am a Westgate,” Jaxon said in a fake snotty tone.

Bryn laughed.

“So everyone is good?” Ivy said from where she and Clint were peeking in the doorway.

“Yes,” said Jaxon.

After one of the guards hauled their prisoners away, the other guard said, “I could call for a Medic to come here.”

“No. My father would want me to follow protocol.”

Bryn and Jaxon went to the Medical Center with their escort, while Clint and Ivy went to finish dinner with orders to bring two boxes of carryout food back to Bryn’s room.

When they reached the Medical Center, Bryn was less than pleased to find Ferrin waiting for them but held her tongue. Jaxon explained what had happened in a very modest fashion, which surprised her.

“Once again, you have made me proud,” his father said. “I’ll let you know when we have some answers about who these two criminals are and why they went after you.”

Jaxon beamed with pride as his father exited the building.

“If you’ll let me heal you, you can go have your dinner,” the Medic said.

The Medic scanned Jaxon, placing her hand on his head. As Bryn watched, the swelling of his lip receded, and the cut healed to a fine pink line. The woman continued to scan Jaxon. She probably wanted to be thorough since he was the Speaker’s son. She frowned. “Did you forget to mention that one of those men hit you in the ribs?”

“Maybe,” Jaxon said. “I’m sure it’s just bruised. It wasn’t a big deal.”

“One is cracked,” she said. “Take your shirt off.”

Jaxon frowned as he loosened his tie and removed his shirt. An ugly purple bruise decorated the left side of his rib cage.

“What the heck?” Bryn asked.

Jaxon frowned. “They came at me out of nowhere. When the first punch didn’t take me out, the other guy tried to tackle me and rammed me into the sink. I was too busy activating my elemental swords to brace for impact.”

“So the sink cracked your rib?” Bryn said, trying not to smile. She really shouldn’t find any of this funny, but she did. Maybe because it made her feel better that his ambush hadn’t gone as perfectly as he’d said.

“Yes, and that information will not leave this room,” Jaxon said.

“No, it won’t. This falls under patient-client privilege.” The Medic placed her hand on his rib cage and the bruise faded.

Jaxon gave Bryn a questioning look as he put his shirt back on.

“No one will hear it from me,” she said.

He started to knot his tie and then let it hang loose instead. “I think I can be excused for not following the dress code just this once.”

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