blow your identity? I’ve been covering your ass. You aren’t as obscure and discreet as you think you are.”
I scowled. He was right. I knew I’d been sloppy and made mistakes in the past few months. The King’s Contest had me distracted.
But that was over now. I wasn’t distracted anymore.
“You have to be careful. If anyone finds out you know who I am, you’ll be a target,” I said lowly.
“Like that’s different from any other day of the week. My ass is already a target for being your friend. Good thing I’ve got some firepower to back you up. I’m bringing the heat. In more ways than one.” Stefan blew out a puff of smoke, then wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Dragon shifters were insufferable creatures. “Your puns are awful. You should get a better sense of humor.”
Stefan gave a dramatic groan. “Come on, man. You’ve been a crabby bastard ever since you lost the Contest. Are you going to act like this when Emma comes back?”
At the mention of Emma, I froze. It both hurt and made me feel wonderful to hear her name. She’d been the reason we’d lost the King’s Contest.
But she was also my mate. And my very reason for breathing. Existing without her was like no kind of existence at all, and I’d hardly been living since she left to spend Christmas in Krakow with her mother. We’d parted the night of the King’s Contest with tense words, and hadn’t spoken... or seen each other.
Her absence from my life, even for a few short weeks, was the main reason I was losing my mind.
“We had an agreement not to talk about Emma,” I began.
“Because you still needed time to cool off. But school starts in a few days. She’ll be back from her vacation with her mom any day now,” Stefan said . “She doesn’t need a guilt trip from you on how she fucked up. She feels bad enough.”
I took a deep breath. The last thing I wanted was Stefan lecturing me on my love life. “Why don’t you worry about your relationship with Delmare?” Which was nonexistent, by the way, because they weren’t together— though it was obvious Stefan pined for her.
It was a low blow, but effective. Stefan’s tone became darker. “We’re talking about you right now, not me. I’m not the one wearing a mask and running around like a psycho torturing Black Claw cultists. You’ve got issues, man.”
“I wasn’t torturing anyone,” I sneered.
Stefan snorted. “Yeah. That’s why there’s blood all over your cloak. It’s like you think I don’t know you at all.”
I glanced down at the bloodstains, then glared Stefan’s way. “What I do as the Phantom is my business.”
“Dude, can’t you see that I’m worried about you?” Stefan came forward and placed his hands on my shoulders. “You haven’t been the same since the Contest ended. It’s like... I don’t know. You’re turning into someone I don’t recognize.”
I shrugged him away. “Maybe it’s better this way.”
“Better how? We all agreed to make a plan to take down Gabby and Elijah, together,” Stefan said. “Are you going to turn your back on that now?”
“No. But you don’t understand. I work by myself.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Stefan said forcefully. “This is too big for you to handle on your own. If you take them and the Black Claw on by yourself as the Phantom, you’re going to get hurt. This is too tough a job for one man. Let us help.”
I know Stefan had the right intentions. His heart was in the right place. But he didn’t get it. The closer people got to the Phantom, the more danger they were in.
And after the King’s Contest ended, I didn’t know how to let people in anymore.
“Just let me do my job.” My voice hardened, to indicate this was a final note. “I need to do this alone.”
Stefan scoffed. “You’re never alone, Ethan. You’ve got friends. And once you pull your head out of your ass and realize that, come find me.”
Stefan left. The door snapped shut behind him, echoing the strained intensity between us.
As I removed the cloak, it crumpled on the floor in a heap. Looking at it now, there was more blood on it than I realized.
Stefan could be right. I needed help— I knew that. Doing this by myself was impossible. I’d gotten caught how many times... nearly died just as often.
But I wouldn’t put my friends in the same situation I was in. I couldn’t ask them to risk