Destiny's Fire - By Trisha Wolfe Page 0,13

Narcos came forward. “You better watch your mouth, Shythe.” He rubbed his hands together, and red sparked in their center. “We’ve been given clearance to defend ourselves if we feel threatened.” He leered at Jace.

“Just stay the hell out of our way, and we’ll stay out of yours,” Jace said. “Don’t even think of going back to Cogs.” He laced his arms over his chest.

Reese matched Jace’s stance. “That sounds like a threat.” He looked around at his buddies. “It’s not your club. We have every right to be there.”

Nick stepped forward. “We were there first!”

Jace rolled his eyes, pushing his brother back down. “Let me handle it,” he said under his breath. He turned back toward Reese. “Don’t go back there. And if I see you so much as look at Dez, I’ll knock those beady red eyes right out of your skull.”

“Dez?” Reese raised his eyebrows and looked at me. “I like it.” He winked.

Nick latched onto Jace right before he bolted toward Reese. He hauled him back to where Lana and I stood. “Jace,” Nick said. “Let it go, man. They’re just looking to get us into trouble.”

“Dammit.” Jace gritted his teeth. “I can’t wait until we get our full power. Screw the Treaty Act.” He climbed onto his levibike and fired it up.

He offered me his hand, and I took it, seating myself behind him. Lana and Nick took off ahead of us. Jace gave the Narcos one last glare before we sped off. I glanced back, and Reese was staring at me, a grin on his face. I couldn’t understand why he was singling me out. If Reese wanted to get Jace to fight, why was he picking on me?

I shook my head and stared at the cobbled roadway ahead of us. Whatever his tactic, it was working. Jace was pissed. And come next week, after his change, I was scared Jace really would end the Treaty Act.

We decided on Haven Community Park for the picnic. I wanted the soothing effect of nature to help calm Jace, but he wanted to calm down in his own way. Sparring. We both agreed the woods were the safest choice. It was secluded, and we’d be able to train without being seen.

We rode past the iron gates and parked next to the bike ramp.

Lana bounced off the back of Nick’s levibike. “Well, that was fun.” She adjusted her mini-corset and grabbed her leather duffle and the food.

I straightened my blouse, watching Jace from the corner of my eye. He was still fuming. I’d always known how he felt about the Narcos, but seeing him react fully to their presence unnerved me. It made me fear the possibility of him discovering my secret that much more.

I grabbed my small canvas satchel from the side of the levibike and followed them into the woods. After a while of walking, we chose a small clearing about a mile past the park. The ground was hard and covered with pine straw. It was perfect, and practicing outside in natural elements was something we had yet to do.

I trailed behind Lana farther into the woods while Jace and Nick ate their lunch. We couldn’t spar in corsets and blouses, so we always packed a change of clothes for the club basement. Of course, at the club, we had a bathroom to change in.

Releasing a frustrated breath, I realized I hadn’t packed any clothes because we hadn’t planned to spar today. Crap.

“Hey, Lane.” I glanced around the woods. “I don’t have anything to wear. And even if I did, where are we supposed to change, anyway?”

“I have something you can borrow. And I guess, behind a tree?” She shrugged and stalked off behind a large pine. My shoulders slumped as I followed her, missing Cogs. I was starting to despise Reese.

Lana handed me a tiny tank and too-short shorts. “What are these?” I asked.

She glared at me. “Sparring clothes.”

“For who? A baby?” Lana was smaller than me—petite. I wasn’t tall by any means, but over the past few months, I’d developed some major curves. And my normal sparring clothes were leather breeches and a baggy shirt. Why did my best friend have to be such a girl?

She huffed. “You’ll look fine. Better than fine. Someone might actually notice you’re a girl in those.” She rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, Dez. It’s just us. What haven’t my brothers seen before? We used to bathe together.”

“Yeah, but we were like five then.” I sucked it