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more superior. “ Wanted you.
He wanted you. As of two days ago, he wants me. He wants to be a family for
Sunny, the kind of family we were before.”
    I
ran my tongue over my teeth, fire inside my mouth, burning, blistering. Surely
there was something I could say to make her understand the depths of her
betrayal. Surely there was something I could do. Surely… please . “Once
you said you knew he wasn’t the man for you, that he would love another. What’s
changed?”
    “Everything,”
she shouted, tossing up her arms. “The world offered me a second chance and I
took it. I won’t make the same mistake twice. He and I can—will—make things
work this time.”
    Oh,
that burned. In more ways than one. “Let’s forget about Rome for a minute. How
could you do this to Tanner? He treated you like a queen. Worshipped you, would
have done anything for you.”
    Again
guilt curtained her expression, but as before, she quickly masked it. “He’s
young, and I’m not the girl for him.”
    Damn
her! “Again, that doesn’t excuse your cruelty. He’s a good guy, and you broke
his heart as if he meant nothing to you. As if he was nothing.”
    “Trust
me, he’ll get over it. Sooner than you think, too.”
    What
did that mean? That Tanner was about to meet the love of his life? I’d wondered
that very thing a few days ago and had even felt sorry for Lexis. Not an ounce
of my pity remained. “Knowing that doesn’t make what you’ve done okay, either.
You’re ruining people’s lives.”
    “No,”
she insisted. “I’m making things right. Finally.”
    Clearly,
I’d made her understand nothing. I braced my feet apart, my hands at my sides,
preparing for the battle soon to come. “Just so you know, Miss Know-It-All,
you’re not the girl for Rome, either.”
    “I
will be. Just watch and see.”
    I
swung my arm and, though I’d been aiming for her nose, I nailed her in the
cheek again. She gasped, straightened, another trickle of blood joining the
first. “That’s for what you’ve done to Rome.” My other arm whipped out,
connecting with her other cheek. “That’s for Tanner.” Now, for me. I clasped
both hands together, ready to slam my joined knuckles into her nose.
    She
sucker punched me in the face before I could move an inch. In fact, her arm
flew up so quickly, I had no idea she was moving until my brain slammed into my
skull.
    Several
seconds passed during which I saw nothing but stars. But when I realized what
had happened, my anger ratcheted yet another degree, a flame sparking from my
eye and catching on my eyelash. Control. No fire. If I burned her to a
crisp, I’d be incarcerated, considered a scrim even though she was the
criminal here.
    “I
warned you,” she said. “Rome taught me to play dirty, too.”
    I
blew out the flame, though my attention never left her. “That’s all right. I’ve
learned a few tricks on my own.”
    She
waved her hand at me. “Bring it.”
    So
I did. Silent as a cat— my cat—I launched at her. Amid the chorus of
male laughter and insincere pleas to stop, we slammed together and tumbled
backward. Lexis hit the floor, and my weight smacked into her. Any air she’d
managed to suck in previously was expelled in a gust.
    While
she struggled to breathe, I straddled her, my knees pinning her shoulders.
There would be no hair-pulling and scratching in this fight. We’d settle this
like men. Superstrong, paranormally-enhanced men, but whatever. With my left
fist—oops, a flame—I popped her in the nose. She yelped. With my right—what do
you know, another flame—I nailed her in the jaw. Snarling, she wiggled for
freedom. Blood dribbled down her lip and chin, and black soot smudged her
too-perfect face.
    The
laughter faded, the muttered “Stops” becoming real, concerned. No one dared
approach us, though, fearing for their lives.
    As
I reached back to introduce her eye socket to my knuckles, one of her legs
worked between us and kicked. Next thing I knew, I was