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“Roman!” She fisted the towel to her chest, her knees knocking together. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

A tendril of black turned the lock on the knob. A moment later, the door swung open, and Roman appeared in the doorway. He leaned against the side jamb, hands in the pockets of his tattered gray jeans.

Shay spoke through her teeth. “Just so you know, when a girl barricades herself in the bathroom, it means she wants to be left alone.” She winced as another wave of magic coursed through her.

“You sounded like you were dying in here.” He studied her face—the eyes that were flickering black again. “You’re having a Surge, pup. Nothing to be ashamed about.”

“You need to leave.”

He eased his hands out of his pockets and stepped into the room—

She shot to her feet. “Shadows,” she bit out, burying her hands in the towel. “Stay away from me.”

“What’s going on with you?”

She tried to back away, but there was no room left. The backs of her legs hit the bathtub, and she fell—

Roman made the mistake of catching her. He launched himself forward, his hands closing around her forearms.

“Roman!” she shouted. “Don’t!”

Lightning surged out of her body and into his.

He swore. Let go and stepped back—but it was too late.

Veins of lightning crackled up his arms, snaking into his shoulders and neck. It sparked up the sides of his face and wove between his teeth, lighting up his eyes with ghostly silver light—

“Shadows!” she cried. She reached for him, but froze before she could make the mistake of touching him again. Gods, if she’d killed him—

The crazy bastard suddenly started laughing—actually laughing, even as his eyes watered from the pain. “Wooooo!” he howled, throwing his head back like a wolf and rolling his shoulders. “That’s the most alive I’ve felt in years!” His mouth stretched into a feral grin that showed off all his teeth.

Shay couldn’t help but laugh herself, though hers was breathy and strained. “Usually, a zap smaller than that brings men like you to their knees.”

He clucked his tongue and flexed his jaw until it popped. “Pup, there are no men like me.”

She held up a hand and backed up—as far as she could go without falling again. “Don’t come any closer.” She curled her fingers into a tight fist, and when lightning sparked in her palm, pricking her skin like a hundred little knives, she quickly lowered it. “Please.”

He leaned against the wall. “So…storm magic.” His eyes now danced with amusement instead of lightning. “Is that what causes your headaches?” Damn, he was smarter and more observant than she’d given him credit for.

“The medication takes the edge off the pain, but it also…hides it.” Gods, she’d never told anyone this. “My magic.”

“You don’t want Athene to know.”

She shook her head. “If she finds out I’m more powerful than Anna, she’ll never let me leave the Riptide.”

A crease formed between his brows. “You want to leave?”

“Both of us do. It was the plan, until…” She swallowed. The pulse on the side of her head intensified, and she felt prickles of warning in her palms. She uncurled her fingers, looking down to see tiny little silver sparks dancing across her skin like stars.

Roman was studying her closely, with the kind of empathy in his eyes that she would never have expected from someone like him. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

She closed her hands and looked at him, closer than she should look at someone who was so damn appealing.

The bands of muscle in his arms. The edge of his sharp jaw. The angle of his cheekbones. The shape of his mouth, the left corner flecked with a small scar… Her own mouth dried out at the sight of his, and she felt her core tighten with hot, pulsing need. Her body was coiled like a spring, and before she knew it, that pulse between her thighs doubled in intensity.

Roman immediately picked up on the shift in her body. “Shay—”

“I want to be alone.”