Shadowglass by Erica Hayes

crunched into my toes, clawing up my ankle. “Ow! For fuck’s sake.” I kicked again, rage burning deep. The glass cracked like a starfish with a loud crunch, and this time the pain shocked me to silence.
    I struggled to calm my breath, to hold my jerking fingers still. I don’t kick things. I just get angry and hot and sulk for a while. But I couldn’t help it. I wanted to crush something small and weak just to watch it hurt. If I’d had a weapon, I might have used it.
    Fear crawled along my nerves like a cold centipede. This wasn’t me. Was I going mad?
    Squidgy, you still there?
    Silence.
    Scorn darkened Azure’s frown. “Good one, Ice. Break everything. That’ll help.”
    My blood seethed. I crunched my fingers tight until my claws bruised my palms, and rage bubbled and munched, leaving me hot and empty inside. Damn squidgy.
    Quang backed off, lifting his hands. “Look, you guys need to leave—”
    “Not so fast.” Blaze fluttered over the dented counter and parked his cute butt, hooking Quang’s thigh with a shapely ankle. “You never asked about my arrangement.”
    His voice seduced, a familiar sultry tone that crawled a shiver down my legs, quenching my rage.
    He’d used that one on me this morning. Fuck me, Ice. You know you wanna.
    My stomach coiled, discomfort jerking my wings tight. Surely he wouldn’t really . . . Not just for that. He’s got dignity, our Blaze. He screws anything that smells good, but on his terms.
    Quang flushed a darker red and flicked a wary glance at us girls. “What, um, what’d ya have in mind?”
    “I’ll fix your counter,” Blaze suggested coyly, and traced a delicate claw over one of the cracks I’d made. The edges glowed red with fire-fae heat, and glass fused with a steamy hiss, leaving a rippled ridge.
    Quang stared, and swallowed, his imagination no doubt leading him to new and tempting places. “Should hope so.”
    Blaze beckoned, and when Quang leaned closer, Blaze whispered in his crooked ear, a smile curving his lips.
    Quang’s ears curled inward. He dampened his lips with a snaky black tongue. “Oh. Um. Okay.” His voice was barely audible, and Blaze stared him sultry in the eyes without flinching.
    I shifted, squirming. “Blaze, you can’t be seri—”
    “Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do.” Blaze didn’t drop his gaze. “Fuck it. See ya downstairs.”
    Az’s face paled like dawn sky. “Blaze—”
    “Save it, Az. You don’t wanna see, leave.” He twisted Quang’s brittle orange hair in his fist, and when Quang dropped to his knees, I grabbed Azure’s hand and dragged her toward the stairwell.
    On the way down the creaking stairs, my guts writhed like I’d stuffed them with worms. I didn’t want to hear, but I couldn’t help straining my ears. I couldn’t hear anything, and my nerves stretched even tighter.
    Azure clomped behind me, her hand stiff and cold in mine, and as we squeezed onto the sunset-stained sidewalk, she ripped her hand away and rounded on me, big eyes glimmering emerald with tears. “You shoulda stopped him.”
    Her accusation bit me like a horsefly. Tears sprang to my own eyes, my vision glaring cyan in the sun. Blaze is a sweet guy beneath all that vanity. I don’t give a damn whom he does—boys or girls, spriggans or banshees or humans, for all I care—but as far as I know, he’s never prostituted himself before. “I tried to stop him, Az.”
    “Shoulda tried harder. He never listens to me. It’s your fault, Ice.”
    “Is not!” People sidled past us on the skinny footpath, and I tucked my wings in and tried to keep my voice down below the traffic noise.
    “It is too. You’re the negotiator. You shoulda made Quang take our deal.” That infuriating childish lilt crept into her voice.
    Ire jabbed like she’d poked me with a pitchfork, but guilt pierced me sharper, all the way to my heart. It was my fault. I’d brought the squidgy home, and now to get rid of it, Blaze was . . . I didn’t