Burn Like Fire (17 page)

“That was actually a piece I wrote myself,” Caroline said with a small smile. “It was the composition piece that got me into Juilliard.

“It’s beautiful.” Gabe paused. “What was your inspiration?”

A darker blush blossomed on Caroline’s cheeks. “It’s going to sound really lame, but it’s about love.”

Gabe narrowed his eyes at her. “Why would that sound lame? Aren’t most composers usually inspired somehow by love when they write their songs?”

Caroline batted her long, dark eyelashes. “Well, it’s sort of lame because . . . it’s not something I’ve ever experienced before. It’s just about the type of love that I hope to never experience one day because it just seems so . . . sad.”

“What type of love is that?” Gabe asked, feeling a nervous feeling wash over him. He was afraid that he might not meet this Caroline’s criteria. The Caroline who he had once known hadn’t been rich, so her expectations hadn’t been out of the ordinary. But it was obvious that Caroline
Nichols had grown up privileged. Gabe wouldn’t be surprised if one of her expectations for love was a rich man or, at the very least, a
human
man. Maybe the idea of loving a poor man was what seemed sad to her

“The type of love that you think you can’t live without, but that you know you can’t live with, either. It’s about the love that you lose because there’s no other way.”

Chapter 34

Early the next morning, Lexi felt Dan tugging at her arm. “Lexi, it’s time to get up,” he whispered. “We have to leave soon.”

Groggily, Lexi climbed out of bed. She went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth. She decided to leave her hair down and applied some eye shadow, mascara, and a clear lip gloss. If she was going to risk facing Greg Lawrence and anyone else from Briar Creek who hated her, she wanted to look her absolute best.

Lexi quickly changed into a pair of dark wash jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. As she opened the bedroom door that led to the hallway, she nearly collided with Anna, who stared back at her.

“Are you as nervous as I am?” Anna asked, in a voice that was low enough that no one else could hear her.

“Of course,” Lexi replied. “But the sooner we leave, the sooner we can get this over with.”

“Do you think you should call your dad and see if Huntington is still under attack?”

Lexi shook her head. “No, I don’t want to give him any idea that I’m going to be there today. Besides, I think if things calmed down enough, he probably would have let me know. They must still be under attack for him to not want me there yet.”

Anna nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

As they started out down the hallway, Gabe came over to them. “We’re leaving now, right?”

Lexi nodded. “Yeah, as soon as everyone’s all ready to leave.” She turned to Anna. “Did you pack enough stakes and matches for everyone?”

Anna nodded. “Yup, I have them all in this bag,” she said, holding up a duffle bag. She unzipped it and handed a stake to Gabe and two to Lexi. “Give one of those to Dan whenever he’s ready.”

“Okay, I will.” She glanced into the kitchen, but she didn’t see Dan there. As she approached the living room, Lexi heard Dan and Caroline talking in hushed voices. She stood in the doorway to listen, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying through the French doors.

Caroline glanced up and looked in the direction of where Lexi was standing. Since Lexi didn’t want to get caught eavesdropping, she moved away from the door.

A few moments later, Dan came walking out of the living room and leaned over to plant a kiss on her cheek.

Lexi smiled at him. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, I’m good. Unfortunately, though, my sister is coming with us,” Dan replied, sighing.

“Caroline’s coming?” Lexi asked with raised eyebrows. “Why?”

“Because I’m not letting you guys go alone,” Caroline said from behind her. Rolling her eyes, she added, “I can’t just sit here at home and wait for you guys to come back. I’d be worrying the whole time that you might die. Danny’s afraid I’ll get hurt, but I’m pretty sure I can take care of myself. I mean, you’re human, too, right? And he’s letting you go.”

Lexi glanced over at Dan, hoping that he would give her a sign that would let her know that she should just tell Caroline the truth about her immortality. When he didn’t, Lexi just laughed nervously. “Yeah, you should be able to hold your own.”
There
, she thought.
I didn’t exactly lie to Caroline. I just didn’t correct her when I probably should have.

“Thank you!” Caroline beamed at her. “So, see, Danny? Lexi thinks I can come, too. So, I’m coming. You’ll just have to get over it.”

Dan’s face remained stony, but he nodded. “Okay, whatever,” he mumbled.

“I’m going to go get ready. I’ll be back in, like, two minutes.” Caroline bounded out of the room happily.

Dan turned to Lexi. “Why did you say that to her?”

Lexi frowned. “I didn’t know I said something wrong. I’m sorry.”

Dan’s jaw hardened and he stared at the ceiling for a moment. Finally, he let out a loud sigh. “You made it seem like it was a good idea for her to come along. I know it’s not your fault, but . . . I just think she wants to go with us because she has a crush on Gabe.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because she’s never tried to include herself in my life before. And now she has this crush on Gabe and, suddenly, she wants to tag along?” Dan shook his head in disgust. “It’s obvious that’s why.” He glanced over at Lexi. “Do you think you can give her that talk about Gabe now?”

Lexi hesitated. “I . . . I guess. But, look, it seems like Caroline’s mind is already made up. She’s coming with us, whether you like it or not. Instead of putting everyone on edge and having this talk right now, I’ll do it once we get back here, okay?”

Dan shrugged. “Yeah, I guess that’s fine.”

“Good,” Lexi replied. “Now, come on. We need to get going.” Once they reached the front door, they found that Anna, Austin, Gabe, and Caroline were already waiting for them.

Caroline cleared her throat. “Um, so, I tend to get car sick unless I’m the one who’s driving. So, I think I’m going to take to my own car to Huntington. I don’t know how to get there, though.”
She turned to Gabe. “Will you come along so you can show me?”

Gabe smiled. “Sure.” He turned to Lexi and Dan. “We’ll meet you guys there.”

Lexi nodded. “Okay, be careful.” She watched as they slipped out the front door and climbed into Caroline’s Lancer before turning to Dan. “Are we ready to get this show on the road?”

“As ready as we can ever be, I guess,” Dan mumbled.

*

On the way to Huntington, Lexi reached over and grabbed Dan’s hand. His tense grip around her hand worried her.

“I’m sorry Caroline wanted to come. I shouldn’t have encouraged her.”

Dan shrugged. “I’m more worried about you. Caroline will probably be okay. None of them know who she is. You’re their main target.”

“Hey, it’s going to be okay,” Lexi told him quietly. “Like Anna pointed out, we don’t even know if I can die. I feel like I need to worry more about you than me.”

Dan gave her a small smile. “Don’t worry about me. I’m not going to die.”

“None of us are going to die,” Austin chimed in from the front seat. “And if one of us does, let’s hope it’s Gabe.”

“Austin, that’s a horrible thing to say!” Anna scolded him. Lexi could hear from the displeased tone of Anna’s voice that she was really annoyed by Austin’s comment. It had sort of annoyed Lexi, too, but she didn’t want to start some sort of argument with her cousin right before they got to Huntington. It would only make things worse for everyone.

They drove in silence the rest of the way to Huntington. When they finally arrived, Austin parked the car across the street from the school.

As they climbed out of the car, Lexi glanced over at the building. Apparently, they had gotten the fire under control; Lexi was surprised to see that there wasn’t a blaze actively burning. But what she did see was the ashy remains where some of the trees in the schoolyard had once been, as well as the boarded up windows.

The school already looked so different on the outside. Lexi was almost afraid to see what it looked like on the inside.

“Come on, let’s go inside,” Dan said, tugging her hand.

Lexi glanced over at him, hoping he didn’t see the tears that were beginning to form behind her eyes. She followed him, Austin, and Anna towards the building.

“Should we wait for Gabe and Caroline?” Lexi asked.

“Nah, they’ll figure out where we are,” Austin replied, waving his hand in the air at the suggestion.

Lexi didn’t argue. She followed him to the brick building. When they made it to one of the entrances without being approached by any security guards, she wondered why. Shouldn’t the security guards be taking extra steps to make sure that no one was getting into the school after the attack?

It crossed her mind that maybe something had happened to the guards during the attack.

Once they stepped inside the building, Lexi’s suspicions were quickly disproved when she saw Noah standing in the hallway. He glanced up when he saw them.

“Hey, guys. I know you weren’t around, but you heard what happened, right?” Noah asked.

“Yeah, my dad called me.” Lexi glanced around the hallways of the school. It looked like everything was charred. It made her sick to think that Greg Lawrence had caused so much damage to the school, the place that she thought of as her home. She glanced back at Noah. “I’m so, so sorry this happened. This whole thing . . . It’s all my fault.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Lexi. This is no one’s fault except for Greg Lawrence’s. Well, and the ones who helped him.” Noah sighed. “My cousin was involved, too.”

“Brandon?” Dan asked.

Noah nodded sadly. “Yeah, he was one of the first people who came here and tried breaking in through the windows after the place was already on fire.” His face twisted in disgust. “I can’t believe that my own cousin would do something like this.”

“I’m sorry. That’s gotta suck,” Austin said. “Brandon always seemed like such a cool kid.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, too,” Lexi offered lamely. She wasn’t about to tell Noah that it didn’t surprise her that Brandon could be involved in something like this, though. Lexi knew that Mary-Kate had been cheating on Austin with Brandon. If Brandon could be involved with Mary-Kate, who had been her biggest enemy, there was no doubt in Lexi’s mind that he was a part of Greg Lawrence’s posse.

“Did anyone get hurt?” Lexi asked Noah.

Noah nodded sadly. “Yes, unfortunately, there were a few casualties.”

“Who?” Lexi wasn’t even sure why she wanted to know; it wasn’t like she knew anyone else who went to Huntington. She’d been too wrapped up in all of her own personal drama to take the
time to actually get to know anyone’s names. It made her feel like shit now.

“Melissa Bernstein, Andrew Lansky, and Roberta Stine,” Noah replied. “All of them were first year students. There were also a few injured, including Professor Fleur.”

Professor Fleur
. Lexi felt a knot form in the pit of her stomach. It hadn’t even crossed her mind that someone she might care about—like her favorite teacher—could have been injured during this. “Is he going to be okay?”

Noah met her eyes. Choosing his words carefully, he explained, “They’re not sure. He’s had a lot of damage to his lungs. His tissues seem to be re-growing at a slower rate than they normally should and no one’s sure why. Since he’s a vampire, his tissue should have been mending itself on its own by now. And it is mending, just slower than it should. It seems hopeful, but it’s hard to say right now.”

“Well, where is he?” Lexi questioned. “I want to visit him.”

“They’re being kept at Doc Knapp’s practice. He’s one of the best doctors with a focus in vampire medicine in the country,” Noah explained. “Unfortunately, though, you can’t visit Professor Fleur. As of right now, they’re not allowing any of the injured victims to have any visitors aside from immediate family members.”

“Oh.” Lexi’s face fell. Somehow, that knowledge made her feel even sadder. From what she understood, Professor Fleur didn’t have any living family. He’d been changed into a vampire later in life by his boyfriend, Ricardo. Ricardo had passed away a few years ago, though.

Noah handed Lexi his cell phone. “Here, give me your phone number. If anything changes—if they have any updates on Professor Fleur’s condition or if they start to allow visitors—I’ll let you know.”

Lexi nodded and entered her cell phone number in Noah’s address book. When she handed the phone back to him, she asked, “So, is the attack over, then?”

Running a hand over his dark hair, Noah shrugged. “It’s really hard to say at this point. Everything has stabilized for the time being, but . . . we’re expecting them to come back eventually. Whether it’s going to be right now or later on, we don’t know yet.” He glanced over at Lexi. “It’s also going to depend on if they get word that you’re here.”

Lexi crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, I hope they find out. If they’re going to come back, I want it to be when I’m here.”

Noah frowned. “You need to be careful. They’re going to come at you hard next time. You need to be prepared.”

Lexi nodded. “I’m more than prepared. Is there anything we can do to help?”

Noah nodded. “Yeah, you guys can help us clean up. We have a lot we need to do if this place is ever going to be used again. As it is, the school’s on an indefinite hiatus so we can rebuild everything that’s been lost.”

At that moment, the door behind them was pushed open and Gabe and Caroline walked inside. Gabe’s hair, which was starting to get pretty long, looked ruffled. He was laughing at something Caroline had said. Their arms hung next to them, their hands almost touching.

Lexi smiled. Maybe she didn’t feel so bad about the fact that Gabe had moved on from her already, after all. It sort of made her life easier, in a way. She felt better about her decision to be with Dan now that Gabe had someone, too.

As if reading her mind, Dan reached over and grabbed her hand. Lexi felt her skin tingle at his touch.

“So, if you want to start with those rooms over there,” Noah said, pointing his chin down the hallway. “Decide if there’s anything that looks salvageable and put it in the bags to save. Sound good?”

Lexi nodded. “Yeah, we’ll do that.” She led her friends down the hall and stopped at the first room. Everything inside seemed to be burnt to a crisp except for a picture frame that hung on one of the walls above the bed. It had a picture of a girl and a guy. His arm was draped over her shoulders, and they were smiling into the camera.