Into the Fire (18 page)

“Ugh, and she’s going to have her dirty hands all over my Rob.”

“Why do you like him? You could do so much better.”

“Didn’t we have this conversation already?”

“No, because you avoided it.”

“Then let’s avoid it again and talk more about the party. You want to pick me up, since you can’t exactly go with Logan without your mom freaking out?”

“I haven’t told her I’m going or worked out the details with Logan.”

“Great, Cara. Maybe you won’t be going at all. I’ll find another ride.”

“Why don’t you plan to hang out with Nick tonight? He could probably use the company, and then you won’t be watching Rob and Tanya.”

“You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?”

“Pushing Nick on me. I don’t know why you want me to date him anyway. I’d be screwing up a friendship and breaking up our group. You guys don’t even like Rob, so if we dated and broke up, we could cut him right out.”

I laugh. “Nice to know you’re planning ahead.”

“Speaking of which, is that hot younger brother of yours coming tonight?”

“I don’t even know if I’m going, remember?” I fully plan on going, but I don’t want Jeremy to go. A party is way too much for him right now.

“Well, if you come, bring him for me. Bye.”

I hang up and text Logan.
Pick you up at nine?

He responds almost immediately.
Can’t wait.

Me either. Mom doesn’t get how much I need him. I check myself out in the mirror one last time and rush downstairs.

“Where are you going?” Mom asks, walking out of the kitchen with a hot cup of tea.

“Nick’s house.” Completely true.

“How is he?”

“Pretty shaken up. Rachel and Rob are going over there, too. We’re going to cheer him up.” No need to mention the other hundred kids who are also showing up for the party.

“Good. Take Jeremy with you.”

“What?”

“He needs to get out more. He’s doing really well lately. He studies day and night because he’s dying to get out of this place. He’s ready. Besides, it will just be a few of you.”

Right. A few of us. “But what if there really is a Hunter around? Jeremy is a newborn Phoenix. He’s a prime target since he has the most lives for the Hunter to take.”

“Jeremy has better control over his abilities than you do right now. Believe me, he’ll be protecting you more than you’ll be protecting him. But we’re almost certain the Hunter’s left town.”

“Then the whole ‘Logan’s the Hunter’ accusation is over?”

Mom nods. “But that doesn’t mean I want you hanging out with him, Cara. An imprint is nothing to mess around with.”

“Is that why you’re making me bring Jeremy along? So he can babysit me and make sure Logan doesn’t show up?”

“You can either take your brother or pick out a movie and we can have a family night.” That’s not a denial at all.

She’s not winning this one. I’ll get Jeremy to keep his mouth shut one way or another. “Jer!” I yell. The basement door is open, so I know he’ll hear me. He comes jogging up the steps. “Good news. You’re coming with me to Nick’s—” I almost slip and say party.

He smiles. “Will Rachel be there?”

“Oh yuck! Mom, tell him he can’t hit on my friends.”

“Hey, at least he’s picking up where he left off in his previous life. He had a thing for her then, too.”

Yeah, great. He remembers the one thing I was actually hoping he’d forget. I love Rachel to death, but she’s way too experienced for Jeremy. She’d corrupt him and then wind up breaking his heart without meaning to.

“Hang on,” Jeremy says. He rushes back downstairs, and I stare at the clock, ticking away the minutes. If I don’t leave soon, Logan’s going to think I’m standing him up.

“Jer!”

“Ready.” He comes back upstairs smelling like he bathed in cologne.

“Oh, God! Did you do that on purpose?”

“Kind of. My cinnamon scent is overbearing lately.”

“Can’t you just tell people you chew cinnamon gum? That’s what I do.”

“Not bad. I’ll do that next time.”

I fan my hand in front of my nose as he walks by.

“Drive with the windows down,” Mom says. “He’ll air out.” She’s smiling, probably because she thinks there’s no way I’ll be seeing Logan. Wrong again, Mom.

As soon as we pull out of the driveway, I fill Jeremy in on the real situation. “Okay, look—”

“Let me guess. You’re going to the party with Logan.”

“Yes.” I look at him, pleading with my eyes. “In your first life, you’d cover for me in a heartbeat. We did it all the time for each other. I need my brother right now. Mom’s wrong about Logan.”

“She doesn’t think he’s the Hunter anymore.”

“That’s because he’s not.”

“You already know what I think about you two. I don’t want you to hurt when you’re reborn. I don’t want you to come back remembering him and then have him reject you because he finds out you’re part bird.”

“Wait!” I nearly jerk the car off the road. “You told me you didn’t think my imprint could survive the rebirth. Are you saying now you think it will?”

“Have you really been staying away from him these past few days?”

“Until today.”

“And how were things between you two?”

“Like we were never apart.”

“Then I don’t know. Maybe.”

Maybe. It isn’t a hell of a lot to put my faith in, but right now it’s all I have.

Cara

“Aren’t you supposed to be picking up Logan?” Jeremy asks.

I slam on the brakes as I drive past his house, where he’s outside waiting for me. I back up and pull into his driveway.

“Nice driving, sis. Remind me to bring a barf bag for the ride home.”

“Listen, can you find an emotion to tap into other than sarcasm?”

“Sarcasm isn’t an emotion.”

“Whatever, Mr. Dictionary. I’m tired of it already.” Logan’s almost to the car. “Get in the back.”

“You already owe me big for not telling Mom about this. Do you really want to add to it?”

“Fine. I’ll tell Rachel to dance with you tonight.” Before he can get too excited, I add, “One dance. That’s it.”

“Done!” He gets out, clasping Logan’s hand and saying, “What’s up, man?” in the process.

As Logan gets in the car, he gives me a “what was that about?” look.

“I’m bribing him with time with Rachel. It’s totally screwed up, but it was all I could think of.”

He looks me up and down as Jeremy slides into the back seat. “You look amazing.” He leans toward me and sniffs the air. If anyone else did that to me, I’d freak, but Logan can smell my hair all he wants. “You smell good, too.”

“Thank God Nick lives close by,” Jeremy says. “If I have to listen to much more of this, I’m going to puke.”

Logan laughs. “He even sounds like Rachel. No wonder they like each other.”

Jeremy leans forward so he’s between Logan and me. “She likes me?” His eyes fall on me. “You said she only had her arm around me in that picture because—”

“We’re going to be late.” I step on the gas, backing out of the driveway and sending Jeremy flying across in his seat. He’s been so good lately, careful, but he almost screwed up, and in front of Logan. My phone chimes with a text message. I toss it to Jeremy. “Read that for me.”

“Got a ride. See you there.” He tosses my phone back, and it hits the steering wheel and falls in my lap. “Score!” he says, as if he planned that.

“Yeah, great. If you broke anything, you owe me a new phone.” I turn to Logan. “I wonder who Rachel got a ride with. Rob’s bringing a date, so there’s no way she’d tag along with him.”

Logan reaches for my hand. “I’m just glad Rob has a date of his own. I can’t stand the way he looks at you. I wanted to rip his head off at the falls today.”

“You two hung out at the falls today?” Jeremy leans forward again.

“Shouldn’t you have a seat belt on?” I can’t help noticing how much I sound like Mom.

Logan rubs his thumb across the back of my hand. “Sorry. How much does he know, anyway?”

“Not much at all.”

“Got it.” He takes his hand back and I’m disappointed, but I know he’s only trying to make this situation easier on everyone.

The party’s in full force when we pull up. I wind up parking on the lawn with about ten other cars. Good thing Nick has a big yard. Logan gets out and walks around the car to open my door for me. Bonus points for him.

Jeremy opens his door and holds his hand up. “That’s okay, man. I got my own door.” He sounds like the old Jeremy again, and joking around with Logan is definitely a good sign.

Logan keeps his hand on the small of my back as we walk in. He’s officially in date mode.

“Oh, I almost forgot. I have your jacket in the car. Want me to get it?”

“Nah, I’ll grab it later.”

“You sure?” I’ve never seen him without it.

“Yeah. This party is full of beer, drunk kids, and food, none of which I want on my jacket.”

“Point taken.”

We walk into the living room, which is where most of my friends are. Nick has a tendency to kick the people he doesn’t know very well out to the yard and back deck.

Rachel jumps up the second she sees us. “Hey!” She wraps me in a hug and whispers, “Damn, he looks hot.”

“I know.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “Ew, he’s your brother.”

“Oh, gross, Rach!”

“What?” She holds her palms up innocently.

I shake my head. She reaches for Jeremy, but I pull him away. “I need to talk to you for a minute,” I tell him. “We’ll be right back.”

I smile at Rachel and Logan and pull Jeremy into the kitchen. There are empty soda cans, water bottles, and beer cans everywhere. I can’t help wondering what time Nick and Rob started partying.

Jeremy crosses his arms. “What are you doing? This doesn’t look normal at all.”

“Oh, like you remember? You and I are close. We talk privately all the time. No one is going to question that.”

“Am I supposed to be deejaying or something?” He looks around the empty kitchen. “Where’s the music coming from?”

“Nick has a speaker system in the den. He probably has his iPod hooked up to it.”

“Good, then I can dance with Rachel.”

“You sure you can handle this?”

“Handle what?” Nick walks into the kitchen.

“Hey.” I rush over to him and wrap him in a hug. This time, he hugs me back.

“Glad you guys made it.” He looks a little better. At least his hair is combed and his clothes match.

“Me too. Do you need help with anything?”

“I brought my iPod for you.” Jeremy reaches in his pocket and pulls it out.

“Great. When my playlists run out, we’ll hook the speakers up to yours.” Nick holds his hand up, waiting for Jeremy to grab it in this little handshake they usually do. I never thought to show it to Jeremy.

“Um, Logan’s here. Did you see him?” I loop my arm through Nick’s and walk him out of the kitchen.

“No, not yet. There are a lot of people here. Most are out back, though. I have a bonfire set up. You should check it out.”

As we walk back into the living room, Logan sees my arm looped through Nick’s, and he shifts uncomfortably. I let go of Nick and go to Logan’s side, slipping my hand in his. He’s still stiff, but he squeezes my hand. I almost don’t have to think about my body temperature anymore for small touches like this.

Rachel nudges me. “So, do I get to dance with Jeremy or not, Cara?”

“Go ahead, but remember he’s my brother.”

She winks and grabs Jeremy’s hand. I’ve never seen her look at him this way. Maybe Rob showing up with Tanya Roberts is just too much for her to deal with. Besides, Jeremy isn’t complaining. He has a big grin plastered on his face. Yeah, my debt to him is repaid.

“I’m going to head out back and see what’s going on there. Feel free to join me.” Nick looks back and forth between us. “When you’re ready.” He winks at me and walks away.

“Why is that everyone seems to think we can’t keep our hands off each other?”

Logan kisses my cheek, letting his lips linger. “Maybe because just about everyone in this town has caught us kissing at one time or another.” He stands up tall again. “Do you think that’s why your mom doesn’t like me? Does she think I’m just trying to—’cause I’m not, you know?”

“I know.” I put my hand on his chest, and I can feel his heart pounding. “You have a really fast heartbeat.”

“Only when you’re around.”

“I can’t believe you haven’t always been this way.”

He tilts his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“This sweet. I have a hard time imagining you being with—that I’m your first real girlfriend.”

“No one’s ever made me want this before.”

Before I can say anything more, Logan leads me to the empty hallway by Nick’s parents’ room. It’s always kept locked during parties, so I know we have a little privacy here.

“Much better.” He leans down and kisses me. It starts very gentle and soft, but then Logan lets go. He deepens the kiss and pulls me closer so our bodies are pressed up against each other. I can’t breathe, but I don’t care. His mouth leaves mine, and he kisses my cheek and then my neck. “I missed you.” His breath tickles my skin.

“I missed you, too.” I find his lips again. We’re making up for lost time, pouring those days we spent apart into this moment right here.

He turns us so I’m against the wall. I’ve never been kissed like this before. It scares me a little, but at the same time it feels right. I pull his hips closer to me, but he breaks away. “What?” How did I ruin the moment? “Did I do something wrong?”

He shakes his head. “No, I just needed some space. You were driving me crazy.”

“Oh.” I feel my cheeks flush.

Logan licks his lips. “Your cinnamon gum is even making me go nuts. I swear your lips felt really hot just now. Like they were on fire. Crazy, right?”

I didn’t even realize my body temperature was rising. That’s so not good. I can’t lose control like that.

“Cara.” Jeremy tugs on my arm. He looks totally pissed. Way more pissed than a guy who walked in on his sister making out with the guy she’s dating. “I think we should go. Right now.”