Into the Fire (20 page)

“I know, but we have all summer and all school year and…”

I reach up and kiss his cheek, not wanting him to go too far with Jeremy hovering. The less Jeremy has to report back to Mom, the better… for Logan
and
me.

“I’ll drive you home.” I take his hand in mine. Jeremy’s going to have to deal with that, too. If he’s going to stop having my back and be Mom’s little snoop, then so be it.

I don’t even have to tell Jeremy to sit in the back. He gets in and doesn’t say a word to Logan or me. I’m fine with that. I’ve never been so angry with him. My entire world is crumbling down, first with Mom and now with Jeremy. I won’t be spending much time at home this summer if this is how it’s going to be.

I quickly text Rachel to make sure she’s okay.

Fine. Was kissing Rob believe it or not. He’s fine, too.

Glad to hear it.
Half of it anyway.

“That Rachel?” Logan asks.

I nod. “She’s fine. Oddly enough, she said she was making out with Rob when the fire exploded.” I’m not sure how she pulled that off, but I’m assuming Tanya either left early or was taking too long in the bathroom. Rob’s attention span doesn’t last long, and Rachel doesn’t miss an opportunity to pounce.

Jeremy shifts in the back seat. So he does care that Rachel left him for Rob. Didn’t seem like it when he was ready to walk out on her to get me away from Logan. I’m finding it hard to feel sorry for him right now.

“So everyone’s all right?” Logan asks.

“Yeah, all good and accounted for. Oh, except Nick. I should text him, too.”

Logan reaches for my phone. “Do you mind? I could do it, and that way you can drive.”

“In a hurry to get home?” Or does he not want me texting Nick?

“Just trying to be helpful.”

I feel like it’s a test, one I don’t want to fail. I hand him my phone. “Thanks. Nick’s number five on my contact list.”

“Who are one through four?” He raises an eyebrow at me.

“Go ahead and look.”

“I’m fourth?”

“Why do you say that like it’s a bad thing?” I can’t help smiling. I’m used to him being so self-assured, and here my contact list ranking is bothering him.

Jeremy huffs in the back seat, so I start the car and pull off the front lawn. The streets are pretty deserted. Just about everyone from our grade is at Nick’s house, and the rest of the town must still be freaked out about Mr. Baker. I’ve never seen so many locked doors. Usually, I could walk around town at any time of day or night and the front doors would all be wide open. Nobody worries about crime. But that all changed with Mr. Baker’s murder. If only they knew they had Phoenixes living among them. I wonder what they’d think about that.

“Nick said everything’s cool. Not to worry.” Logan puts my phone in the center console. “Oh, and I took the liberty of moving myself to number three on your contact list.”

“You booted Rachel? She’s my best friend.”

I grab my phone and slip it in my pocket before he can get any ideas about booting Jeremy or Mom next. Of course, with the way they’ve been acting, I wouldn’t care all that much.

“Don’t trust me, huh? I knew I should’ve just gone right for number one.”

“Yeah, but then my mom would never give you a chance.”

“Can I just say how adorable it is that you have your mom and your bother as number one and two in your phone?”

I glance at Jeremy in the rearview mirror. The anger is gone from his face. He looks about as awful as I feel.

“We’ve always been a really close family,” I say, more to Jeremy than Logan.

Logan reaches across the console and squeezes my leg, which makes Jeremy stiffen and sit up straighter. Logan notices, too, and he lets go. I drop him off at his house and get out of the car with him. I don’t want Jeremy listening to us say goodbye.

Logan has a weird expression on his face. “There’s something that’s bugging me, but I didn’t want to mention it in front of Jeremy.”

Oh no. I shouldn’t have gotten out of the car.

“When I put the fire out, I swear your hands were
in
the flames. And then you touched that barrel.” He reaches for my hands and turns them palms up. “It doesn’t make sense that you don’t have a burn on you.”

“I didn’t have my hands in the fire. It must have just looked like that from your angle. I was close, but I wasn’t touching the flames.”

He tilts his head to the side and nods. “You’re probably right. I was so worried about you I must have imagined the worst.”

“I’m okay.” I squeeze his hands. “And we’ll be okay. I’m going to work this out with Mom and Jeremy tonight. They aren’t going to keep us apart.”

“Can I kiss you, or will Jeremy jump out of the car and pounce on me?”

“If you don’t kiss me,
I
may pounce on you.”

His mouth curves into a devilish smile. “I think I won’t kiss you, then, because I’d really like to see that.”

I pull his face toward mine and feel the warmth of his full lips. The horn blares behind us. I whip my head around to Jeremy, who has hopped over the seat and is pounding on the horn. That boy is about to get his feathers plucked.

“I guess that’s our cue.” Logan rests his forehead on mine. “You should put a cool cloth on your head. You feel a little warm.”

“Just got too close to the fire tonight. I’ll be fine.” He kisses my forehead, and I open the driver’s side door. “Goodnight.”

“Night.” He shoves his hands in his pockets and walks toward the house. I miss him already.

I spot Logan’s jacket in the back seat. “Logan, wait!” I grab it and rush to the front porch where Logan is standing, keys in hand. “You forgot this again.” He takes it and stares at me, lost in thought. “What?”

“It’s just that I don’t usually go anywhere without it, and now I’ve left it with you twice.”

“Is that bad?”

He shakes his head and steps toward me, closing the gap between us. “Not at all.” He kisses me again, and this time neither one of us pulls apart when Jeremy beeps the horn. We don’t let go until we’re ready.

“Sweet dreams,” he says, and I nearly melt.

I don’t say a word to Jeremy on the way home, and I head straight for my room, but Mom is sitting on my bed. Jeremy obviously called her from the party, the little snitch. “Please sit down. I’m not angry with you. I just want to talk.”

I’m so tired of the kind of talking Mom wants to do. Jeremy walks into the room and stands next to her, double-teaming me. I want to scream, but Jeremy gives me a look, and it’s so much like the one he’s used on me since he was four that I cave. “Please, Cara. Just hear her out.”

“Fine.” I sit down at my desk, not wanting to get too close to either one of them. Jeremy leans against my nightstand and crosses his arms. I can’t stand how guarded he always is. I just want my brother back already.

“Jeremy told me what happened at the party.”

Great, so she knows it was a party and not just the gang trying to cheer up Nick. “Thanks, Jer.” I roll my eyes.

“Don’t be angry with your brother. He was trying to protect you.”

“From Logan?” I stand up and throw my arms out. Flames form on my palms. I shake my hands, but the fire doesn’t go out until I clap my hands together. “See! How can either one of you worry about Logan hurting me when I’m capable of this?”

“He’s in love with you, Cara,” Jeremy says, standing up tall.

“How would you know? You don’t even remember what love is.”

Mom walks over to me and rubs my arms. “Sweetie, this imprint is doing more harm than you can see.”

“So what if he does love me? Why is that a bad thing?”

“Because the emotions you two share are fueling your Phoenix powers. You shouldn’t be able to control fire yet.”

“I can’t. I tried to put the bonfire out after it exploded, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it. I was too busy staring at it like a hypnotized freak to actually make anything happen.”

“No, honey. When the fire got out of control, that was your doing.”

“
My
doing? You think I tried to kill Logan and myself, not to mention the other hundred people at that party?” She’s lost her mind.

“No. I’m guessing you were kissing Logan when it happened.”

How does she know that? I never mentioned it. Unless Jeremy saw us and blabbed that to her, too. I’m seriously going to kick that boy’s ass. “What are you saying? My feelings for Logan made the fire explode?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” She puts her hand to my forehead. “Do you feel your body temperature rising now?”

“Sort of. It doesn’t feel out of control, though.”

“Did you feel your temperature rise when you were with Logan?”

“It was kind of hard to tell with the bonfire right next to us, but I’ve been really careful. I’ve even learned how to bring my temperature down when I focus on it.”

“Good, but I have a feeling focusing isn’t easy when you and Logan…”

My heart hammers, and my forehead sweats. “We haven’t done anything like that, if that’s what you think.”

She holds her hands up. “I didn’t say you did, but he clouds your judgment.”

“That’s why you don’t want me to be with him? Because you think I’m going to set things on fire and expose us all?”

“Cara, your imprint made you fall in love with him. It also brought out a lot of abilities you shouldn’t have yet. You can already heal people. You saved Logan’s life that day at the falls. You also saved his life when the car hit him. Your cry broke the windshield and sent the stray dog running away. You’ve been saving him left and right, but tonight… sweetheart, you could’ve killed him.”

“No. I’d never—” My hands shake and smoke rises from my skin. Oh God! “I really almost killed him, didn’t I?”

Mom wraps me in a hug, but it’s useless. Nothing is going to comfort me, because all I can think about is how Mom’s right. I can’t be with Logan. I can’t risk killing him. My heart shatters into a million pieces as the tears pour from my eyes, raining down on my carpet like little balls of fire.

Logan

I hang up when Cara’s phone goes to voicemail for the third time. Where is she? She’s been home for over an hour. Can she really still be talking to her mom and Jeremy? I have to go over there. If this is that hard for her, then I should be there beside her, fighting for us.

I grab my jacket and check the hallway. Dad’s in his study, pretending to work, doing anything to avoid having to talk to me. Even though he doesn’t want me around, he’d never let me out this late. Not after Henry Baker was murdered. Why did I tell him that, anyway? Probably because I had nothing else to say to him. I never do.

I slip back into my room and head for the window. Part of me wonders if he’d even notice if I walked out the front door, but I’m not about to chance it. I open the window halfway and climb out. Thankfully, I claimed the only bedroom on the first floor—entirely to put distance between me and Dad, but now I see it has other advantages. I turn left and cut through the neighbors’ yard. I don’t want to chance Dad seeing me out any of the windows.

Luckily, the streets are well lit, so I don’t have any trouble finding my way. I try to look casual, but every time a car goes by, I jump and move closer to the bushes. If I don’t stop acting like a criminal, people are going to think
I
killed Henry Baker.

I turn the corner, heading toward Cara’s house, and walk right into someone wearing a hoodie. “Whoa! Sorry, didn’t see you there.”

“No problem.” He keeps walking with his head bowed, but I recognize the voice.

“Wait. Nick?”

He stops and turns toward me, lowering his hood. “Logan?”

“I thought I was the only one who’d be crazy enough to go for a walk in the dark after everything that’s happened around here lately.”

He shrugs. “I couldn’t sleep. Still weirded out. I thought some fresh air would help.”

“Did it?” He looks really on edge. Poor guy. First he finds Mr. Baker murdered, and then the bonfire at his party explodes. He can’t catch a break.

“Not so much, but I
am
tired now, so I might be able to fall asleep.”

“Good.” I don’t know what else to say, so I settle for “see ya.”

“Yeah, see ya.”

He walks away and I sigh, relieved he didn’t ask if I was on my way to Cara’s. I’m starting to second-guess just showing up unannounced, but she won’t answer her phone. I text her again.

Outside. Figured I should talk to your mom with you.

I count the seconds as I wait. Who knew a minute could be so long?

You’re here?

Finally!

Yes. Can you let me in?

I’ll come out.

A window slides open, and Cara peeks out. She’s already changed for bed. Nice. I’m going to get to see what she sleeps in. I wave her down, but she holds her finger to her lips. She’s sneaking out to meet me. Not a good sign at all. I want to end the secrecy, not add to it.

I walk over to the front porch and sit down. Again, it feels like I’m waiting forever. Maybe she couldn’t sneak out. Maybe her mom caught her. I stand up, getting ready to knock and let the whole house know I’m here, but someone taps on my shoulder. Cara’s standing behind me.

“Did you really think I’d sneak out the front?”

“I didn’t want you to have to sneak out at all. I thought you were putting an end to all this.”

Her eyes lower to her fuzzy pink bunny slippers. Great, she won’t look at me or explain herself.

“What happened?”

She takes my hand and pulls me down the street to a farm. She hops up on the fence and fidgets with her shorts. “It’s colder out here than I thought.”

“I’m kind of surprised you wear so little to bed. Not that I’m complaining, by any means.” I lean into her so her legs are straddling me.

“Logan, don’t.”

“Don’t what?” I lower my head to meet her gaze. “What happened? I tried calling you, but you didn’t answer. I thought I should come over here and help you explain the situation to your mom, but then you had to sneak out to see me, and now you’re acting like…” My words just tumble out, but I can’t finish the thought.

Her eyes water, and she raises her hands to her face. “I don’t know how to say this. I physically can’t bring myself to do it.”