Into the Fire (26 page)

“Mom made us have a family dinner.” A Phoenix family dinner.

“I thought maybe you were…I don’t know, upset about…” He’s never sounded so nervous.

“I’m good. Great even.” I can’t tell him the truth: that I’m totally freaking out. None of this is his fault, and trying to explain it, like I did at the falls, will only make things worse.

“Can I see you tomorrow?” he asks.

“You can see me whenever you want, as much as you want.”

“Great. I’ll be right over.”

I laugh. “Do it and my mom will set your pajamas on fire.”

“I’m willing to take the risk.”

“Goodnight, Logan.”

“Do you have to go? I want to talk to you until you fall asleep.”

“You’re still worried I’m not okay with us, aren’t you?”

“A little, but I heard about the murder. I know you were scared about Henry’s killer.”

That’s an understatement. “I didn’t mean to freak you out at the falls. I just don’t know how to explain what’s going on with me.”

“I stand by what I said.”

The imprint must still be working. There’s no other way to explain why he’s so okay with me talking crazy, even if that crazy is the truth. “Logan…”

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay with all this? The way we are?”

“Cara Tillman, do I need to come over there and show you how okay I am with it?”

I smile, amazed at how good he is at making me forget what’s bothering me. “Stop trying to get yourself invited.” I yawn, the effects of my day taking their toll.

“Close your eyes.”

“No, I don’t want to fall asleep yet. I want to talk to you.”

“You can, but close your eyes.”

I do, mostly because I can’t keep them open any longer. “Okay, but keep talking.” I hear his voice, but his words aren’t making sense because I’m already drifting off.

The dream floods my mind. Orange and white flames build up around me. I search for Logan, needing to know he’s there. I see his outline first, and something’s at his feet. What is that? I can’t make it out through the flames and smoke. Screams fill my head. Are they mine? No. I’m not screaming. I’m still trying to see Logan’s face. That means someone else is here, too. Ashes. I see ashes.

“Cara, don’t leave me. Don’t forget.”

Then everything is dark. Peaceful. I’ve never seen this part of the dream before. I’m waiting to be reborn. Nothing happens. Everything is dark, quiet.

“Show me! Show me Logan!” I scream and bolt upright in bed. My phone is on my pillow, but the call is disconnected. “No!” I cry. I don’t want to be awake. “I need to see what happens next.”

“Cara!” Mom rushes into my room and hugs me. “What happened?”

“He’s still there. In the dream. And I turned to ashes.” I’m gasping for air, but the tears are suffocating me.

Mom pulls me back and looks into my eyes. “It’s okay. It’s over.”

But it’s not. It hasn’t happened yet. And what if the dream didn’t go any further because I’m not going to be reborn? What if it means the Hunter finds me and the flames that consume me are my final death, caused by the dagger?

Cara

I run the brush through my hair one more time and put my cell in my back pocket. Logan and I are going to dinner. A nice normal dinner. The past few days have been crazy. The dream keeps coming, every night, and it’s always the same. I can’t tell Mom about the ending. How I’m not reborn. It’s too much. She’ll lock me up and not let me see anyone for fear of the Hunter getting to me. I can’t spend my last days in this life away from Logan. And tomorrow is the big day. One month, gone. Just like that.

Tonight is my last night with Logan. My heart aches so much I can barely stand it. I head for the front door, trying to ignore the sympathetic looks on Mom’s and Jeremy’s faces. They know. It’s marked on the calendar with a red circle. My death. My rebirth—if I’m lucky. If the Hunter doesn’t find me.

“Have fun and call if you need anything.” Mom kisses my forehead and sucks back the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. I have to turn away or I’ll lose it. She watches me walk to my car and pull out of the driveway. Ever since the Hunter’s been getting closer, she makes me text her when I get to wherever I’m going. Little check-ins to make sure I’m okay. I’m just glad everyone agreed that going into hiding would only draw attention to us.

I turn onto the main road through town and my cell rings. I press the button on my steering wheel to answer the call.

“Hello?”

“Cara, it’s Nick.” He sounds freaked out.

“Everything okay?”

“Not really.”

I don’t know how much more I can take right now. Hopefully Rachel just did something wrong and I can smooth it over in a few minutes. “What’s up?”

“There’s something I need to talk to you about. Something important. I’ve wanted to tell someone for a while now, but I could never find the right time or enough courage.”

Now I’m really worried. “What is it?”

He exhales loudly, making static travel through the speakers. “The day I found Henry Baker’s body…” He pauses. It’s still hard for him to talk about. I can’t blame him. Finding a dead body has to be the worst experience ever.

“Take your time, Nick.” Just not too much. I only have one night left.

He takes a deep breath, so deep I hear it. “I found something…strange.”

“What was it?” I’m trying to be patient, but it’s like prying a lollipop out of a toddler’s hands. I don’t care what the expression says. Taking candy from a toddler is an all-out war.

“A weapon, maybe even what was used to murder Mr. Baker.”

Nick found the dagger? Does that mean there’s more than one Hunter? More than one dagger? I never bought into the whole one dagger, one Hunter thing. It’s seemed too
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
to be true. “What kind of weapon?”

“I don’t really want to talk about it over the phone. I was scared when I found it, and I did something stupid.”

“What did you do?”

“I kept it.”

“Why?” I practically yell.

“I know it was stupid. There might be fingerprints on it. But I was so scared. Without even thinking, I picked it up and then
my
fingerprints were on it, too. I panicked.” His voice shakes.

“If you turn in the weapon, the police might be able to catch the murderer. You can explain how you only picked it up because you were freaked out and weren’t thinking straight. They’ll believe you.” They have to. Nick is no murderer.

“I know. That’s why I’m calling you. You know Officer Monroe. I’d feel better if you came with me to the police station.”

Yes. We have to turn the dagger in to Garret. Then the Phoenixes will have the only weapon that could steal our essence. But no—there has to be another. There’s still a Hunter out there. “Where did you put the weapon? Do you have it with you now?” I want to get this over with. Put an end to the Hunters altogether before my rebirth.

“No. I hid it.”

That makes sense. “Where?”

“My locker at school.”

“You brought a deadly weapon to school?”

“It’s closed for the summer. I figured no one would find it.”

“How are we going to get inside the school? It’s locked.”

“I stole a key from the janitor’s closet.”

Wow. I’ve never seen this side of Nick. Fear sure does make people do crazy things. “Okay, can you meet me there in fifteen minutes?”

“I’m already on my way.”

“Good.” I hang up and press three on my speed dial.

“Hey, beautiful.” Logan’s voice makes me melt.

“Listen, Nick just called me. He’s needs a favor. It shouldn’t take long.”

“Are you blowing me off for another guy?”

He can’t really think I’d do that after all we’ve been through. “Of course not. I just need about half an hour, forty-five minutes tops. I’ll make it up to you.”

“Should I be worried?”

“No. I love you.” I pause. Part of me still has a hard time believing how much I love Logan when I’ve only known him for a month. “Besides, Nick is dating Rachel now.”

“Yeah, I saw them together a few times. It’s kind of crazy. They don’t fit at all.”

“I don’t know. I think he’s good for her. She needs a good guy, and I already claimed you.”

He’s quiet, but I know he’s smiling. “Be quick, okay. I really want to see you.”

“I will. Nothing can keep me away from you tonight.” Not with my rebirth so close.

“Hopefully not just tonight.”

My stomach flips. I hope so, too. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. See you soon.”

I hang up and curse Nick for waiting so long to tell me about the dagger. I know it should be my top priority, but it’s my last day in this life. I just want to be in Logan’s arms. I take off for the school, careful not to go too fast. I don’t need Garret’s partner pulling me over again.

The school parking lot is pitch black, not a single streetlight on. That’s odd. Maybe they’re in the process of replacing the bulbs before the school year begins. I drive around back to the employee parking lot, figuring Nick isn’t going to park in the student lot and walk. I find his car and pull up next to it. Then I head to the back door and knock, hoping he’ll be there waiting for me.

He opens the door and ushers me inside, looking around like he’s on a top secret mission. It definitely feels like we are. My eyes lower to his empty hands. Where’s the dagger?

“Did you get it yet?”

“No. I was waiting for you.”

“Let’s hurry. I want to turn it over to Officer Monroe as soon as possible.”

Nick walks to his locker and fiddles with the combination. “It’s not working.”

“What do you mean?”

“They must have changed the combinations.”

“Try the key. You took it from the janitor’s office, right? It might be a master key and work in all the locks.”

“Okay, keep an eye out though, would you? I thought I heard something before you got here.”

I lower my voice to a whisper. “You think someone else is here?”

Nick shrugs. If the Hunter knows Nick took the dagger, he might be following him. My pulse races, and I feel my cheeks getting hot.
No, don’t start with the Phoenix signs here! Not with a Hunter lurking.

“What was that?” Nick whirls around, looking petrified.

“I didn’t hear anything, but maybe we should hide.” The dagger is locked up. We can hide in a classroom and call Garret. He’ll come, and then we can get the dagger.

Nick nods and points to the chem lab across the hall. There are plenty of places to hide in there with all the lab tables and cabinets. We rush inside, and Nick shuts the door behind us.

“Who do you think it is?”

“No one.” The nervousness is gone from Nick’s voice. He locks the door behind him and turns toward me. “I lied. We’re all alone. Just me and you,
Phoenix
.” Reaching under his shirt, he pulls a dagger from the waist of his pants. Even though I’ve never seen it, I know what it is. The Phoenix dagger. The one made of Phoenix feathers and the ash egg.

“You?” It can’t be. He’s my friend. I see him just about every day. He’s friends with Jeremy. He’s been in my house.

“It wasn’t easy pretending to be your friend, Cara, but I did what I had to do. I even hung out with that pathetic brother of yours. All to watch you. To see if you were the Phoenix I was after.”

“Why? That all couldn’t have been a lie. No one can fake being that nice.” He stuck up for me with Rob. Why would he bother if he didn’t care about me at all?

“I needed you to like me. I had to get access to your house, your world. It was the only way to make sure I was around to see the signs.” He smirks. “Who knew the best thing that could happen for me was to have Logan show up? The more you two hung out, the more your abilities started to show.”

Mom was right. Being around Logan made my Phoenix abilities grow stronger. It had to be the imprint that sparked it. I tapped into one Phoenix trait, and since my rebirth was close, it brought on a chain reaction of other abilities. Falling for Logan is costing me everything. I’m going to either die at Nick’s hands or I’m going to somehow get away, only to lose Logan forever.

“Of course, Logan posed a problem, too. He took you away from me, and I had to resort to dating Rachel to find out what was going on with you.”

Rachel. I pushed her into the arms of a Hunter. “What now? You use that Phoenix dagger of yours and stab me?” Oh God.
He
killed Henry Baker. I never would’ve thought Nick could hurt a fly, but he’s already taken a life.

“It doesn’t work that way, Cara. If I want your Phoenix essence, I have to wait for you to be reborn. Otherwise, you die and I get nothing but the pleasure of seeing you bleed.” His words cut through me, chilling my blood. “I learned that the hard way with the last Phoenix I killed. She kind of looked like you. Same birdlike build. Same cinnamon scent.”

“I felt sorry for you. I thought you found Mr. Baker’s body after he’d been murdered, but it was you all along.”

He smiles. “Henry Baker was a crazy old man. I did this town a favor by taking his essence.”

“How long does it give you? How much time do you have added on to your own pathetic existence?” I want to spit in his face, but I’m trapped and he has the dagger.

“Well, let’s see. The first time I took a life was about forty years ago. Henry Baker was the second Phoenix I bagged. How do I look for fifty-six?”

Fifty-six? Nick doesn’t look a day older than I do.

“I’ll take the stunned look on your face to mean I look good.” He smiles the cocky smile of a seventeen-year-old guy.

“I don’t get it. Why’d you do all this? Why pretend to be a high school student?”

“If anyone saw a seventeen-year-old kid living on his own and not going to school, they’d call the cops.”

“So that’s why your parents are always away on business?” I’ve never seen his parents in person, just in pictures hanging in his house.

“My parents died years ago. I’m the last one left in my family. And since I don’t plan on letting my Phoenix Hunter legacy die, I have to keep eliminating your kind. As long as I keep tracking you guys down, I get to live forever.”

He has a sick god complex. That’s what this is. A boy who wants to be immortal, and doesn’t care what he has to do to make that happen. “Couldn’t you just find some vampire to bite you and make you immortal?” I let the sarcasm drip from every word. Why not? I’m doomed no matter how I look at it. I might as well go down swinging.