Into the Fire (28 page)

Mom’s smart. So much smarter than I am. But she didn’t figure out Nick is the Hunter. No one did.

“Monique was a tough one to spot, too. Being a cook, surrounded by all those spices, she easily covers up her natural scent. It was her connection to you and your mother that gave her away. Oh, and her relationship with Henry Baker.”

He figured it all out. The only ones he hasn’t mentioned are Linette and Garret. Are they safe? Did they slip under his radar? Nick also hasn’t mentioned Jeremy, but since Mom and I are Phoenixes, I’m sure Nick figured out Jeremy is too. I have to keep him talking. Give Logan time to get here and see how much Nick actually knows. “How did you know about Henry?”

“I guess I have time to give you a little lesson.” He shifts his weight, getting comfortable on my stomach.

I focus my body heat on my hand.
Work already! Heal my head so I have a fighting chance against Nick.

“The only reason I was able to figure out Henry Baker was a Phoenix was because he was stupid enough to show me his little memory trick. He touched my head in the dead of winter, and his hand was scorching hot. You see, his brain injury made him very forgetful.” Nick laughs. “He should’ve used his memory trick to remind himself to control the amount of heat he gave off.”

“You’ve known about us since the winter?”

“Well, Henry at least. The rest of you were harder to find. I only had suspicions about you and your family until that day I came to your house and watched poor sick Jeremy for you.”

Oh my God! “How did you manage to hold off? You thought Jeremy was asleep in his room. You must have been tempted to put an end to him.”

“Very tempted, but I didn’t have the dagger. I was scouting. Can’t exactly keep the dagger on me at all times. You guys are always on the lookout for it.”

“Why’d you go after Mr. Baker first? Was it because he was old and disabled? Are you that pathetic that you had to go after someone who couldn’t fight back?”

Nick smiles. “A Phoenix is a Phoenix. He still had one good life left in him. Now it’s mine. But you, you have four lives left, and so does Jeremy. Killing him will be… well, let’s just say hearing him cry for his life will be music to my ears.”

“Don’t you dare threaten Jeremy!” I have to get to my phone. I have to call Garret. I should’ve called
him
earlier, not Logan. My God, why did I call Logan? He’ll come here to save me and Nick will kill him, too. Logan doesn’t have a clue what he’s up against. I squirm under Nick, but he has me pinned. I can’t get to my back pocket.

“You don’t get it, do you? I can go after anyone I want, and I will. No one knows I’m the Hunter. No one suspects poor, sweet Nick, who’s so distraught over finding Henry Baker’s body.” He leans down so he’s in my face. “Even Rachel has been oh-so-nice to me. I guess I have you to thank for that. Turns out she is good for some things.”

“Don’t touch her!”

“I haven’t heard any complaints from her.” Nick is filling the time listening to the sound of his own voice. I’ve never known him to be this chatty, and I don’t like it, especially since everything he’s saying somehow comes back to me. “Now, all we have to do is wait for your body temperature to start going up. I think I’m doing a fine job of getting you worked up. You’ve already used your powers on me once.” He touches the burn on his cheek. “Since you’re so close to your rebirth, I’m willing to bet your body will do the rest to bring it on.” He nods over his shoulder at the lab tables. “And if it doesn’t happen in… oh, say, the next five minutes, I’m going to help it along.”

He’s going to use the burners to get my body temperature up. Burn me to make me burn myself. “You’re sick!” I press my head back, trying to pull away from him, but the floor puts pressure on my cut and I cry out in pain.

“Aw, Cara, you’re hurting yourself more. You just keep trying to heal that cut. Tapping into your Phoenix powers will speed this along nicely.”

Crap! That’s not at all what I want, but if I don’t stop the bleeding in my head, I might pass out, or worse, bleed out on the lab room floor. “If I die from blood loss, you don’t get what you want. Let me go so I can get my mom to heal me. I can’t do it myself. I have no idea how to make my powers work. They’ve always just done it on their own.”

“Nice try, but not going to happen—although, I’m not opposed to calling Jeremy here. I could take out two birds with one stone. That’s the expression, isn’t it?”

“Jeremy won’t come. He doesn’t remember you. That means he doesn’t trust you.”

“No, you Phoenixes aren’t big on trust, especially now that there’s a big bad Hunter on the loose.” He smiles. “No worries. I’ll deal with him once you’re taken care of. I’m sure if I call him in hysterics because I saw someone chasing you with a dagger, he’ll come here to save you. After all, you’re family, whether he remembers you or not.”

“And what about Logan?” I don’t want to know the answer. I just hope Logan knows how to fight.

“Hmm.” He taps his chin, mocking me.

I try to shake him off, but he squeezes my sides with his legs. I bite my tongue to keep from crying out. I’m not giving him the satisfaction of knowing how much he’s hurting me. I’d love to let my body temperature soar and burn him with my touch, but the chance of bringing on my rebirth is too great.

“You know, I think Logan—if he’s really coming—would help my plan. I can tell Jeremy how Logan fooled us all. He only dated you to find out if you were a Phoenix, and then he brought you here to end you.”

“No one would believe that.”
Everyone
would believe that! They all thought it at one point or another. I can’t let this happen. Even if I die, Logan has to make it out alive without being accused of my murder.

“How am I doing? Feeling hot and bothered yet?”

I grit my teeth and take a deep breath to keep from doing exactly what he wants. “I’m fine. You aren’t worth it.”

He grabs my wrists and stands up, pulling me with him. I wobble, and my head throbs like it’s the size of a blimp. “Easy there.” He sits me on a stool and turns on the burner in front of me. “Don’t worry, this won’t hurt too much. You Phoenixes have a great tolerance for heat. Really, this is just going to get your body to produce its own heat.”

“How do you know this will work? You obviously screwed up with that last girl you killed.” My words come out slowly, like I downed a six-pack on my own. I’m losing too much blood.

He laughs and clamps his hand down on my shoulder. “You’re going to go down swinging. I like it, Tillman. But to answer your question, I know this will work because I’ve already tested the theory out on you.”

“On me? How?”

“The bonfire at my house. It went crazy when you got too close and tapped into your Phoenix abilities. I’m sure you remember that kiss you and Logan shared. It was…explosive.”

It was a setup. He lit the bonfire because he was testing me, confirming I was a Phoenix and trying to speed up my rebirth at the same time. “You bastard.”

“That would sound so much more intimidating if you weren’t half-dead from blood loss.” He sits down and points to the burner like he’s giving me a science lesson. “You see, the heat inside you responds to any heat around you. Your feelings for Logan are off the charts, right? Couple that with a roaring bonfire, and you get explosives.”

“What…would you…have done…if I burst…into…flames?” My vision blurs, and my heart rate slows. Am I dying? Is this the end?

Nick touches my cheek and smiles. “Looks like we don’t need the burner after all.”

He’s right. It’s starting. I can feel it. It isn’t the end at all. It’s the beginning. Only, Nick is going to kill me the second I rise from the ashes. And then he’ll kill Logan.

“Good girl, Cara. Just give in to it. Your body knows what to do.”

But this isn’t right. In my dream, I wasn’t sitting when the fire consumed me. I was standing. I’m sure of it. I’m supposed to do something, move somewhere. I stand up, and to my surprise, Nick lets me. He isn’t worried about me trying to escape anymore. I’m too dazed to walk.

“That’s it. Follow your instincts. Whatever your body wants you to do, you just do it. Bring on the rebirth.”

I want to bring on the pain—to take him with me.

Pounding. There’s pounding in my head. No, not in my head. On the door. Someone’s trying to break in.

“Damn it!” Nick rushes to the door and drags the teacher’s desk in front of it. The little glass window shatters, and I catch sight of something metallic.

A fire extinguisher. It’s almost funny that I’m about to burst into flames, and Logan’s coming to rescue me with a fire extinguisher. Will that work? Will it stop my rebirth? Somehow I doubt it.

Logan

Nick curses on the other side of the door. I’m going to make him do a lot worse the second I get in there. If he hurts Cara… I raise the fire extinguisher and bring the butt of it down on the doorknob. It breaks off and falls to the floor. I shoulder the door, but it resists. Something is blocking it.

“Give it up, Logan!” Nick yells. “You can’t stop this.”

“The hell I can’t! If you so much as touch her—”

A shriek rings through the air, just like the one I heard when the car hit me. It’s Cara! I shove the nozzle of the fire extinguisher through the shattered window in the door and aim it at Nick’s face. He stumbles backward and claws at his eyes as the contents spill all over him. I shove the door open, and the desk squeals as it slides across the floor. Nick is reeling on the ground, blinded.

I feel heat, and my eyes shoot to Cara. My God, Nick set her on fire! There isn’t time to find another fire extinguisher. I have to put the flames out some other way. I tear off my jacket and rush to her, swatting at the flames and trying to pat her down.

“Logan, no.” She doesn’t sound like she’s in pain, and I wonder if she’s so close to death that she doesn’t feel anything anymore.

“I’m going to put the fire out.”

“You can’t. This is who I am. This is what I was trying to tell you that day at the falls. I’m different. I’m like Henry Baker.”

She’s delirious. I keep patting the flames, but my jacket catches on fire, and I drop it on the ground. The fire is going to destroy Cara and the last part of Mom I have left.

“Logan, listen to me.”

Cara’s voice sounds like a song. How is that possible? She’s burning to death. She should be screaming and trying to put out the flames. Instead she’s standing there and talking to me like this is an everyday occurrence.

“I’m not fully human. I’m a Phoenix.”

She thinks she’s a bird? The pain must be making her hysterical. “We have to put out the flames. Please, just drop to the ground and roll around.” Stop, drop, and roll. That’s the rule, right?

“I’m sorry, Logan. I don’t want to leave you, but I have to. I can’t change this. I thought I could, but I can’t. I can’t stop what’s meant to happen.”

Her voice is getting stronger, like the fire is breathing life into her instead of taking it away. It doesn’t make sense. Red blood cakes her hair, and as I watch, it burns away. I’m watching the flames heal her head. How is that possible?

“Logan, listen to me.”

I meet her eyes again, frozen in shock.

“There’s something I have to tell you before I forget who you are.”

“Forget who I am?” Does she mean when she dies? Is she talking about some sort of afterlife? I look around, needing to find something, anything, to put the flames out. There’s an eye wash station, but it’s too small. It would never work. I step around Nick, still pawing at his eyes, and search the desk. A chemistry teacher must have a fire extinguisher, even if it’s a small one.

“You have to listen to me,” Cara begs. “I don’t have much time, and I need you to understand. I may not be myself soon.”

“I’m not going to let you die. I just have to find another fire extinguisher.” I tear the room apart, but all I find are chemicals that would explode if they came anywhere near a flame.

“I know this is hard to accept, but it’s happening. You have to see that. I’m going to die and be reborn from the ashes.”

I can’t take it anymore. Her delusions are almost as painful as watching her burn. I rush over to the cabinet in the corner and throw open the doors. A fire extinguisher! I grab it and turn back to Cara, but Nick crashes into me. The fire extinguisher flies out of my hands and rolls across the room.

Nick has a knife in his hands, and he’s raising it over my head. I grab his arms, wrestling him to keep the knife from plunging into my chest. It’s not a normal knife at all. It’s a grayish-white color, but I’m willing to bet it will kill me. Nick grunts and thrusts the knife forward. I feel the point tear my shirt and pierce my skin.

“Logan!”

Cara’s voice is a shrill cry so loud I have to cover my ears. Nick drops the knife, and it nicks my side as it slides off me. I cry out as an intense heat washes over me. I must be dying, because a bright light closes in on me. I’m going to die with Cara. The thought brings me a little peace. I’ll be with Mom and Cara. Maybe death won’t be so bad.

Nick screams, and the smell of burning flesh fills the air. I squint against the light and see Cara pulling Nick into the fire with her. He reaches for me, and this time it’s not to hurt me. He wants my help. His face contorts in pain, nothing at all like Cara’s. The flames rise up and consume Nick’s body. For a moment, I can’t see Nick or Cara, just the brightness of the fire.

“Cara!”

The silence is deafening. Then I hear her voice, almost like a distant echo. “I’m okay.” The fire calms slightly and ashes fall to the floor. It’s just Cara standing before me now. Nick is gone. No, not gone. He’s the pile of ashes.

Tears roll down Cara’s cheeks and burn up before they fall. “I tried to tell you. I wanted to, but it was too dangerous. I wanted to protect you. I love you, Logan. Remember that. Even though I won’t remember you, remember that I love you.”

I don’t know why, but in that moment, I believe her. I believe she’s a Phoenix. She’s going to burn and be reborn, and she won’t remember me. Just like Jeremy said. “Cara, don’t leave me. Don’t forget.”