Shift (28 page)

“We’re on,” Sean said running out of the building, his face flushed and a manic grin showing his teeth. “I added some bleach from the caretaker’s cupboard. Just for good measure.” He looked at his watch. “In five, four, three…”

The hospital exploded before he reached two. A deafening boom and a ball of fire took out every window on the ground floor.

“It must have been a lot of bleach,” Aubrey said, shielding her face from the heat of the flames.

“Oh, and I set the bomb next to the gas cooker.”

“Nice work, Sean,” Zac said, knuckle-punching his friend.

We left the hospital grounds and stood on the other side of the road, where CP and the rest of the Fresh Meat were watching the flames take over the building. Every now and then there would be another, smaller explosion. Abbott’s dream of the adult Shifters really was going to make him famous.

“So what now?” Aubrey asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t know whether to believe Abbott that no one else at ARES knew what was going on here. I don’t know whether to trust Morgan or his father, but we have to tell someone.”

Jake laughed. “Let’s just hope he doesn’t remember what we did to him.”

“I’ll tell you later,” I said to Aubrey who was looking up at me quizzically.

I felt a thud in my arm, and on auto-pilot I Shifted to block Zac’s gentle punch. “Guess you’re not too bad, Tyler,” he said.

“Yeah, but you’re still a dick.”

He laughed. Then turned to Aubrey.

She held up a hand before he could even open his mouth. “I know, I know you don’t have to say it.”

“I hate to say I told you so…”

“Come off it, Zac. You love saying I told you so.”

“Well, I guess. So, are we friends again, Brey?”

I didn’t like the way he said friends.

“We’ll see,” Aubrey said.

Zac smiled, then clicked his fingers and faded with the rest of the gang into the night.

“You’d better get back too,” I said to CP and the rest of the Fresh Meat. “Before anyone at ARES realises you’re not in the dorms. And you might need to come up with an explanation for why CP’s back. Can you find your way?”

“Find our way?” CP said with a shake of her tiny head. “Who do you think we are, Scott? You?”

The kids laughed and CP moved to go, then tuned back and hugged me.

I returned her hug and said, “Go on. Get home. Before I put you all in detention.”

With another laugh the kids raced away, CP in the lead.

Rosalie hadn’t stopped hugging Jake since they’d been reunited. She stood next to me, her arms wrapped over Jake’s shoulders, watching the flames as Jake watched the rest of his class disappear around a corner. I turned to see her smiling.

“Thank you, Scott,” she said, planting a kiss on my lips.

I blushed as Jake laughed and whooped.

“We’d better be going,” Rosalie said.

“Yeah, sure,” I croaked.

“Yes, bye, bye,” Aubrey said, waving the brother and sister away. She looked pleasingly annoyed.

Now it was just the two of us, watching as a fire engine screeched down the road. Firemen jumped down from the truck and started hosing down the building. They were quickly followed by black vans with ARES written on the side in white paint. The Regulators piled out, followed by a dazed-looking Morgan. He blinked up at the flames. Now he had some real responsibility, it looked as if he didn’t know what to do.

A large silver car, with blacked-out windows glided through the open gates and pulled up next to Morgan. I saw him lean down and talk to whoever was inside. His bottom lip was wobbling when he straightened up and I thought he was going to cry.

“I think we should probably go.”

We stepped back into the shadows, slipped down an alleyway and started to walk away from the burning building.

I felt a warm hand in mine. “Back there,” Aubrey said tightening her grip. “I had this overpowering desire to kiss you. Like if I didn’t, the world might end or something.”

I coughed.

“That was you? You can affect other people’s decisions?” she said, stopping. I didn’t know if she was impressed or scared. Both probably. The idea of another person blocking you Shifting was bad enough. But someone being able to actually control what you did, that was terrifying.

“Not any more,” I said. “It’s gone. At least I think it is. It’s just me again.” I still sensed the power, but now it was just a faint presence in my mind. Like the forgotten lyrics from your favourite song. You knew you’d remember them eventually.

“Let’s find out,” Aubrey said, taking a step closer.

“What?”

“Kiss me,” she said.

I looked at her and swallowed hard. Her pale skin was glowing in the flickering streetlights and there were flecks of brown in her green eyes I’d never noticed before.

She smiled. “Hey,” she said. “If it doesn’t work out, you can always change your mind.”

I leaned in to kiss her knowing this was one decision I was never going to change.