Burn Page 15

  Ways he wouldn’t ever try to repair.

  A heavy sigh filled my mind. “You are right, little cousin. I am a broken man. But I have been remade. I am new.”

  “Not a good new,” I answered with a sigh. “You’re a killer. A dangerous man who should not be allowed to roam free.”

  He scoffed.

  “Try and stop me.”

  THIRTY-TWO

  Tray

  From what I could gather, Lena was stuck in some mental conversation with her cousin. Jade was monitoring at the time. She kept casting worried looks at the teenager, and I could tell she wouldn’t leave her at this point. No matter how much Brennan was struggling in the fire, Jade wouldn’t leave the younger girl to deal with Kindred alone.

  With the two women distracted, and the others keeping their eyes open for Kindred, I kept an eye on the burning house. Brennan still hadn’t come out, and parts of the house were beginning to collapse.

  The other firefighters from Brennan’s truck were starting to eye the house with concern. Brennan and Nick had been in there longer than anticipated, and I could see a couple other men preparing to go in.

  I squinted through the smoke. A sudden crash made me jump in fear. It wasn’t until the sudden flurry of sparks and flame settled that I could see what had happened. The ceiling by the door had collapsed. The way out was blocked! Even Brennan’s ability to absorb the flames wouldn’t help him escape when the door was completely covered with debris.

  One of the firefighters yelled and waved his arm toward the door, and several men raced forward. One held an axe. I wiped tears from my burning eyes. Through the smoke I could see enough debris had fallen to make the axe nearly worthless.

  “Don’t, Tray,” Jade broke her concentration on Lena to stop what I was about to do. “We already broke cover with Jim. Do you think Brennan would be happy if we do it with his whole firehouse?”

  I shook my head. “I won’t give him away, but if I don’t do something, he won’t be able to get out.”

  She focused on the house for a few seconds, then nodded. “Brennan is nearly there. He saw the collapse, but is blocked off from the other direction as well.”

  Her eyes closed, and she shook her head. “Do it. We’ll deal with consequences later. Brennan won’t do well if he has to take in any more flames.”

  I wasted no more time and moved closer to the engulfed building. One of Brennan’s truck mates tried to stop me. Without looking at him, I simply said, “I can help. I can’t explain right now, but I can help.”

  “I know. Just don’t get too close,” Jim said. “Get our boys out of there.”

  I smiled and gave a short nod. My hand raised in front of me. I concentrated on the debris blocking the door and pushed energy from me to it. The two men who worked to cut through the debris stepped back. Their mouths hung open in shock when the pile of burning wreckage began to move on its own.

  Even knowing what I was capable of, Jim’s mouth dropped open for a second before he moved toward the opening. Along with some of the others, he started to grab pieces of wood and drag them outside. I pushed at the flickering flames, and kept them in the house, not allowing burning debris to leave the building.

  “Keep it up, Tray. It’s almost done,” Jade encouraged softly. “Brennan is near the exit, and he has the victim. They’ll be able to come out soon.”

  Good to know. Ever since I’d accidentally caused some major damage when I first realized my power, I’d wanted nothing more than to be able to help people with it. This was one of the most open ways I’d done it so far.

  The last piece was huge, so instead of trying to bring it out the door, I focused on pushing it back further into the building. Sweat tickled my face as I concentrated on avoiding hurting anyone or causing another collapse. Some of my power, I focused on the ceiling above the door, holding it in place so it wouldn’t fall on those who needed to get out.

  Before long, the way was clear, and the smoke-darkened, yellow jackets of Brennan and Nick were visible. Once they rushed out the door, I released my hold on the debris. There was an ominous creaking before what was left of the ceiling collapsed, once again blocking the door.

  Brennan and Nick stopped and stared at the spot briefly before Brennan raced to hand off his burden to one of the waiting paramedics.

  Once the victim was taken care of, he made his way over to me, and grinned. “I assume the self-moving debris was your doing?”

  I returned his grin and wiped a hand over my face to clear the dripping sweat. “It was. You okay?” I asked, suddenly concerned. “Jade said you had to drop your shield and use your power.”

  He frowned, but nodded. “Yeah. Couldn’t do as much as I wanted though. Had a bit of a distraction as soon as I dropped the shield.”

  A proud grin spread on his face when he continued. “I think I burned him pretty good again when I got my shield back up, though. Maybe if I do that enough, he’ll decide it’s not worth the risk.”

  His hopeful tone wasn’t lost on me, but my experience with Kindred told me it wouldn’t be that easy.

  A thought he clearly read on my face, because the hopeful look dropped. “Yeah. I didn’t really think so either.”

  “Sorry, man. I don’t know for sure, but he’s tenacious. Like a rabid dog; once he gets his teeth into someone, it takes a lot to get him to let go.”

  He tried to give me a smile, but it looked a bit sickly. His face was flushed, and he was breathing heavily. “Do you need to get checked out?” I asked. “You don’t look too good.”

  Brennan huffed and narrowed his eyes at me. “Thanks. Just what a guy likes to hear after pulling someone out of a fire.”

  I raised an eyebrow and waited. “Fine. No, I don’t need to get checked out. Just feeling a bit feverish, like I almost always do when I have to absorb fire.”

  “Which is why we need to figure out how to let you release the flames once you absorb them,” Jade interrupted. “I think you would feel much better if you didn’t have to wait for them to go out on their own.”

  Brennan nodded absently and seemingly noticed everyone for the first time. “Not that I’m not grateful for Tray’s help, but why are you all here? Did something happen?”

  Jade frowned and answered. “Yeah. Cole and Cade were able to connect to Kindred. They picked up that he was planning some sort of trap or revenge for you burning him out of your mind.”

  “When we called your station, they told us you were here,” Cole added. “We thought this was his revenge. But this was simply an accidental fire.”

  Instead of making him feel better, the news seemed to make him tense more. To be honest, it wasn’t exactly comforting to know an assassin was setting his sights on you. Especially one who could literally make you see whatever he pleased.

  “So, if this wasn’t it, then what exactly is he planning?” Brennan asked.

  THIRTY-THREE

  Brennan

  Before anyone could answer my question, I was called back to the truck to help with knocking the fire down. By then, the victim had been taken in an ambulance, and was on his way to the hospital. He’d still been breathing, but from my perspective, it didn’t look good. It had taken me too long to find him. Then it took too long to get out.

  Without Tray’s help, it would have taken longer. Telekinesis seemed to be a useful ability. Much more so than mine—at least in that situation. There had only been a small amount of fire between me and the victim, but to take any longer would have been too much of a risk. The teen had already inhaled too much smoke and was in rough shape.

  After a short time, Jim and I took control of a hose and helped get the fire knocked down. Once we were finished, he finally spoke to me. “You okay, kid?” he questioned as we rolled the hose back up toward the truck. “You were in there a while.”

  I gave a half smile and nodded. It was nice to have people who honestly cared whether I was okay or not. “Yeah, Jim. I’m good. Thanks.”

  “Did you have to use
your power?” He dropped his voice so I was the only one who could hear him.

  I frowned, glancing around at the rest of our crew. They all seemed busy, but Nick watched with a strange look on his face. My frown deepened, and I turned back to Jim.

  “Just a bit. Not enough to cause a problem. Shield is back up for now.”

  It was his turn to frown. “You dropped it?”

  I shrugged and secured the hose back in place before I answered. “Had to. As we discovered at my house earlier, I can’t absorb the flames while still holding my fire wall in place. And I had to get the kid outta there. Any longer, and he wouldn’t survive. Heck, even now, I don’t know if he will.”

  He kept a steady gaze on me, and I shifted uncomfortably. “Nothing bad happened. Just…” I paused, not wanting to admit what had happened.

  “Just what, Brennan?” he asked. “Just—you opened your mind to a psychopathic killer? Just—risked your life and the lives of those around you by opening yourself up to his control? What?”

  I cringed at the harsh but accurate judgement. “No—well, yeah. But that’s not… He talked to me. I didn’t respond to him, but as soon as I dropped my fire wall he was there. Almost as if he knew the exact moment I would be trying to use my other powers.”

  Jim huffed. One rough hand scrubbed over his face before he responded. “You need to tell your friends exactly what happened, and what he said to you.”

  “He didn’t say anything new,” I argued. “The main thing that worries me is that he was able to connect so quickly. They already know he connected again.”

  The older man narrowed his eyes. “But I’ll wager they have no idea what he was saying, or just how much he scared you.”

  And here I’d thought I’d hidden my fear quite well. I’d put up a strong front, kept a smile on my face, and continued to do my job. A definite improvement over the last fire I’d dealt with. Of course, the only thing that wasn’t faked was my pride in burning the bastard when I was able to put my shield up again.

  Even the thought of it brought a fierce smile to my face. He wouldn’t find me such easy prey any longer.

  I looked around for Jade or the others, but didn’t see them. After what Jade had told me, I was a bit surprised they would leave. She’d seemed a bit shaken. Whether it was to do with me, or just Kindred in general, I wasn’t sure.

  Jim and I climbed into the truck with the others. The next call beckoned, so the Kindred situation would have to wait.

  Quentin turned toward the back of the truck as we raced away from the fire. “Nice job out there, guys. And nice save, Peterson. The kid made it alive to the hospital. It’s up to the docs now.”

  I gave him a grateful nod. It was always gratifying to know the effort I’d put in could help save a life. I would have preferred the rescue to go a bit faster, but it couldn’t be helped. The floor had been weakened by the fire, and I’d had to move slowly to avoid falling through.

  “All right,” Quentin continued. “We have another car accident. Three cars, one trapped in the middle vehicle. Severe injuries in some of the others. Be prepared, gentlemen, this might not be pretty.”

  “Never is,” Nick muttered.

  ***

  Everyone was subdued by the time we made it back to the fire station. The last call hadn’t gone well. Of the five people who’d been in the three vehicles, only one had survived. And that one was in critical condition.

  We all went to the locker room to get cleaned up, and Nick punched his locker. Hard.

  I took a deep breath and approached him. “Wasn’t your fault, Nick. She was bleeding out before we even got there.”

  He swung an angry glare my direction, but didn’t say a word before he stalked out of the room. My head dropped forward, and I sank down onto the bench in front of the lockers.

  I was so immersed in my own thoughts that I nearly jumped out of my skin when a hand clapped me on the shoulder. “Thanks for tryin’, kid. Nick always takes calls like these pretty hard,” Chase said. “Didn’t mean to scare ya. You’re usually pretty aware of your surroundings.”

  A huff escaped, and I rubbed a hand through my spiky, black hair. “Yeah. He’s not the only one. If we’d have gotten away from that other fire a bit faster…”

  Chase shook his head. “And here I thought you were one of the smart ones,” he cut me off with a wry smile. “We can only do what we can do. That other fire took time. Every call takes time. We got to the accident scene as fast as we could, and we weren’t the first on scene. The paramedics did what they could to stabilize the victims. It’s pure ego when you think you can save everyone.”

  He cringed, and his tone softened. “I know, kids are harder. And you were already dealing with the kid from the other fire. Today hasn’t been an easy day, but you’ve handled it well.”

  From a veteran firefighter, it was a compliment. One he didn’t hand out easily, from what I’d gathered. “Thanks, Chase.”

  “No problem, kid. Jim seems to think pretty highly of you. I want you to know you can talk to me. Especially after rough days like this. People have burned out for less.”

  I huffed a slight laugh at that. He’d meant the comment figuratively, and couldn’t know my powers might literally cause me to burn out. And almost had, earlier in the day.

  He gave me an odd look and backpedaled a bit. “You don’t have to—”

  “No, Chase, I wasn’t… Thank you. I appreciate the offer,” I interrupted quickly.

  I hadn’t allowed myself to open up to my coworkers since I’d started. In turn, they had treated me as an outsider. If that could change… well, I had to help it along.

  Even a lone wolf longed for a pack.

  My natural suspicion tried to make me wonder why they now tried to include me. The timing was strange, and I couldn’t comprehend what might have changed. Was it seeing that I had friends they knew about now? Did seeing me with Jade and the others somehow make me more approachable?

  Or maybe it was Jim. He’d made the first effort to break through my walls and had visibly succeeded. Had that been enough to show the others I just wanted to belong?

  Whatever the case, I tried to let myself enjoy the new openness with my coworkers.

  It won’t last, a small voice inside whispered. The good things never last for you. Be prepared to lose it all.

  THIRTY-FOUR

  Jade

  When we’d left the house fire, Cole and Cade had been fully convinced Kindred had nothing to do with it. Yet we were all convinced he had some sort of plan in mind to trap Brennan once again. Based on his initial attempt, it didn’t make sense that he wouldn’t try again. The killer seemed quite adamant about his attempt to possess my friend.

  Brennan had to go back with his crew. We had to get back to work to figure out what it was exactly that Kindred wanted to accomplish. And how we could stop him.

  We split up in order to cover more ground. To learn more about Kindred. Lena, Paul, Tray, and I met in Lena’s hotel room. Everyone else went to Laurie’s room in order to continue their search through the files.

  “He’s already faked his death once,” Lena explained.

  And wasn’t that the kicker? No matter what we did, could we be truly certain he was stopped? The guy could make anyone see whatever he wanted them to see. If it was his dead body, or a version of reality where he was trapped in a cage somehow, could we ever believe it?

  Lena, with her ability to read anyone she came across, smiled sympathetically. “Yeah, he’s a bit difficult that way. Jason is the only one I know of who could truly tell us if anything we’re seeing with Kindred is the truth.”

  She gave a slight huff and shook her head. “Even he can’t be one hundred percent certain. When Kindred faked his death, Jason was right there. It was only my cousin’s obsession with Jason that allowed him to discover he was still alive.”

  “What you’re saying is…?” I asked.

  Lena shook her head. She ran her fingers through her hair in frustrati
on. “What I’m saying is: unless Kindred shows himself, it may be nearly impossible to find him. And—even if we find him—we can’t fully trust what we see.”

  Right. That’s what I’d gotten out of her comments. I simply hadn’t wanted to accept it. With so many powers at our disposal, it was difficult to believe the killer could fool us all.

  “We remembered what he previously told us to forget. At least, most of it,” I argued.

  The teen cocked her head at me and smirked. “Did you? And how do you determine how much you remember verses how much he took? Especially when you don’t know for certain how much of your conversation he wanted you to forget.”

  The conversation was making my head spin. And I could read minds. Nothing about Kindred’s powers played fair. Even if he hadn’t made us forget anything of importance, we could never feel one hundred percent certain we weren’t missing something.

  Tray watched. He only nodded occasionally at what Lena was saying. In fact, he hardly appeared able to follow the odd conversation. I tapped the bed next to my leg thoughtfully. He might be better off in the other room.

  The others had gone into a different room in order to search the files more closely for anything that might have drawn Kindred here at this time. After all, it had been a few years since he’d been freed from Trevor Mason. So, why go after his men now? And why those who weren’t even based in the same city?

  Lena sighed, her gaze seeking out her friend Paul. He frowned and decided to give us his opinion of the situation. “Kindred has always been the biggest danger out there. He thinks he’s on the right side of things. He doesn’t take into consideration that what he’s doing is harming others who have powers. Innocent people—who he claims to want to protect—he’s hurting.”

  There was red hot anger in his voice, and all of his thoughts drifted back to his mentor and the boy he considered a little brother. From his perspective, the majority of what had driven Jason away had been the fault of Kindred. And the video. The one that had led Tray and Laurie to seek him out in the first place.