Burn Page 17

  I tried to shake my head, but he’d taken full control. I could only observe in horror as he forced me toward the fire station.

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  Brennan

  Normally, the only activity at our fire station in the middle of the night happened when there was a call out. While we remained open to the public in case of problems, we only rarely had people stop by so late. When the door opened, it drew the attention of everyone who was still awake.

  “Tray?” I asked, moving forward to meet him as he slowly entered. Nick and Quentin watched curiously, but allowed me to draw Tray aside. “What are you doing here? Did something happen?”

  The garage was dimmed for the night shift. A normal, every night occurrence. Tonight, however, it gave the familiar area an ominous feel.

  Tray gave me an odd look, his eyes stared deep into mine, his head tilted slightly. “We need you. Can you come outside for a minute?” he asked finally.

  Instead of agreement, I took a step back. This wasn’t normal. Tray wouldn’t have been the one sent to get me if there was a problem. They would have sent Jade.

  “Why are you here? I’m working,” I said. “We agreed to hold off on anything else until I got off work in the morning.”

  “That’s before Kindred contacted us again,” Tray said.

  What he said could have happened. But a tiny voice in my head warned me something wasn’t right. I took another step away from him and back toward my coworkers. They may not know everything that had happened, but if Tray wasn’t on the up-and-up, I would be safer with them than out here.

  “You need to come,” Tray insisted. His normally expressive voice was monotone, and he stepped forward with his hand raised. “I need you, Brennan. You have to come outside with me.”

  The voice was coming from him, but—from what I could remember from the morning—this was more like when Kindred had taken him over. My eyes widened at the realization and my whole body tensed. If Kindred had taken over Tray, he couldn’t be too far away.

  I couldn’t leave Tray to him. If I could, I needed to warn the others about what was happening. My best bet would be to play along. Especially knowing Kindred could force Tray to use his powers against me. My fire wall wouldn’t protect me from telekinesis.

  I shook my head and smiled. “Yeah, sorry. It’s been a long day, ya know?”

  Tray’s smile was as wooden as his voice. “I know. You’ve definitely had a hard day today. No problem. So, will you come with me?”

  Against my better judgment, I nodded. “Give me one second. I just need to grab my phone in case we get a call out. I’m still on duty, you know?”

  Test time. Would he continue with the ruse, or would he turn to force?

  He frowned, but nodded. “Be quick. The others are waiting.”

  I went back into our common room. My phone was in my locker. What could I do? I could call the others, but they wouldn’t get here in time to do any good.

  “Peterson, everything okay? You seem a bit tense. Well… more tense.”

  Nick’s voice made me jump, and I spun to face him. “What? No… yeah. Everything’s fine. Just have to step out for a minute. I’ll have my phone, okay?”

  Both Quentin and Nick frowned. “You can’t go too far, Brennan. You need to be here if we get a call,” Quentin reminded me. Sternly.

  “I don’t plan to go far. Probably just outside. I just… My friend needs me. I’ll be back soon, okay?”

  I rushed to the locker room, grabbed my phone, and immediately dialed Jade’s number. She answered almost instantly. “We know Tray is missing, what’s going on there Brennan?”

  “He’s here. I think Kindred is too,” I explained. “Tray… he isn’t himself. I don’t want Kindred to hurt him if I don’t cooperate, but I can’t risk losing my job either. Is there anything I can do to get Kindred out of Tray’s head?”

  Jade was silent for a moment, then I heard her speak to someone in the background. The voices were too muddled to make out. “There might be,” she said. “You know how Cole and Cade can expand their own mental shields to protect others?”

  “Yeah. You think… what? That I can do it too?”

  “Not sure, but it’s worth a try. Cole says physical contact might help. Do your best, okay? And don’t let him take you or Tray anywhere. Do whatever you have to do to stay safe.”

  When I left the relative safety of our locker room, Nick stood by the door. The way he leaned on the door told me he’d been waiting for me.

  “You aren’t okay,” he stated. “I know there are some who believe you have something to do with the arsonist, but I don’t. You always do whatever you can to pull people out of the fire.”

  I skidded to a stop and my mouth gaped open at his statement. Other than Jim, no one had come out and said what they thought.

  Before I could respond, Nick continued. “You are hiding something though. And your investigator friends are part of it. Are you in some kind of trouble?”

  What could I say? I couldn’t tell him about my abilities. However, with how worried I felt now, I didn’t believe I could pull off a straight up lie. At this moment, one of my new friends was under the control of a killer. A man who didn’t hesitate to use his abilities to harm those he saw as a problem. I couldn’t put any of my coworkers in danger.

  “Quentin went to get Jim. We know you’ve made him your confidante,” Nick continued. He squinted at me in concern. A worry that only seemed to grow the longer I didn’t respond. “Look, I know we don’t know each other well, but we trust each other… right? I mean, we’ve literally walked through fire together.”

  I nodded, and he gave an almost unnoticeable sigh of relief at my response. “You’re right. We have. So, you need to trust me when I say that you do not want to have anything to do with this.”

  He frowned and opened his mouth to object.

  “Brennan, come with me,” Jim’s voice interrupted. He and Quentin stood together in the hall. “Don’t worry, Nick. I’ve got this.”

  Still apparently wanting to object, Nick shifted his gaze to meet Quentin’s eyes and gave a nod. “Just remember: I’m willing to help.”

  I nodded and met his eyes. “Thank you.”

  I allowed Jim to lead me into one of the offices and sat with a huff. “I don’t have time for this, Jim. Tray is in trouble.”

  He nodded. “Anything I can do to help?”

  A shake of my head led him to frown almost as deeply as Nick had only a minute before. “Unfortunately, no. Other than trying to cover for me if this doesn’t go well.”

  He wanted to say more, but I shook my head again. “I can’t right now. Tray needs my help. I’ve already taken long enough that Kindred will be suspicious.”

  “Just tell him your supervisor took some convincing to let you step out. If you can help it, try not to go far. I’ll do my best to keep an eye out, okay?”

  I smiled. “Thanks, Jim. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

  Before he—or anyone else—could stop me, I left the room and moved quickly to the garage. Tray still stood where I’d left him.

  “Sorry about that. Took a minute for me to convince my supervisor to let me step out. We do get quite a few calls at this time of night.” Kindred wouldn’t be able to read the lie in my mind. I only hoped he would buy the explanation.

  Tray nodded stiffly and asked, “Shall we go?”

  “Lead the way. I’ll follow,” I said.

  He turned to the door, and I concentrated on the glowing ember in my mind that seemed to control at least parts of my powers. My hand shook at the thought of facing Kindred again. Could I protect Tray without harming him? So far, anyone who’d come into contact with my power had felt the burn.

  I pushed my thoughts toward Tray and hoped. I pictured a wall of flame surrounding his mind, and nearly collapsed with the effort.

  We made it across the street before Tray cried out and whipped around to face me.

  “No! It’s not possible,” he y
elled angrily.

  The look in his eyes flickered from Kindred’s rage, to Tray’s pain. It was working. I pushed harder. He’d come here because of me. They all had. Jade and her whole group of friends had come here to help me, and were in danger because of it. “Get out!”

  My vision darkened and flickered as if in some demented dreamscape. That was when a heavy hand dropped onto my shoulder and I felt the prick of a needle in my neck. “I don’t need him anymore. You’re mine again, Inferno.”

  Before I blacked out completely, Kindred laughed. “And this time, you won’t get away.”

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  Jade

  Cole, Cade, and I drove as fast as we could to the fire station. The little I could read from Tray at this distance warned me we would be too late. “We’re not going to make it,” I muttered.

  The brothers agreed. “It took us too long to realize he was gone,” Cade said. “Sorry, Jade. With everything, it seems we forgot Kindred might go after Tray as well.”

  He winced at the oversight, and I gave a stiff nod. “We did,” I agreed. “He’s clever. Kindred had to have been watching to know Tray wasn’t being protected anymore. Otherwise, he would have thought that we were watching. Especially after this morning.”

  “Well, yesterday morning really,” Cole said after a quick glance at his watch. “But your point stands.”

  We reached the fire station, and I got out of the car to search for Brennan and Tray. I could hear Tray’s buzzed thoughts as we approached the entrance, and I glanced around in an attempt to locate him. “There!” I pointed to the side of the building by some bushes.

  Tray was flat on the ground with an arm visible behind the bushes. His eyes were closed, but—as we approached—they started to crinkle. Based on past experience, he should be awake before long.

  “Any sign of Brennan?” Cade asked. “I’m not sensing anything from him.

  Cole took a look around. After a couple minutes he answered. “He was here. I think…” His eyes glowed white, but only for a moment. “I know he was drugged. Felt a prick in the neck before losing consciousness. Kindred used Tray to bring him outside. Brennan was almost successful in blocking Kindred’s access to Tray’s mind, but before he could finish, Kindred drugged him.”

  “For what purpose? Kindred won’t be able to keep control of him anymore. Brennan’s fire wall will see to that,” I asked. “I don’t understand what Kindred hopes to accomplish here.”

  Cole let out a long sigh. “Yeah. That does seem to be a large part of our problem. We might be trying to make sense of something that simply does not make sense.”

  Cade knelt by Tray and touched the side of his head. “He’s going to be awake soon. I think Kindred used his power to influence him to sleep until he was able to get away.”

  “He couldn’t have gotten far. Can anyone connect to him?” I asked.

  The door opened then, and Jim stepped out. “Where’s Brennan? He’s still on shift. Can’t be out of reach.”

  We exchanged uncomfortable looks. “We have to be honest here,” I said. “His boss needs to know.”

  Jim visibly braced himself before asking again. “Where is he?”

  The pure worry shone through, and I cringed.

  “What happened to him? Is he okay? We have medical training,” Jim rushed to Tray’s side, knelt and checked his eyes.

  “Kindred knocked him out,”—at Jim’s startled glance, I rushed to assure him—“With his power, not a physical blow. There shouldn’t be any physical ramifications from it.”

  True to what we’d suspected, Tray blinked and groaned. “He took him, didn’t he?” he muttered. His eyes squeezed shut and he forcefully rubbed at his forehead.

  “Headache?” I asked, not bothering to answer the question he clearly already knew the answer to. Laurie and Rae were still at the hotel. While they had gotten up when we found Tray missing, we didn’t see the need to have them tag along immediately.

  “He took him?” Jim asked, his hands withdrew from where he was still trying to examine Tray. “The guy who’s been controlling Brennan? Is that who he’s talking about?”

  Cole answered. “Unfortunately, yes. He’s become bolder in his desires. He used Tray to lure Brennan outside, then grabbed him.”

  “I’m not sensing anything from either of them,” Cade said. “It might be a good thing. If Brennan dropped his wall enough to reach out to us, Kindred could take over.”

  It was hard to see a lack of communication as a good thing. If Brennan had any control of his wall, he might be able to lower it enough for us to read the surface thoughts. The idea gave me some relief until I realized the same problem applied. If he was able to send a message to us, then Kindred would be able to see it as well. No good.

  “So, how are we supposed to find him?” Jim demanded. He got to his feet and began pacing. “And what the hell do I tell Quentin? How do I explain his abduction without explaining everything?”

  My eyes widened at the sheer anxiety Brennan’s disappearance caused in the normally calm man. Somehow, he had become more integral to Brennan’s life than either man had realized.

  I shook my head helplessly. What other reason could there be for Brennan to take off? We could only hide this for so long.

  “We have to explain,” Cole decided. “I know we decided before we got here that we wouldn’t expose anyone, but I think we have to.”

  How would they react? The people Brennan worked with respected his ability to pull people from fires, but would they accept him if they knew about his power? Some people would. Jim clearly had.

  “Will Quentin deal with it? Some would be terrified to know people with special powers exist,” I said softly.

  In my experience, most people wouldn’t be able to handle the knowledge. Brennan could start a fire with his mind, I could read minds, the brothers could get into the heads of pretty much anyone if they focused hard enough… those things could frighten the average person.

  Jim stopped and faced me. “I can’t honestly answer that. I can only say I hope so. The kid doesn’t deserve to be discriminated against for an ability that isn’t his fault.”

  Tray sat up, his face scrunched at the ache in his head.

  His obvious pain made me cringe. If Kindred hurt Tray already, what would he do to Brennan?

  “We have to tell him,” Cole said. “If we can, maybe stick to telling only his lieutenant. We can spin some other reason why he left for the other guys.”

  I felt the beginnings of tension at the base of my skull. I cringed, but nodded. “Let’s go then. Once we’re done, we need to get back to the hotel and work with the others on a way to find Kindred and Brennan.”

  A quick check of the minds inside the building told me there were only two people awake. Quentin and Nick. Both had a mild concern for Brennan apparent in their minds. We got up—Cole reached to help Tray get to his feet—and went into the building.

  It was time to spill Brennan’s secret.

  THIRTY-NINE

  Lena

  They’d gone without me. I fumed as I paced around the room. My cousin made a power move, and they had gone without me. Paul knocked on my door, and I pushed out past him. “Let’s go. They’re going to need us there.”

  “How do you know? Can you read the situation from here?”

  I almost growled. “Yes. And they’re about to give away a secret that Brennan has kept from everyone in his life besides Jade. Do you think he’ll thank them for that?”

  Paul simply shook his head. He found it safer to agree than to argue. Especially since he knew I was right.

  “No! That’s right, he won’t. The guy is terrified he’ll be ostracized if people ever found out about his powers. Why do you think he never even told his family? Even without them finding out, they ended up estranged.”

  Paul shook his head sadly. “If I had a family who cared about me, I would cling to them like a burr. I would never let them go.”

  I shrugged. A bad family
life seemed to be the norm for most of the people I’d met who had powers. “Keep in mind, Paul. We don’t know the whole situation. He might have had a valid reason to push away.”

  He looked away and climbed into the car to go to the fire station. We wouldn’t make it in time to protect Brennan’s secrets. However, we might be able to get some sort of lead on where Kindred took Brennan.

  “They were going to meet with us back at the hotel after telling Brennan’s lieutenant what happened,” I said after we drove for a couple minutes.

  “Were? Did their plan change?”

  I huffed. “No. Our plan changed theirs. They just don’t know it yet.”

  “Ah. Gotcha.”

  He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “So… do we actually have a plan?”

  His question stopped my angry thoughts in their tracks. “Plan? Not exactly. Mostly a hope that I can get a better sense of where Kindred took Brennan. Or at least that I can get a flash of what his plan is now that he has him.”

  Paul smirked. “You’ve got nothing. The brothers have similar abilities to yours. They would have already tried to sense exactly what you’re looking for.”

  I dropped my head to look at the floor of our vehicle.

  My companion sighed. “Look, we all have some trust issues. I understand why you don’t fully trust them to do whatever they can… but they care about Brennan. They will work as hard as they can to get him back.”

  Most of what he said, I could agree with. Only the last point troubled me. “If they wanted the best shot at finding them, they would have all of us there to work on it.”

  “Truth, little cousin.”

  The smug sound of Kindred’s voice almost made me slam my mental wall in his face. An automatic response I had to force down in order to get as much information as I could.

  “You hurt Tray and drugged Brennan. Why shouldn’t I do my absolute best to tear your mind into pieces?”