Burn Read online

  “You all right, Brennan?” I asked softly.

  “Yeah,” he grunted.

  I raised an eyebrow at him and he gave a cough and shrug. “Ya’ know, I’ll live, anyway,” he whispered roughly.

  “That’s good.” I allowed a smile to cross my face at his small attempt at humor.

  He settled onto the wheelchair with a grunt. “We’re going to the pediatric ward. We’ll use their radiology room for now. And the foreseeable future,” the doctor said with a groan.

  “Sorry, doc,” Brennan grunted.

  The doctor patted Brennan on the shoulder. “Not your fault, son. I’m just glad you aren’t hurt worse. Now, let’s go get you checked out.”

  “I’m staying with him,” Jade insisted. “At least to the door. I know I can’t go in with him.”

  He nodded. “No problem. Anyone else coming?”

  “Cade and I will go back to Brennan’s house. Seems he might be here for a little while,” I said. “We’ll pick up some stuff for him.”

  Jade nodded. “Good. We’ll see you when you get back, then.”

  By the time we finished our plan, the orderly had Brennan almost all the way down the hall, the doctor right with them. Jade rushed to follow.

  Jade bent down to whisper something to Brennan, who nodded.

  “Let’s go,” Cade said.

  I looked back down the blackened hallway with a shudder. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

  FORTY-NINE

  Brennan

  The sheer relief I felt at finally having oxygen again was almost indescribable. Jade seemed to also take her first deep breath when I was able to breathe more easily again. My throat felt as if it was on fire, and my lungs didn’t feel like they were able to expand the way they were meant to.

  I may not have been a firefighter for long, but I knew well the risks of smoke inhalation. If my lungs were badly damaged, I might never be able to go back to my job.

  “Don’t worry about that for now, Brennan,” Jade said. “Let’s find out exactly what’s wrong before you start borrowing trouble.”

  I nodded and closed my eyes as sudden exhaustion swept over me. The sheer effort of each breath and the use of my powers had worn me down.

  “Rest,” the doctor said. “We’ll have your x-rays up shortly. Then we can get to treatment.”

  The doctor and orderly helped me onto the x-ray table, and I lay flat. “Take a deep breath now and hold it for a moment.”

  I followed the directions, my eyes still closed. They had me breathe in, breathe out, and cough. Several pictures later, they helped me back to my wheelchair. I hardly noticed the ride through the halls to a room, where I was finally left to sleep, with only Jade there to keep me company.

  ***

  When I woke again, Cole, Rae, Jade, and Laurie were in my room. I heard their voices, but the sounds of their words washed over me with no meaning attached. Only when Laurie’s voice raised did I make an effort to push my eyes open and figure out what was going on.

  “Hey, welcome back, sleepyhead,” Jade said lightly.

  I reached up to rub my face, only to discover an IV that had been started at some point. “Yeah, you were dehydrated after everything,” Jade answered my unasked question. “You didn’t even flinch when they placed it. You’ve already gotten nearly a liter of fluids.”

  At this rate I wouldn’t have to make any effort to make words come out of my abused throat. I gave a slight smile to Jade, who handed me a cup of ice. “Here, this should help a little with the burning in your throat.”

  A little was an understatement. I closed my eyes in bliss. The cold ice on my damaged throat felt like heaven. I took several ice chips before I felt comfortable enough to even attempt to ask.

  “Where are… others?” I rasped. I cringed at the sharp pain.

  Jade shook her head. “Don’t talk if you can help it,” she scolded gently. She glanced up at the others, her eyes crinkled in concern. “We don’t know where everyone is,” she admitted. “Tray and Cade went to your house to get some supplies for you for however long you’re stuck here. Lena and Paul went to check on them when we couldn’t reach them after about an hour. Now, we’re having trouble reaching them too.”

  Her words seemed to take a while to reach me, and I wondered what else they’d put into my IV line. The news should have upset me more. I could see Cole’s anger and worry for his brother and friends.

  “Go,” I urged. “Find them.”

  Jade shook her head. “We can’t. You’re on some medications now that are affecting your ability to guard your own mind. Cole needs to be here to protect you.”

  “The rest, then,” I argued. “Find them.”

  If something happened to them while they were here to help me… I couldn’t take it. My voice didn’t work, so I used my eyes and my thoughts to plead with Jade. “Please. Please don’t put them at risk because of me.”

  Jade kept her eyes on me and huffed. “Cole, are you okay to stay with him? We’ll stay in touch, okay?”

  “You’d better,” he ordered. “We’ve already lost track of too many people. And I think… I think Cade is in trouble.”

  “Which means they probably all are,” Jade agreed. Her eyes closed wearily for a moment before she gestured to the other women. “All right, ladies. Let’s go see what’s up.”

  I watched them file out of the room. Jade lingered for a moment. “Get some rest, Brennan. Like I said before; try not to worry too much, okay?”

  A nod was my only answer. But nonverbally, I questioned how I was supposed to ignore my concerns for the people who had become good friends. They put themselves in the line of fire… literally, in order to help protect me. Nothing I could do would repay them for that.

  “You don’t owe us anything, Brennan,” Jade assured me. “We’ll be back.” She looked up at Cole. “Keep him safe.” He nodded in response, but his dark eyes were hooded, and his worry was obvious.

  The women left, and it was just me and Cole. He was one I hadn’t had much one-on-one time with so far.

  “I know you’re feeling guilty, but you don’t have to,” Cole said suddenly. “Nothing has been your fault. We all know it. None of us will blame you for anything.”

  I looked sharply at him and he continued. “Yeah. I’m kinda in your head right now.” He tapped at his temple. “I’m protecting you. Please don’t try to burn me out. Not sure how that would go with the drugs in your system.”

  His dark eyes focused on me, and I gave a slow nod of agreement. I could hardly focus on conversations right now, let alone concentrate enough to use any part of my power.

  “I’ve taken some control over your power for now,” he said. “Your hands kept flaming up, and we couldn’t risk you losing control. Now that Kindred removed your block, I don’t know what will happen. What I do know is that we’re here to help you learn how to use it.”

  He used my problems to keep his mind off his brother, I realized. Cade and Tray had left hours ago. If nothing was wrong, they would have made it back here by now. Or, at least gotten in touch with someone to let us know they wouldn’t be back for a bit.

  Either way, if talking about my powers and how to control them helped to keep Cole calm, I wouldn’t stop him. It was the least I could do after everything… wait a minute…

  He frowned at me. “What did I just say? Geez, you don’t listen very well, do you? None of this is on you, Brennan. Your life has been at least partly controlled by psychopaths for years. Your power was taken out of your control, and the fires that drew us here are fully on Kindred. Where in all that is it your fault?”

  My eyes widened at his emphatic tirade. “Nowhere?” I asked.

  He sighed. “At some point I hope you can sound more certain of that. For now, I guess I’ll accept your answer, based on the fact that I know you’re hurt and drugged.”

  He gave a heavy sigh. “Don’t worry about any of this for now. I have your powers under control for the moment. It should give me some insight in
to how you can take control later.”

  I nodded, again feeling as if I should be more upset, but I was too tired to put much effort into it.

  “What if something happened to Tray or Cade?” I asked in my rough whisper. “How… how could I face any of you again?”

  Cole stood and marched up to my bedside. “The same way we would face you. As friends. We came here to help. In every case, there is risk. Maybe a bit more in this than some of our others, but still.”

  The other man seemed to deflate a little. “Cade is powerful,” he said. “He and I have similar powers, but sometimes he connects so strongly to a victim that whatever wounds they have appear on his body. He feels every bit of the pain they went through. Yet he still does it. You know why?”

  I shook my head.

  “Really?” he sounded incredulous. “It’s the same reason you run into burning buildings. He lets himself be hurt, because he wants to help people. He’s willing to get hurt for complete strangers. Who are we to tell him he has to back off when the victim is a friend?”

  His phone chimed. He read the message and immediately frowned. “The girls are at your house. Tray’s car is still there, but the one Paul and Lena were using isn’t around.”

  My frown matched his. If Paul and Lena had gone to check on Tray and Cade, they should have still been at my house. At least they should if the other two men were still there.

  “You think they’re in trouble. I know they are,” Cole huffed and turned away. “We can’t do anything about it from here, and we can’t leave. You need the oxygen, sleep, and a guard. I’m the only one available to protect you.”

  His brother was in trouble. It may not be my fault, but it was because of me. If they hadn’t come, they wouldn’t even be on Kindred’s radar. At least not to this extent.

  Cole shook his head in frustration. “Kindred already knew Laurie and Tray. He doesn’t seem the type to stay away from others who have power. He seems drawn to them.”

  My thoughts weren’t exactly positive, but Cole only shook his head. “You have to learn not to take on the burden of guilt for things beyond your control. I’m going to try to connect to my brother. I’ll keep your mind protected. You get some rest, and just… breathe, I guess.”

  My protector closed his eyes for a second, took a deep breath, and when he opened them again, his eyes were pure white. “Get some sleep, Brennan. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything.”

  Sleep. Right. I could at least try. It didn’t seem overly possible with everything that had happened. Still, my eyes burned, and I felt almost immediate relief when I allowed the lids to close. I could hear muted footsteps out in the hallway, and the soft sound of Cole’s steady breaths. Otherwise, the room was quiet.

  Almost despite myself, I fell asleep. At least for a short time.

  When a hand touched my shoulder, I nearly jumped out of my skin. My eyes flew open, and I searched for any sign of a threat.

  “Relax, it’s me,” Cole assured with his hands up in front of him. His eyes were cast low, and I eyed him warily.

  “What did you find?”

  He shook his head. “I think they’re still at your house. I can’t explain why Lena and Paul aren’t there, but my brother doesn’t seem injured. He is scared though. And worried.”

  I took a sip of water and relished the coolness against my dry throat. “What is he scared of?” I asked softly.

  “You sound a bit better,” he told me with a slight smile. “Good. Because I don’t think we can afford to give you all the time you need to heal. I doubt Kindred will…”

  “Brennan?” A soft knock on the door and Joe’s voice announced their arrival. Joe and Angie, my adoptive parents.

  After all the turmoil of my early life, their home had been a calm oasis. When Anderson had taken me right out from under them, the calm had vanished. My safety net was cut away, and I couldn’t figure out how to trust them to the same extent again.

  And now they knew about my powers. Not only knew, but had nearly been killed by them. I looked away. As much as our relationship had struggled over the years, I couldn’t bring myself to listen to them tell me they wanted nothing more to do with me.

  “Brennan, you really should listen to them,” Cole said gently.

  They walked into the room, eyes soft. “How’s Bobby?” I rasped.

  “Holding his own. The doctors are cautiously optimistic that they’ll be able to pull the vent by morning,” Joe answered. His gaze seemed to take in every part of me. The familiarity of it was welcome. He’d always known when I didn’t feel well, or if I tried to hide something from him.

  Except for my power. I doubted he’d suspected anything about it. At least until I’d come storming into his house and proceeded to destroy it.

  “What about you, son? How are your lungs?”

  My eyes filled with tears, and I shook my head. “You…”—I coughed harshly. When I looked up from the fit, Angie held out a cup of water. “You shouldn’t call me son,” I said after I took a sip. “I… I could have k-killed all of you. I almost… Bobby wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t…”

  Joe nodded and took another step toward me so he stood right at my bedside. “I know you, Brennan,” he said. “Despite not knowing every aspect of you, I do know you.”

  My eyes narrowed as I looked up at him. “I know you would never have put any of us at risk if you could help it. I have to believe that’s why you never… why you felt you couldn’t tell us.”

  Before I acknowledged what Joe said, I tried one more time to get Cole to help someone who truly needed it. And… maybe so I could gain a bit of privacy for this particular conversation.

  “Cole, go,” I said. “I’ll protect myself for now. Find your brother. Help them.”

  He shook his head with a rueful laugh. “Not a chance. I promised the others I wouldn’t leave you without a shield. I’m your shield right now, whether you want it or not.”

  Cole wasn’t afraid to bring up his powers. Not even in front of those he had just now met. Maybe it was just part of who he was. Maybe it was because he had bigger things to worry about than hiding his abilities. Yet I couldn’t even bring myself to talk about them to the people who had raised me from the time I was thirteen. Even though they knew about them already.

  Joe was right. To some extent I hadn’t wanted to tell them because I worried they would be in danger if I even acknowledged the power. But my reluctance stemmed from a more selfish place.

  “Didn’t want you to know,” I said. “I thought… I didn’t want you to think I was a freak. Different and dangerous.”

  “Different and dangerous,” Joe mused. “Somehow that does seem accurate. But if you would have told us, we might have been able to help you.”

  I looked down away from them and crossed my arms over my aching chest.

  Joe, my dad, rested his hand over one of mine. “We love you, Bren. We accept you as you are. You are our son, just as much as any of the other kids. And we all miss you.”

  “Your little brother and sister want to see you. You scared them with the fire,” Angie explained. “They thought you were going to burn alive. Scary as this whole thing has been, even they know you would never harm them on purpose.”

  My arms fell from their defensive position, and my head drooped. “Are they here?”

  Angie ran her hand through my hair, which was stiff with dry sweat. “They are. Are you allowed to get up? I can help you get washed up a bit before they come in.”

  I allowed a real smile to cross my face. “Yeah. Yeah, mom, I think I’d like that.”

  FIFTY

  Jade

  Paul and Lena were still MIA. Brennan’s house should have been the first place they went to find Cade and Tray. If they failed to find them here, they should have called someone. The fact that they’d vanished without even a phone call didn’t exactly make me feel all warm and fuzzy.

  Nor did I get any warm fuzzies from Cade. He was scared. So was Tray. I got the r
ead from outside Brennan’s house, and I gestured to Rae and Laurie to stay quiet.

  Rae cringed back, her face twisted into a pained expression. “He’s hurting them!” she exclaimed.

  “We need to get in there. Maybe all of us together can distract Kindred from whatever he’s trying to accomplish here,” I suggested.

  We entered the house and quietly made our way through a quick search of the downstairs. There was food out on the table, as if someone’s meal had been disrupted. Someone had been here since we’d left. Everything had been cleaned up, last I’d seen.

  The house was eerily silent. I followed Rae and Laurie up the steps. We knew our friends were here, but I heard nothing. Even with my power, only occasional impressions came through.

  Mostly stuff like: Stay back! Stop. Why?

  No full thoughts, no context other than a suspicion that Kindred was here. A strong suspicion, yeah, but still no proof of it. I wanted nothing more than to go running through the house screaming for Tray and Cade, but we had to be cautious.

  “Wait,” Laurie paused halfway up the steps. “Kindred can put pictures into people’s minds. We know our friends are here because of our powers. If we were average people, we would only see an empty house. Kindred is here.”

  “He probably knows we’re aware of his presence,” I warned. “He’s always aware of his surroundings. Might explain why Lena and Paul are nowhere to be seen. My guess is he managed to get into Lena’s mind. Once he managed that, Paul would be easy to manipulate.”

  “You are good,” Kindred seemed to appear out of thin air at the top of the steps. “You’re quite correct. My little cousin and her… boyfriend? I guess? Are safe. They’re simply not here. Couldn’t have them ruining the fun of making Inferno suffer.”