Burn Read online

  “Thanks.” I awkwardly waved at the other two men who were hovering so unusually.

  The obvious glances they exchanged let me know they wanted to talk without me there. It happened often enough that I shouldn’t be suspicious, but somehow, I was. Casting a quick look back toward them, I walked into the main building.

  I spotted Jade instantly. She and her friends had a file open in front of them and were in deep discussion. Jade looked up as soon as I opened the door but continued her thought.

  “Hey, I thought we were meeting at my place later,” I said, my puzzlement obvious.

  They looked up at me, and Jade answered, “We will. We just had to check the files, and Paul wanted us to keep them here. The guys had some questions about the most recent fire, so this couldn’t wait.”

  “They’re already there?” I asked. “Have they managed to find anything yet?”

  “Not as of our last message. Tray asked where the fire started, and either Cole or Cade were going to check it out. It’s been a while now, but they’ll let us know if anything turns up.”

  “So…” I drummed my fingers on the table as I sat down. “What did you want to see me for?”

  The blond… Laurie, I recalled, answered softly. “You were at the most recent fire, right?”

  I checked that no one was paying attention to our table before answering. “Yeah, why?”

  “Where exactly were you?” she asked. “When you realized you were there, that is.”

  I thought about the house and the yard. “I was… I think toward the front, but kind of to the side at the east of the house. But in the next yard over. I wasn’t actually on the property.”

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw the other woman, Rae, give a slight nod. Narrowing my eyes, I resolved to find out what abilities Jade’s friends had as soon as possible. It was hard enough to allow Jade into my head, I didn’t want people I’d never met playing around in there.

  Jade winced and whispered, “Sorry, Bren. She wasn’t in your head. Not really. She was just reading your emotions.”

  “Why?” I snapped. “To make sure I’m not lying? Do you honestly think I’d have called you here if I was lying?” My voice had raised, gaining the attention of some of the other guys.

  “You all right there, Brennan?” Chase called over. Chase Carlyle was one of the veteran firefighters in our house. From what I’d overheard, he and Jim had joined up around the same time. He seemed like a decent guy, but I hadn’t talked to him much.

  I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “I’m good, Chase. Thanks. Sorry for disturbing you.”

  He waved nonchalantly. “Not a problem. Let me know if you need anything, okay?”

  “Yeah, will do. Thanks.”

  The three women and I waited until everyone was back to doing whatever they’d been doing, before I returned to glaring toward the two unknown women. Jade just barely avoided the worst of my ire.

  “I wasn’t checking if you were lying. I was only checking how you felt about everything, as your memories were at the surface. I was hoping to get an emotional read to figure out what’s happening. Not to see if you were telling the truth. Jade trusts you, and we trust Jade. I’m hoping you’ll grow to trust us as well.” Rae spoke in a soft but firm tone that assured me she was telling the truth.

  I rubbed a hand over my aching head wearily. “Sorry. I’m just…”

  “Wound tight and feeling the burn after that last fire?” Jade finished. “We can tell. Look, I know you don’t like letting people in, but if you let her, Rae might be able to help you feel better, so you can make it through the rest of your shift.”

  Help me feel better? “How? I thought she only felt emotions.”

  “She can also help physical and emotional pain. We’re not exactly sure how it works,” Jade explained. “But Rae’s empathic powers allow her to take the pain from someone else into herself.”

  “It would hurt her?” I asked, and my head shook in an immediate denial. “Not a chance. She’s not hurting herself on my account.”

  Rae let her hand settle on mine. “It lasts only a few minutes for me. If I can help spare someone from hours or days of pain and only suffer the same for a few minutes, isn’t it worthwhile?”

  Was it? From previous experience, the burning pain would eventually resolve itself. Although, more recently I’d only felt better after ‘waking’ at burning buildings. Not exactly conducive to positive thinking.

  “Not here. Not now,” I said. “I’ll think about it, and let you know at the house after my shift.”

  Rae nodded, a smile crossing her elfin features. “Thank you for considering it. I know you’re hurting.”

  I couldn’t help smiling back at her, despite my discomfort. She had a calming effect, and I wondered how long it took to culminate such a comforting persona. Or perhaps it had come to her naturally.

  Jade laid a hand on my shoulder. “She has that effect,” she said with a knowing smile. “We think it’s something to do with her empathic ability.”

  “Or I’m just a nice person,” Rae argued mildly. “Not everything has to trace back to our powers, you know.”

  Laurie picked up her phone, checking it for the third time since I’d sat down.

  “Everything okay?” I questioned.

  “Just concerned. I thought we’d have heard from the guys by now,” she answered.

  From what I’d heard, it hadn’t been overly long since their other friends had texted them. My puzzlement was reflected on Jade’s face, but only for a moment.

  “We should go check on them,” Jade said. “Laurie, Rae, we should go.”

  “Is something wrong?” I asked, still confused.

  “Not likely,” Jade answered. “But we’ve learned to not underestimate it when something feels off.”

  She leaned over and her breath was pleasantly warm on my ear when she whispered, “Don’t worry, Bren. We’ll keep you in the loop, and we’ll see you after your shift.”

  My confusion remained, but if the three psychic women were worried, it made sense for them to go check on their friends. I forced a smile and a nod. Jade and Rae headed out of the building while Laurie took the files they’d been reading and returned them to the captain before following her friends.

  The burning sensation within me grew alongside the worry for these people I hardly knew. I glanced down at my arms, breathing hard as the heat threatened to overwhelm me.

  As I watched, the flames tattooed along my forearms began to move.

  NINE

  Jade

  I slowed just outside the door of our car and stared back at the fire house. “Something’s wrong.”

  Rae squinted her eyes and turned back as well. “You’re right. Why does Brennan feel like he’s about to lose control?”

  “He’s only thinking how odd it is that tattoos should move. What do you feel from him?”

  “Worry. Fear. We need to get back in there.”

  In total agreement, we turned and raced back into the building. A quick glance at Brennan’s still form told me he wasn’t capable of taking himself somewhere more private to calm down. “Bren, we need to move,” I whispered.

  Heat was rolling off him in waves, and his eyes flickered with unnatural light. But he didn’t respond. I tried to reach for his arm but jerked back at the sight of the tattoos flickering with real flames.

  “Rae, calm him down, or he’s going to explode right here and now.”

  She nodded, her eyes closing as she concentrated on settling Brennan’s emotions. I focused on the thoughts of the people around us who were beginning to realize something unusual was happening.

  “He okay?” a young Latino man asked. “I thought he felt better after the fire.”

  I stood in front of him, blocking his view of what was happening at the table. He tried to peer around me, but I put my hands up to block him. “He’s fine, just feeling a bit out of it. He just needs a minute.”

  Still trying to peek around me, h
e called out. “Brennan? Is she right? You okay?”

  “Yeah, Nick,” Brennan answered, his voice a bit shaky. “I’m good.”

  I glanced behind me, still blocking the other man’s view. At Rae’s nod, I relaxed. “Sorry. Just that he needed some air. Didn’t want him to feel overwhelmed by too many people.”

  Nick raised an eyebrow at me, frowning slightly. “Right. And you are?”

  “Jade. I’m a friend of Brennan’s, and part of a group that’s here to help figure out the arson situation.”

  His suspicious look faded into a more pleasant smile. “In that case, welcome. And good luck. From what I’ve been hearing, the investigators don’t have much to go on.”

  Other than Brennan showing up at the scenes. I wish I knew what was going on with that guy. Nick’s thoughts came through loud and clear, as did a hint of mistrust.

  He may not fully believe Brennan was guilty, but he also didn’t completely think he was innocent. In his mind, not understanding Brennan negated his ability to see the best in him.

  Of course, since Brennan didn’t even know for sure he was innocent, I suppose a bit of doubt from those around him wasn’t so farfetched. It was just that even having the people working closest to him believing he might be an arsonist would be rough on Brennan.

  His friend Jim didn’t seem to have any doubts. I wondered if Brennan realized just how solidly Jim believed in his innocence. Having one of his coworkers firmly in his corner would definitely help. Jim was similar to Brennan’s adoptive father Joe. Both felt connected to Brennan almost instantly, and both stood by him despite what others might have them do.

  Even with their connection, Brennan still didn’t share his abilities with Joe. Or with anyone other than me, as far as I could tell. The only other person who knew for certain what Brennan was truly capable of would have been Greg Anderson. He learned too late what would happen when Brennan got pushed too far.

  Finally satisfied that Brennan was okay, Nick moved away. I sat and faced my friend, noting how flushed he appeared. His thoughts were slightly less chaotic after Rae’s influence, but he was still a bit freaked that he’d nearly burst into flames in the middle of his workplace.

  “Maybe you should see about taking the rest of the day off,” I suggested.

  “And tell them what, exactly? That I’m afraid I might set the station on fire?” he asked sarcastically.

  I snorted. “Not even. Just tell them you haven’t quite shaken off the overheated feeling, and don’t feel up to finishing the shift.”

  The corner of his mouth twitched in wry amusement. “Right. Sorry. Just a bit…”

  “Overwhelmed?” I suggested.

  He nodded. “You’re right. I should definitely take the rest of the day. Gotta get my head straightened out a bit.”

  “Good. Go talk to whoever you need to okay it with. We still need to figure out what’s going on with the guys.”

  Rae glanced toward the door leading to the offices. “Laurie’s still with Paul. Wonder what’s up? She seems concerned.”

  Focusing on Laurie’s mind, I pushed to get at her surface thoughts, and spoke out loud as I read them. “There was a call out to the scene the guys were checking…” I paused. “Someone called for an ambulance! Cade collapsed.”

  TEN

  Tray

  Almost as soon as Cade touched the outside of the back door, his eyes went white and he dropped.

  “COLE!” I yelled, reaching Cade too late to stop him from landing in a heap on the ground.

  Even in my fear, I recognized what might have happened. As Cole approached, I used my power to hold him back. “Put up your walls. I think he got a hit of something that knocked him out.”

  “Okay, let me through,” he demanded, pushing forward. “How is he?”

  Cade’s chest rose and fell steadily, but his face was twisted in pain. “Not great. He’s breathing okay, but…”

  “But he’s clearly in pain. We should move him from this area. If there was something here that caused this, we should get him away from it,” Cole insisted.

  He reached for his brother’s arms, reaching under to lift as I bent to get his feet. We moved into the house and laid him on the floor near the front door. Cole closed his eyes and huffed, but when he opened them, he finally said aloud, “I think we’re okay here. I don’t feel anything. I need to know what happened to him. I’m going to try to read him. If something happens, call Laurie and Rae to help us.”

  I nodded, keeping an eye on both men. Cole’s hands rested on Cade’s forehead, and his eyes blinked rapidly for a few seconds before opening to show a cloud of white covering them. In case of anything really odd, I was prepared to use my power to physically separate the two men.

  My concern was unnecessary. Only a couple minutes later, Cole’s eyes flickered open. His face was pale, and his gaze didn’t drift from Cade.

  “From what I can tell, it’s like a mental projectile cut right through Cade’s mind,” Cole said. “He needs help. We should call for an ambulance. We need to make sure… we need to make sure his brain isn’t injured.”

  Almost without thinking about it, my phone was in my hand and I dialed 911. Within minutes, sirens approached, and two paramedics paused at the threshold of the burned house before rushing to their patient. They’d clearly decided it wasn’t their job to work out whether we belonged here now. Just to take care of the injured party.

  My fingers twitched, and I had to trample down the urge to set my power free over the frustration of not knowing what had happened to Cade.

  And what it had to do with our investigation. Did this trap have something to do with the arsonist, or was it simply an odd coincidence?

  “No such thing as a coincidence that weird.” I jumped, a couple pieces of debris floating behind Jade for a moment. I hadn’t even realized she had arrived.

  She held up her hands in mock surrender. “Sorry. Didn’t realize you were so jumpy. I think there’s more going on with this arson thing than what we originally thought. From everything I’m picking up, it was as if a trap was set specifically for anyone who might use powers near that door.”

  “Any power, or just the mental ones?” I asked. Where exactly she’d come up with the theory I wasn’t sure, but it did seem sound based on what I’d observed.

  She shrugged. “Not exactly sure. Wanna test it?”

  My gaze drifted to the unconscious form now loaded onto a stretcher. “Not even remotely. But we need to find out who would be able to set that kind of trap.”

  Her frown deepened. Her green eyes flickered around the room as if searching for the culprit here and now. “Don’t know, but I would imagine any number of people with mental manipulation powers could potentially do it.”

  Like the Mastermind. I thought briefly back to the case Laurie and I had just returned from. He’d been a master manipulator. Would he have been capable of this?

  “Doesn’t matter. He’s dead, right?” Jade answered my thoughts.

  I frowned at her. “You know that’s a bit annoying, right?”

  “Sorry. Just open and trying to read whatever I can right now. Hard to tell the difference between thought and words at the moment.”

  “Maybe you should shut down for a bit,” I suggested. “Make it a bit easier. Wouldn’t want to give yourself away to anyone by accident.”

  She focused on me, and the slightly distant look in her eyes slowly faded. “You’re right. Sorry. I don’t think anyone here knows anything more than Cade and Cole picked up.”

  “You read Cade? What was he thinking?” I asked.

  To me, the thought of an unconscious man having thoughts running through his mind didn’t make much sense. With a mental shrug, I let it go as something I might never understand.

  “Mostly that his head hurts, but he did get a hint of a picture from Brennan’s mind that night. Seemed strange, shadowed. Almost like something foreign was controlling him. Could have been his powers pushing through and causing it, but
we don’t know enough yet to form a great theory.”

  “True enough,” I agreed. “Especially since a few of us haven’t even met Brennan yet.”

  “Soon,” she promised. “We got him to go home early today, so once we figure out what’s going on with Cade, we’ll head to his house.”

  They’d talked Brennan into leaving work early? And it sounded like she’d made it a personal goal to do so. “What happened?”

  At my serious tone, she forced a smile. “Oh, you probably would have loved to see it. It was pretty impressive looking. You know how he’s never consciously set a fire? He almost broke that streak today.”

  Despite myself, I actually felt disappointed that I’d missed it. I almost bounced on my heels as I considered what it would be like to see a normal person start a fire without the aid of an accelerant. “What did he do?”

  She smirked at my obvious enthusiasm. “He has flame tattoos on his arms, and they were moving. The tattoos actually flickered with real flames. And his eyes were glowing. It was…”—here she paused, a slight shiver wracking her frame—“It was kinda freaky, really. Otherworldly.”

  I grinned. “That sounds awesome!” I took a slow breath and considered, “And maybe a tiny bit terrifying. He did that without even realizing?”

  “Guys!” Cole interrupted. “Cade’s awake. He doesn’t want to go to the hospital. Says we should get to Brennan.”

  Jade and I exchanged a look. “Any particular reason?” she asked.

  “He thinks we need to protect him. That there might be someone using him to start these fires. We should go.”

  ELEVEN

  Brennan

  Going home sick was one thing. Going home to avoid accidentally burning down the office was another thing altogether. With Rae’s help, I’d been able to repress the fire pushing to the surface. Now she stayed with me in order to help me stay comfortable enough to stay in control while Jade and Laurie went to figure out what was happening with their friends.

  My face felt warm, and I knew it wasn’t due to my power. I paced around my living room as I thought. What kind of impression was I making on Jade? On her friends? So much for the big, strong firefighter image I’d been working on. I snorted softly. More like damsel in distress. Pretty much the role I’d been playing for most of my life.