Ignited (25 page)

Eventually, the long day caught up with everyone. Erin was the first to say good night, with Lucy and Lottie minutes behind her. They disappeared one at a time until Asher and I were left alone. He avoided my gaze with the same old guilt, and I guessed he was upset that I’d been taken on his watch. He hadn’t been able to stop them, exactly as he’d feared. I was sorry that happened, mostly because we’d finally reached an understanding in those moments before Seamus’s men showed up.

I toyed with the edge of my napkin. “How’s your head?” I asked.

He touched his forehead with a scowl. They must have hit him pretty hard, though no mark remained. “Fine now. Erin healed me when they found me on the sidewalk.”

I smiled with a trace of meanness. “If it makes you feel any better, I showed Seamus exactly what I thought of him hurting you.”

Asher asked suspiciously, “What did you do?”

“Let’s just say that Seamus and his men are a little nervous around me and silverware.”

My statement confused him, but he laughed. “You always surprise me. Whenever I think I know you, you do something that convinces me that I don’t know a damned thing. I think I’m going to head off to bed.” He rose and pushed in his chair, while I cleared the table.

“Remy?”

I glanced up to find Asher staring at me with a pained expression. He gripped the back of his chair tight enough that his knuckles drained of color.

“You should know . . .” His jaw worked like he struggled to get the words out. “I saw Gabe’s face when he realized they’d taken you. I’ve never seen him so . . .” He cut off, breathing hard. “Not since Sam and our parents died.” Asher pinned me with a furious glare when I tried to speak, and I snapped my mouth shut. I subsided, and he cleared his throat. “My brother is the best man I know. The only person worthy of you. I love you, and it’s going to kill me to see you together, but I’m not going to stand between you. If he’s what you want, you should be with him. Be happy,
mo cridhe
. You deserve it.”

With that, Asher turned on his heel and left the room.

I don’t know how long I sat there alone and crying before I dragged myself to my bedroom. I couldn’t decipher the myriad emotions battering my heart. Asher was my first love, and I grieved for us and what we might have been. Our friendship had to change, and that made me sad. I worried about how things would be between Asher and Gabe. I was sorry to cause Asher pain when I still loved him, even if that love had changed. And overlaying all of that, I hoped that this thing between Gabe and me could be something real and worth all the pain we were causing his brother. Maybe Gabe wondered the same thing, and that was why he’d avoided me tonight. What I knew was that I wanted to move forward, to give us a try. Life was short, and I didn’t want to wait anymore.

I showered and readied for bed in a daze, worn out from everything that had happened. I thought I might not be able to fall asleep, but I was exhausted. Just before I drifted off it occurred to me that something seemed odd about my darkened room, but I was too tired to investigate.

The opening and closing of my bedroom door woke me. The footsteps sounded light and hesitant as bare feet tiptoed across the floor. I heard familiar breathing, and knew it was Lucy. There was no moonlight to light her way tonight, and she cursed in a whisper when she stubbed her toe on the nightstand. I watched her approach, her features clear as she blindly made her way to me. And I remembered what had bothered me as I was falling asleep.

I can see in the dark.

I bolted straight up, scaring a scream out of my sister as she knelt on the bed beside me.

“Sh!” I whispered. “It’s just me.”

“You scared me!” she said.

“I noticed,” I told her. “My ears are still ringing. You scream like a girl, Lucy.”

She shoved my leg. “Shut up.” She didn’t try to hide how nervous she felt, but then, she didn’t realize I could see her. “Can I talk to you?” she asked.

I nodded to test her. Maybe the room was brighter than I thought. Except she didn’t seem to notice my gesture. Out loud, I said, “Of course,” and her expression flooded with relief. She couldn’t see me, but I could see her. This had to be because of what I’d done to Seamus. Hadn’t I been moving more quickly than usual when racing down the hall, too? I’d almost crashed when I underestimated my speed. Was I becoming more of a Protector? I hadn’t healed anyone in a while. What if those powers were drying up? I didn’t even know if such a thing was possible.

“I’m sorry,” Lucy said, and my attention swung back to her.

“What?” I asked in confusion, torn from my thoughts.

She began crying, sniffling. “When they took you today, I thought I might not see you again. I was so scared and I’ve been a jerk, blaming you for everything. Do you hate me?”

As if.
I’d missed talking to her.

“Oh Lucy.” I tugged my sister into my arms. “I love you, sis. I could never hate you.” She cried harder into my shoulder, and I added, “Be frustrated with you, yes. Want to pull your hair? Most definitely. But I don’t hate you.”

She choked. “You should. I was so awful to you. What I said when Mom died . . . You almost died, and I was cruel. I didn’t mean it. Any of it.”

Her body shook in my arms, and I hugged her tighter. “You were hurting. We both were. I’m sorry that you ever got involved in this. All I wanted was to keep you safe.”

“It doesn’t matter. Like Seamus said, they would have found us anyway.”

They would have. It had only been a matter of time. I could have stayed away, and they still would have come. After a time, Lucy quieted in my arms, and I reached for my purse that sat on the nightstand to give her a tissue. She sniffed and blew her nose, the small sound marking her vulnerability.

“Want to have a sleepover?” I asked.

“Can I?” she asked shyly.

In answer, I slid over in the bed and lifted the covers for her. It reminded me of all the times she’d sneaked into my room at home after she’d had a nightmare. She settled beside me and reached for my hand. Love for my sister stole my breath. I’d missed her so much. We lay there for some time, each of us lost in our thoughts.

“Do you ever wonder why I don’t have powers?” Lucy asked. “I mean, I’m an O’Malley and Dad is a Protector and you’re you. Why did it skip me?”

I had asked myself the same question. “I don’t know. I guess when I wondered I was always glad that you didn’t have powers. I thought you would be safer if you were normal. In fact, I was jealous of you.”

“Of how normal I am? Gee, thanks,” Lucy said with a laugh.

“I mean it. All I’ve wanted was to be normal. I didn’t ask for any of this. But I’ve decided something. I’m not going to hide from it anymore. I’m tired of running, and it doesn’t do any good. Can I tell you something I didn’t tell the others?”

I flopped on my back and described how enraged I’d been when Seamus threatened to keep me a prisoner.

“What an ass! What did you do?”

“I stabbed his hand with a fork and then I attacked him with his knife.” I could feel my sister’s shock, even though I stared at the ceiling. “His men are kind of afraid of me, and it felt good to stand up for myself. Seamus knows that he can’t push me around like that again.”

“You’ve changed,” Lucy said quietly.

“Yeah. I think I have. For the better, I hope.”

“Be careful. I’m not saying don’t use your powers, but you’re all the family I have,” she said in a broken voice. “Please don’t let anything happen to you.”

My sister was losing faith. I could hear it in her voice. “Hey! We’re going to get Dad back,” I said.

She squeezed my fingers, but I wasn’t sure I’d convinced her. So much time had passed and it was difficult to hold on to hope. We hadn’t seen our father in almost six months. I closed my eyes to imagine his face, his blue eyes and black hair. My father could be gentle and stern. He’d turned to mush when I’d stopped calling him Ben and started calling him Dad. He adored fast cars and fast boats and his town. And he loved Lucy and me. Tears filled my eyes, but I didn’t want to cry. I wanted a happy memory to hang on to.

“Lucy, did I ever tell you about my first driving lesson with Dad?”

We rolled over to face each other in the dark, and I told her about how I’d jumped a curb and nearly taken out a tree. She giggled so hard she snorted.

“He acted like he was calm, but you should have seen how hard his foot was reaching for the brakes.”

I kicked the covers like I was trying to stop a car, and we both lost it. It felt so good to laugh that I told another funny story, this time about Laura. Then Lucy told one. For hours, we talked about our parents and we laughed uproariously, trying to outdo each other. We didn’t fall asleep until the sun had begun to come up, lighting the room in soft pinks and yellows. For once, we both wore smiles as we drifted into dreams.

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-
ONE

I
woke up sometime after lunch and took my clothes into the bathroom to dress so I wouldn’t wake Lucy. I wanted to see Gabe, and I threw on jeans and one of the prettier tops Lucy had picked out for me, but when I caught my reflection in the mirror, I stopped. I’d gone to bed with wet hair, and it showed. The mass of the dark blond waves had frizzed out around my head. Add to that the circles under my eyes from lack of sleep, and I looked awful. Gabe might have seen me at my worst, but that didn’t mean I had to put extra effort into it. Sighing, I turned on the shower so I could start over. At least my hair was redeemable.

Twenty minutes later, the wet strands hung to my waist, way longer than I liked to wear it. It had been so long since I’d thought of my appearance that it hadn’t occurred to me to cut it, except when the tangles had made me crazy. Eying the mass of it, I had an idea and went to drag Lucy out of bed.

She groaned when I bounced on the bed beside her. “Go away,” she mumbled.

I laughed. “Oh, the shoe is on the other foot. Now you know what it’s like to be woken up.” More than once, she’d bounced into my room, all cheer and smiles before I’d opened my eyes. “Payback is a bitch. Come on, Luce. I need your help.” She pulled the blanket over her head and didn’t move. I leaned over her and lowered my voice. “Please . . . I want to cut my hair before I see Gabe.”

That did it. She threw off the covers and squealed so high that I slapped my hands over my ears. “You do like Gabe!” she shouted.

I slapped a hand over her mouth, peeking at the doorway. Nobody appeared, but that didn’t mean a Protector hadn’t heard. “Pipe down! We’re trying to figure things out.”

“Does Asher know?” she mumbled.

Her scandalized expression showed above my fingers. “Yes. We talked about it yesterday.” I dropped my hand.

She frowned. “He must be so sad.”

I nodded. “He is. Things have been ending between us for a long time, but it still hurts.”

She must have seen some of my grief because she touched my cheek. “I’m sorry. You’ve been going through a lot, and I haven’t been there for you.”

I smiled. “You can make it up to me now. I need a haircut. My split ends have split ends.”

She launched out of bed with more excitement than I’d seen from her in ages. My sister loved projects, and I was one of her favorites. She ran upstairs to hunt down scissors, and I prayed I wasn’t going to end up with a lopsided Mohawk.

I sat on a chair we’d dragged into the bathroom, gulping every time six-inch hanks of hair fell to the floor. Once Lucy had finished trimming my hair, it hadn’t needed much else. With all of the weight taken off (and the help of a little product), the strands almost curled to the middle of my back. I felt like a new person.

After we’d cleaned up the evidence, I went on a Gabe hunt only to find he’d gone out to patrol the neighborhood again. I felt let down, and then guilty for feeling let down. It probably only seemed like he was avoiding me when he was out there trying to keep us safe. Besides, how would he know that I wanted to see him when I’d done more pushing away than anything else?

I wandered through the house, bored out of my mind. Lucy had disappeared into the library. Asher and Lottie had ventured out of the house for a change, and Erin watched TV in her room. I ended up in the kitchen looking for a snack in the pantry. I grabbed a granola bar and flipped off the pantry light. The darkness sparked an idea, and I closed myself in the small closet, checking to ensure it was pitch dark. With the lights off, I turned to the rows of cans and boxed goods lining the shelves and read the labels: baked beans, tomato soup, and mushy peas (ew). I flipped the light switch and stared at the cans. The labels appeared exactly as I’d seen. I could read in the dark.

What had Asher once said about his abilities? When the Protectors had lost their senses of touch, taste, and smell, their other senses had been strengthened. They could see in the dark, hear better than humans, plus they were faster and stronger. Aside from my speed and an extra helping of strength, I’d never exhibited any Protector powers. And the speed and strength hadn’t happened until I’d stolen Asher’s energy back when Dean had shot him. This new ability to see in the dark had come after I’d done the same to Seamus. Fear mingled with excitement skittered along my nerves. What else might I be able to do?

I shoved my way out of the pantry and ran to my bedroom. I grabbed my phone, planting myself on the bed. Lucy picked up on the second ring.

“Lucy, when I hang up I want you to read something from your book.”

“I was doing that until you called,” she answered in a dry tone.

“Out loud. I’m testing something. Come on. Just do it.”

She agreed and we hung up. I closed my eyes, concentrating. At first nothing happened. I heard traffic on the street above, and water rushing through pipes somewhere in the house. The same noises as usual. I dropped my mental walls in frustration and that’s when it happened.

“
. . . was Mr. Rochester now ugly in my eyes? No, reader: gratitude and many associates, all pleasurable and genial, made his face the object I best liked to see; his presence in a room was more cheering than the brightest fire . . .”