Flames in the Midst (The Jade Hale Series) (16 page)

Before I knew it, my summer fell into habit.  Up before dawn with Zach for a run before he left with his dad.  Back to bed for a few hours.  Even though I knew I had things to do, sleep could not be denied.  Then breakfast and in to work to open up the store.  It turned out that Kilwin’s needed a lot of help, but somehow, people kept quitting or getting sick or leaving town.  They really had no luck with keeping a staff.  Nearly every day, I helped open the store, worked until close and left exhausted.   Every day, I saw the same strange girl reading outside Kilwin’s at least once.  I never spoke to her, but she smiled at me often.

A few mornings, I kept myself from going back to bed after my run with Zach and drove past the little brick house Aunt Lynn and I had lived in, but I hadn’t scoped it out quite enough to determine the habits of anyone living there.  There were never any cars in the driveway, but the lawn was neatly trimmed and there were never any papers piled in the driveway like so many empty houses often accumulate.  Most importantly, I had not found a night both off from work and away from Zach’s family where I could creep into my old backyard and dig until I found whatever my aunt had left for me.  So I settled for a while with practicing little spells and starting
fires in the Holmes’ practically unused fireplace when I had a little time to myself in the mornings.  The problem with using an unused fireplace to start a fire using my talents was that I had to clean up everything and make it spotless again.  Occasionally, a flame leapt out and singed the carpet.  I’d clip the little burnt edge with a pair of scissors to cover up my activities.

I tried setting two objects next to each other in the fireplace and setting fire to one without burning the other.  Unfortunately, this was either not possible or was something I simply could not master.  Even when the objects were on opposite ends of the fireplace, they both ignited almost simultaneously.  I couldn’t focus my energy accurately enough.  Until I had the book back, I really didn’t know what was possible and what was impossible in regards to my gifts. 

As July approached, Kilwin’s had finally found reliable help, other than me.  I worked during the heat of the day on the Fourth of July.   A few hours before dusk and firework time, Zach strolled into the store and right up to Dan.  I was busy scooping my two-hundredth or so ice cream cone of the day, so I couldn’t get over to them to see what was going on. 

“Come on, Jade,” Zach called to me as my customer strolled out of the store with a three-tier ice cream cone that would melt before he could eat the top tier. 

“What are you talking about Zach?  I have to work.” I stared at Dan now.  He just smiled and shooed me off with a wave of his hand.

“I’ve arranged your release,” Zach beamed, “You’ve been working your butt off all summer.  You deserve a break on the Holiday at least, and Dan agrees.  So drop the apron, and let’s go before he changes his mind.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” I threw my apron in the corner of the store, just barely getting it on the hook it belonged on, and took off with Zach.  My mysterious friend sat outside the store eating a slice of pizza.  I looked at her for only a moment in which I swear she winked at me, and then I turned to Zach.  I knew he would have big plans either hanging out with his friends or with his family.  I knew he wanted me to join him, but I could only think of one thing.  It was the Fourth of July and almost dusk.  Everyone had plans.  Everyone was busy.  There was only one place I should be, and it did not involve a party.

“Zach,” I tried to explain, but he had my hand and was dragging me towards the parking garage a few blocks away.

“There’s this great party going on down at the beach.  I want you to meet someone.”

Oh, God.  Zach was trying to set me up.  This was just not the right time.  Zach continued to drag me off, despite my protests, and I finally gave in at least for the moment.  As soon as we were at this party, I could sneak off.  Of course, I would have to take Zach’s car, but he would have friends there.  He’d be fine without me for a while.  Then I could just slip right back into the party like nothing happened.  The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a perfect plan.  It seemed like the best shot I would have all summer of going on my little treasure hunt.

Zach had parked illegally on a side street in front of someone’s house.  With all of the people filling the streets of St. Augustine, he hardly risked getting a ticket.  There were just too many cars parked illegally to count.  We hopped into his dad’s jeep—the Camaro simply was not a beach car—and crept towards the beach.  Zach weaved in and out of traffic as if he drove in a crowded city everyday. 

By the time we got to the beach, they were not letting any more cars on.  We had to park a few blocks away and hike in.  Zach grabbed my hand as we made our way to the beach.  He wasn’t making a pass; he just didn’t want to lose me, but something felt off when our hands touched.  I looked at Zach carefully for the first time that night.  His aura, usually a kind of bluish green color and vibrant, glowed very dull with a hint of gray.  He babbled on and on about
this guy I needed to meet, but he never mentioned the guy’s name, and he had never mentioned me meeting any of his friends as a hook up before this.  He really did treat me like a sister, and in that respect, there was no guy out there who would ever be good enough for me, least of all any of his friends.  Me dating one of his friends would be too awkward for him.

I started to pull back, but Zach kept pressing forward, dragging me behind him.  I let go of his hand, and he stopped for a moment.

“Jade, I have to get back to the party.  C’mon.  You need to meet him.”  This didn’t even sound like Zach, but he was back at my side, tugging at my hand.  I planted my feet as solidly in the sandy ground as I could.  We were steps away from the beach, and I didn’t know how close to the beach entrance this particular party or trap or whatever it was would be.

“Zach,” I started cautiously, “Who is this guy that you want me to meet?”

That stopped him for a moment.  He looked at me as if he were a head trauma patient who had just realized he could not remember his own birth date.  It only took a second for him to shake the feeling and revert back to his practically zombified self.

“I don’t know his name, Jade,” he told me as if this were perfectly normal, “but you have to meet him.”

“I don’t think I want to meet him, Zach.  Let’s go somewhere else.”  I tried to think through a plan.  If I got back to the book, maybe I could find a way, some spell of my mother’s, to break Zach of this trance.  But what if there was no spell in the book.  I couldn’t let my friend live his life without the full use of his brain.  I needed to know who I was up against.  Was there a Shadow Ruler waiting to destroy me on the beach?  Would Zach’s trance break if he fulfilled his mission or would the Shadow Ruler destroy him, too?  My being here this summer had obviously put Zach and his family in danger.  I could get the book and leave.  I would have to get the book and leave, but I had to figure out what to do about Zach’s current condition first.  As it turned out, he made that decision for me.

“Let’s go, Zach,” I demanded and tugged on his hand with all my strength, but this time it was his turn to lock his feet in the sand.

“If you won’t come with me,” he informed me, “I need to go and tell him you won’t be there.”  Zach let go of my hand and began to walk off on the beach.  Panic ran through me.  Zach could not go and tell a Shadow Ruler he had failed.  I didn’t know what would happen, but it would not be good.  I forced myself to chase after him.

“Please, Zach,” I pleaded, practically with tears in my eyes, “Let’s go somewhere else.  Let’s go find your parents.  Let’s go for a drive.  Please don’t go to this party.”  With dreaded certainty that something awful was about to happen, I relented my useless pleas and fell in step just a little behind Zach.

“You’re going to come meet him?” he asked me, with obvious pleasure in his voice.

“Yes,” I conceded, “I’ll come meet him.”  What else could I do?  I couldn’t let my friend walk into a trap unknowingly without me.  Maybe I could protect him as a firestarter, but I would have to be with him to offer that protection.

We walked slowly through the sand towards a party around a pile of wood built up for a bonfire once the sun finished setting behind us.  A figure stood, arms crossed, by the ring of the bonfire pit.  I took a deep breath.  I didn’t know what I would actually be able to do with this many people so close.  It reminded me of the two pieces of paper in the fireplace.  If I set the Shadow Ruler on fire, how many people near him would also burst into flame?

I braced myself for whatever was about to come as we approached the figure—Zach full of excitement for fulfilling his duty and me full of anxiety.  As we got closer, I could make out the distinct smirk on his face.

“Thanks, Zach,” Chase smiled in our direction.

“What? Oh, yeah, no problem, man,” Zach answered.  Suddenly, his aura lost the gray hue, and Zach returned to normal.  Danger averted.  Sort of.  I could feel the heat burning in my head.  I had worked myself up so much I didn’t know if I could cool down without releasing all of it.  My anger at Chase for messing with my friend and scaring me into thinking I had been found by a Shadow Ruler boiled beneath my skin.  Still, Chase didn’t deserve to be incinerated—even if he was a complete jerk.

“Are you okay, Jade?” Zach asked with genuine concern in his voice.  I realized both he and Chase were staring at me.  I couldn’t stop shaking.  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t contain the heat within me.  I could feel my skin burning up, turning red, and I felt certain it would start blistering soon from the heat.  Zach touched my arm and jumped back.

“You’re burning up, and you really don’t look well.  I think I should take you home.”  That must have clued Chase in to what was going on.  He sprung into action in an instant.

Before I knew it, Chase stood next to me and asked Zach to go get me a water from the cooler.  Zach turned around, confused but obedient.  Chase put his hands on my shoulders and guided me towards the bonfire pit where we squatted down in the sand.  He began whispering in my ear.

“You have to let this out or it is going to kill you and maybe the rest of us.  Focus on the bottom of the bonfire.  Really focus.  Block everything else out.  When you can’t see anything else, then you can let it go.”

I couldn’t stop thinking about all of the people around me. 

“What about all these people?  Even if I don’t light anyone on fire, they’re going to see,” I cried without tears because the water evaporated the instant it hit my burning cheek.

Chase rubbed my shoulders.  I felt like I had the worst sunburn in the history of sunburns, but it still calmed me.

“You are not going to set anyone on fire.  I have a lighter in my hand.  They will think I started it.  No one is looking at you.  All you need to do is focus,” Chase kept whispering to me, assuring me this would work out. 

I focused on the base of the bonfire pit until everything else faded into blackness around me.  I could only see the twigs and sticks and logs and sand.  I let go. 

The bonfire exploded into flame; it knocked Chase and me about two feet backwards.  The heat was gone.  As I closed my eyes, I could feel large drops of rain begin to surround me.  I let the water wash over me and was only somewhat aware when Chase and Zach moved me to the Jeep.

I woke up with Zach swerving in and out of traffic again and Chase holding me in the back of the Jeep.  Zach babbled away as he drove; he obviously did not do well under pressure.

“Oh my God!  The lightning struck so close to both of you!  Are you sure she’s still breathing? We’ve got to get to the hospital,” the panic streamed from Zach like a broken soda fountain.  I turned my head and whispered to Chase.  I had to get the story straight before I let Zach know I had joined the land of the conscious again.

“Lightning?  What is he talking about?” I whispered with as little movement as possible.

Chase leaned down and spoke directly into my ear.

“They think lightning caused the fire.  Very lucky actually that the storm started up at the same time as your little incident.” The way he said lucky sounded like he thought differently, but it wasn’t an argument I had time for.  I pushed myself up and away from Chase.

“Zach, I’m alright,” I said, trying not to startle my would-be rescuer.  He swerved the Jeep and almost hit another car when I spoke, but he did avoid getting into an actual accident.  I didn’t need to turn around to know my companion’s lips were in the middle of an incantation.  The car we almost hit moved to just the right spot even though the driver’s eyes were closed as he prepared for an impact that didn’t come.  Zach slowed the Jeep down.

“Jade?  Oh my God!  I thought you were dead!  You scared the shit out of me!”

“Sorry about that,” I muttered, not really sure how to explain this and get what I wanted, which was to get out of the Jeep and find a way to my old house before its current occupants could return.

“We need to get you to a hospital,” Zach said matter-of-factly.  I could hear Chase chuckling behind me. 

“Zach, I’m fine.  I don’t need to get to a hospital.  I actually have somewhere I need to be.  Do you think you could drop me off?” I tried to sound as cheerful as possible.  I didn’t have a spell that could make Zach do what I wanted, not that I would mess with my friend’s mind the way Chase had.