Ignite (Midnight Fire Series Book One) (16 page)

"Kira, come out! I bet you look awesome."
Emma called from the other side. Kira peaked around the curtain and
saw that a few feet to the side Emma was dressed in a Poison Ivy
costume. The boys looked appreciative and were at the moment
fighting over who got to be Batman if the theme stuck. Kira slid
open the curtain and the boys dropped their jaws, halting the fight
mid-argument.

Kira smiled. It felt good.

"Wow," was all Miles said, scrambling to
right his glasses, which had tilted during the argument. The other
two boys remained silent, still slack jawed.

"Perfect!" Emma walked in front of her and
beamed with joy. "These are the perfect costumes. We are going to
look amazing at the party."

"Party?" Kira immediately felt her heart
sink. It was one thing to dress like this in front of her friends,
but another thing entirely to dress like this in front of the whole
school.

"Yes, the party. The Halloween party? I
thought you knew about the school dance. I’ve only mentioned it a
hundred times." Oh, that party, Kira thought to herself.

"Right, right." Kira tried to recover. She
could never let Emma know she didn’t pay attention to half the
things she said during lunch. The girl spoke at a rate of about one
hundred miles per hour.

"You do like the costume, right?" Kira saw
the hopeful look in Emma’s eye, saw how excited the boys were and
sighed.

"Yeah, I love it."

"Excellent!" Emma practically skipped back
into her dressing room.

Kira pushed the curtain aside, step back into
her room and would have screamed, except a hand closed over her
mouth and Tristan pushed her up against the mirror, holding her so
tightly she couldn’t move. He closed the curtain tightly with his
other hand.

Kira felt her body begin to heat immediately.
She wasn’t sure if his was his proximity or her powers, but she
couldn’t stop the flush that rose to her cheeks or the slight fear
that crept into her eyes.

"Please, please calm down. I’m not here to
hurt you. Please, don’t be afraid." She saw the pleading glint to
his eyes, and knew he would have already hurt her if he wanted to.
She tried to swallow her fear and felt her body relax into his.
Tristan freed her mouth and dropped his arms down to his sides.

"Hey," he said, smiling so slight dimples
formed on his cheeks. He shrugged. Kira started to smile in return,
but stopped it, mentally shaking herself. She couldn’t just forgive
him. She forced herself to walk around Tristan’s body and slide
down the wall to sit on the floor. The image of him licking his
lips clean of her blood rose to the forefront of her thoughts, and
Kira remembered the desire and repulsion that ran across his
features. She looked away from him, unsure of how to act, what to
say, and mostly what to feel. There was anger of course, but there
was also sadness. She had missed him. She had tried not to, but
Kira couldn’t hide the bit of joy she felt at seeing him again.

"Please, say something." Tristan knelt down
to sit next to her, keeping his voice barely above a whisper. She
looked at him, at his pale skin, shaggy black hair and somehow warm
blue eyes. He was evil beneath it all. She had to remember that, or
else she would keep falling deeper under his spell. She didn’t
understand, looking at him now, why she couldn’t have fallen for
Luke instead. It would have been so much easier. But here she was,
wishing he would sit a little closer and explain to her that none
of it was true.

"Why you?" The two words escaped her lips
before she even realized she had spoken. Hurt filled his eyes. She
felt the morning’s joy quickly seeping from her, like a receding
tide.

"I’m sorry," he started to stand, shaking his
head more at himself than anything else.

"Wait," she lightly touched his arm, but it
was enough to make him sit back down again. "I didn’t mean it. It’s
just…it would have been so much easier to hate you." She let her
eyes fall to the ground, counting the feathers and sequins that had
fallen off the many costumes that had been tried on in the small
room.

"I know."

They passed the next few moments in
silence.

"What do you want?" She asked, daring to
speak first and glance at him.

"I saw you and Luke walking over, and I just
had to talk to you. I need to explain what happened. You know I
would have never hurt you, right?" She nodded, hoping it was
true.

"I was going to tell you. I swear. But then
Diana interrupted and we started fighting and before I knew it
things were spiraling out of control. And then there was the whole
part where you almost killed me…" He laughed a little, stealing a
peek at her through his lashes.

"Sorry about that." She smirked at him in
return.

"We’ll call it even." A little shred of hoped
seemed to light his features.

"Why, were you almost going to kill me?" The
hope vanished, but Kira had to ask the question. He ran a hand
through his hair, frustrated.

"That was their plan." Kira sucked in her
breath. "But, even before I met you, I never would have let them go
through with it," he hastily spoke, "I’m not like that, I swear. I
don’t kill people. I know you might not believe me, but it’s the
truth."

Kira knew she shouldn’t, but somehow she did
believe him. She started to say so, but heard Emma from the other
side of the curtain.

"Are you okay, Kira?" Crap, she thought. The
dressing room really wasn’t the ideal place for serious
conversations.

"Yeah," she fumbled for an excuse. "Just
having a little trouble with the zipper. No big deal."

"The boys are all in their costumes. Poke
your head out."

Kira glanced at Tristan and stood up. She
stepped over his outstretched legs, suddenly remembering she was in
a leather pantsuit. She could feel his eyes taking in her outfit
and immediately felt embarrassed. She tried to quell the blush
threatening her cheeks as she slid her head around the curtain.

Kira barked out a laugh at the sight of Dave
as Batman, Miles as Robin and Luke, of course, as the Joker.

"Perfect." She said, meeting Luke’s eyes and
ignoring the questioning concern they held.

"I know. We’re going to make quiet an
entrance next week," Emma said. Kira noticed she was already
dressed in her normal clothes and held a shopping bag in her hand.
How long had Kira been in the dressing room?

"Okay, I’ll be out in a moment." She ducked
her head back behind the curtain and glanced at Tristan as he
jerked his head back from a position that seemed precariously close
to one someone would use to check out her behind.

"I have to go." She stated into an awkward
silence, not sure how to get changed with him in the room.

"Can we talk later? Will you meet me
somewhere? There are so many things I still want to say." Kira
wanted to say yes. She wanted to let him explain everything, wanted
the fake mistletoe and stolen kisses one more time. But, she
couldn’t.

"I’m not ready," she said, even as her heart
screamed at her. "I don’t know if I ever will be. I know you didn’t
mean to ever hurt me, but that doesn’t change anything. What you
are, what I am…" She let that last thought linger. There was still
so much keeping them apart, so much she didn’t know about him and
wasn’t sure she wanted to find out.

Kira turned away from him and looked out past
the curtain. All the boys were still comparing costumes.

"Close your eyes." She needed to get changed
and he still couldn’t leave. He put his hands over his eyes, but
Kira noticed the slight opening between his pointer and middle
finger. "Come on, close them." She said, making him stand up and
forcing him to face the curtain while she changed behind his
back.

After a few excruciatingly quiet moments, she
was back in her comfy jeans; happy she was free of the skintight
cat suit.

"Hide, okay?" He nodded. She started to pull
the curtain aside, but he quickly grabbed her hand, making her turn
around.

"You looked really hot, by the way." She
smiled shyly. "See you at the dance," he winked and Kira quickly
bolted out of the dressing room, trying to keep her heart from
beating right out of her chest.

Kira practically ran to the cash register and
bought her costume, telling everyone she would wait for them
outside. She found a bench, curled her knees into her chest and let
her thoughts wander. What was she going to do?

He ate blood for crying out load. How was she
still attracted to him? Kira could never tell Luke, and maybe
couldn’t even tell Emma. Would she risk it to see if she could love
Tristan?

Kira fingered the gold ring that now hung
around her neck. Did she have the courage?

"Penny for your thoughts?" Luke sat down
beside her and she quickly let go of her necklace. Kira had
realized one thing, she needed to learn control. When Tristan had
grabbed her, she could feel herself start to explode. If it had
been Diana or Jerome or John, she might have accidentally killed
one of them in the costume store. Or, they could have killed her.
She needed to learn more about herself and her abilities.

"I need to start training with you, don’t
I?"

Luke stared at her thoughtfully, probably
wondering what brought this about. "Yeah, at some point you need to
start learning who you are and how to use your abilities to protect
yourself."

"Can at some point be like at some point next
week?" She lifted her lashes to view him better.

"Whenever you want."

She nodded. "Let’s do it."

"There’s one more thing I need to tell you."
Kira waited, hesitant. "I need to start sending reports back home.
I haven’t told them anything important about you, not yet. But, if
we start training, I need to let them, the council, know you have
abilities. I don’t think anything will change, at least for a few
months. But, I thought I should tell you."

"Thanks," Kira replied and thought about it.
Once he sent that report, there would be no turning back. The
Protectors would know the threat she represented. The whole conduit
community would probably learn about her, her powers and the danger
she represented. All the more reason to train and to show them she
had control. She had to prove to them that they hadn’t made a
mistake by protecting her all those years ago.

Kira nodded in understanding, silently
letting Luke know it was okay, as their friends finally
approached.

"Sorry, I got distracted." Miles looked
sheepish as he apologized.

Emma rolled her eyes. "He challenged a ten
year old to a lightsaber duel. I swear Miles, I hope you get into
Harvard, because aside from us, those nerds will be the only ones
who accept you."

"Hey," he started, but then paused as if
realizing the truth in the statement. "I sent in my early decision
application finally. Did I tell any of you?"

They all congratulated him, and Kira prayed
he would get in. They all loved him, it was true, but unlike Luke
who pretended to be really childish, Miles really seemed to be a
little boy sometimes.

A few hours later, Kira finally pulled open
the front door of her home and climbed the stairs to her bedroom.
Shopping had utterly drained her, and she was happy to finally soak
in the steaming hot water of her shower and let the stress of the
past few days melt away.

Wrapped in a soft, fresh towel, she slipped
into her room and practically passed out on her bed.

"What’s this?" Chloe appeared from under her
bed, scaring Kira half to death.

"What’s what?" Kira asked, pulling her little
sister on to her lap, loving the fact that nothing had changed in
that relationship. She still loved Chloe with all of her heart, and
they would always be sisters.

Chloe shoved a piece of paper at Kira. "It’s
pretty." Chloe smiled and Kira took the paper, sucking in her
breath when she saw a drawing of her as Catwoman and a note that
read: Can’t wait.

"Where’d you find this?" Kira asked, finally
finding words.

"On the bed, silly," her sister tried to take
the paper back, but Kira pulled it out of her little arm’s reach.
Tristan had been here, in her room?

Chloe slid off her lap and tugged on Kira’s
arm.

"Make me hot cocoa," Chloe ordered. Kira
laughed and tried to get out of Chloe’s grip while still holding
onto her towel.

"Let me get dressed first." Chloe pouted, but
let go of her arm and rushed downstairs to wait in the kitchen.
Kira stared at the drawing for another moment before walking over
to her bookshelf and slipping it in with Tristan’s other drawings
that she had hidden in her jewelry box.

She tried in vain to ignore all the questions
creeping into her mind and quickly got dressed to appease the
four-year-old terror downstairs.

"I can’t do this!" Kira shouted at Luke in
frustration.

"Just relax. Think about lighting the rock on
fire. You can do this, I know you can." Kira looked at Luke,
wanting to strangle him. Real easy to feel so calm when you’ve been
practicing since birth, she thought as she wiped the sweat from her
brow. All the mental exertion was draining her.

She and Luke had been practicing for almost
an hour and nothing was happening. Kira was almost beginning to
think everything had been a dream; clearly she had no special
powers.

Kira stopped for a moment to look around
Luke’s backyard. They stood in a small patch of grass, surrounded
by dense forest. Kira couldn’t make out his neighbor’s home through
the bushes. Even in the sunlight, the trees were dark and Kira knew
that if she walked ten feet into the bushes it would be pitch
black. A perfect place to practice, Luke had told her when he
picked her up from her house and brought her over to his place. No
one would see anything and they would be completely safe.