The Serpent in the Stone (The Gifted Series) (47 page)

He turned his attention back to the page long enough to put a star at the correct position, then looked back across the camp.
Since waking up, Sara had avoided coming any closer to him than shouting distance, but Flintrop seemed to have an all-access pass.

Bastard.

Michael and Callander went by behind them.
Ian closed the book and set it down beside him.
“
What else do we need?
”

“
Nothing, I hope,
”
Faith answered.
“
I
’
ve done everything I can think of.
Now, all we can do is wait.
”

Wait.
For a death sentence.

Flintrop
’
s laughter brought Ian
’
s gaze back across the fire.
He and Sara had stood up.
Flintrop
’
s arm curled around her back, and he made a sweeping gesture in the direction of the ruin.
She smiled at something he said, and then caught Ian looking.
Ian held her stare.
Her expression went flat, as though she were looking at a stranger, and then she looked away.
Flintrop touched her arm, and she headed away from the fire to her tent.

Flintrop
’
s gaze slid away from her to Ian...and he smiled.

A white-hot surge of fury hijacked Ian
’
s senses, and before he knew it, he was on his feet.

“
What are you doing?
”
Faith demanded.

“
Settling this,
”
he snapped, marching toward Sara
’
s tent.

She
’
d already disappeared inside.
Ian crossed the moor at a fast walk and burst into the tent with his blood boiling.

Sara shot up from her cot, knocking a stack of books off her table in the process.
They thumped to the floor by her feet.

“
What the
hell
was that all about back there?
”
he demanded.

She scowled, then bent and piled the fallen books into her arms.
“
I don
’
t know what you
’
re talking about.
”

“
Bullshit, you don
’
t.
He
’
s all over you!
”

She met his glare with an expression of outrage.
“
Are you out of your mind?
”
She stood and shoved the books back onto the table so hard that they knocked over a bottle of water.
She didn
’
t bother to catch it.
It bounced onto the floor to create a spreading puddle in the tent corner.

“
Why don
’
t you tell me how, all of a sudden, he
’
s able to have his hands on you whenever he feels like it, and you won
’
t let me near you?
”

“
You think I
’
m
sleeping with Flintrop
?
After what we...?
How dare you!
”

Oh, he dared, all right.
His temper blazed again as though she
’
d poured gasoline on it.
He crossed the tent in two steps and reached for her arm.

She shrieked in pain before his fingers even landed. The air flared in a blue arc and snapped with static. Ian hissed and snatched his stinging hand back. He stared in disbelief at his fingers, and then at her. The taste of copper filled his mouth.

Sara clutched her arm, panting.
Her eyes, fear-wide and liquid hazel, raked him from head to foot and back again.

Ian flexed his numbed hand.
The electric smell in the air prickled in his nose.
“
What the hell was that?
”

She didn
’
t answer.
He hated the distrustful way she watched him.
Contrite, he stepped toward her again, reaching out.
“
Sara...
”

She sprang backward like a spooked deer, still gripping her arm close to her body.
“
Get out,
”
she whispered, trembling.

She might as well have screamed it.
Ian backed away with his mind spinning.
Was it me?
Christ.
It wasn
’
t her.
He turned on his heel and strode out of the tent.

Finding the camp empty, he crossed the dig and barreled into Faith
’
s tent.

She spun out of her chair at his entrance, looking ready to pummel him flat.
“
Jesus, Ian.
Are you trying to scare me?
”
She must have noticed the worried look on his face a moment later, because she stood and reached for his arm.
“
Are you—
”

He sidestepped her grasp, flinging his hands in the air.
“
Don
’
t touch me!
”

“
What?
”

“
I just shocked Sara.
I don
’
t know what happened.
I went to touch her arm and
zap
, like I hugged a frigging transformer.
It wasn
’
t her, I know it wasn
’
t.
Her eyes didn
’
t change.
”
He thrust his smarting right hand under her nose, palm up.

She examined the angry red marks already developing across his fingers.
So did he.
His throbbing fingertips felt like he
’
d grabbed a hot pan barehanded.

Faith turned and went to her first-aid kit.
Rather than letting her hand the burn pack to him, he motioned for her to drop it on her camp table.

She paused, frowning.
He watched her eyes change from blue to silver.
She swept his figure once over, angling her head like a quizzical cat.
Her mouth opened and snapped shut again.

Ian began to feel like an experiment.
He was on the point of telling her to hurry up and figure out what was wrong with him when she reached out and grabbed his hand.

Nothing happened.

“
The shock wasn
’
t you.
”
She handed him the burn pack.

“
If it
’
s not me, then what the hell is it?
She looked like I was going to attack her.
”

“
Is she okay?
”
asked Faith.

“
Yeah, if you count scared as okay!
”

Faith went to her trunk and rummaged through a pile of sweaters to get to a case at the bottom.
She pulled it out and withdrew the handheld device within.
“
Come on.
”

They returned to Sara
’
s tent to find her trying to put the mess on her camp table back into order.
Ian hung back in the doorway, shoving a hand in his pocket.
He dug the fingernails of his other hand into the burn pack.

Faith went forward without hesitation.
Sara retreated before the advance.
“
Relax,
”
Faith said, and flipped open the thing in her hand.

Sara frowned at it.
“
What on earth do you need an electrometer for?
”

“
I
’
m finding out what
’
s going on.
The electrical readings around here have been bouncing all over the scale, and I think we
’
ve found out why.
”

“
Me?
”
Sara spluttered.
“
Since when can I shock people?
”

“
Ian said it wasn
’
t you.
”
When Sara shot him a leery glance, Faith added,
“
It wasn
’
t him, either.
You can stop eyeing him like he
’
s going to bite you.
”

Sara
’
s gaze sought his at last.
“
I
’
m sorry.
”

He looked away with a hostile shrug.
The mental picture of Flintrop touching her, brushing against her, and flaunting his nearness to her played over in his head.
He itched to hit something, and crushed the burn pack in his fist.
The plastic pack protested under the squeeze.
He wished it were Flintrop
’
s neck.

Faith moved closer to Sara.
Ian turned his attention back to the matter at hand.
Looking dissatisfied with the results from her electrical gadget, Faith studied her sister with those creepy silver eyes.
She reached a hand out and passed it across the air between them.

He saw Faith jump in surprise, but she didn
’
t seem hurt, and he didn
’
t hear or smell the static fizz from before.

Faith
’
s brows shot up.
Shaking her head, she took her sister by the arm.

Ian tensed for her yelp of pain.
Sara recoiled, but nothing seemed to happen.
Faith pursed her lips and beckoned Ian forward.
He obliged.

The air hissed, and he froze in place.

“
Whoa, back off!
”
Faith dodged in front of him.

He took a careful step backward, and then another.
The prickling sensation in his skin faded.

Faith flapped an impatient hand in the air.
“
All right, just hold it.
It
’
s neither one of you by yourselves.
It
’
s both of you together.
”
She divided a brooding look between them.
“
Oh, holy shit.
”

“
What?
”
echoed Ian and Sara.

“
Sara, didn
’
t you say Becky had burn marks on her cheek and arm?
Finger marks?
”

“
Are you saying
I
did it?
”

“
Of course not!
”
Faith jerked her chin at Ian.
“
You
’
re electrically charged—both of you—just enough so you can
’
t touch each other.
If what
’
s going on here is what I think it is, we just bought ourselves a whole bunch more problems.
This looks like electrokinesis.
”

Sara went ghastly white.
Her legs buckled, and she collapsed onto her cot.
“
Flintrop.
”

The name sent a wave of ice roiling through Ian
’
s veins.
He flung the burn pack down.
“
What did he do to you?
I
’
ll fucking kill him!
”

“
Wait, just wait!
”
Faith snapped.
“
Sara, how do you know it
’
s him?
”

Sara touched a hand to her lips.
She avoided his gaze.
“
He tried to kiss me.
I
’
d be working at the dig, too, and he
’
d walk past and put a hand on my arm or something.
He was building up a charge.
Ian, did he touch you today?
”

With his blood sizzling, Ian remembered Flintrop
’
s conciliatory handshake.
The friendly clap on Ian
’
s shoulder when Flintrop offered him the canteen.
“
Son of a bitch.
”