Ablaze (Indestructible Trilogy Book 2) (3 page)

Cas’s.

He’s alive.
A surge of relief rises like a tidal wave, even though I’m not here, I’m seeing through Cas’s eyes—and I don’t even know where
here
is. It looks like the divide, judging by the gap in the earth stretching away to either side as far as the eye can see—but I’m limited in my perception, seeing through Cas’s eyes, as he stares down into the river of lava.

Pain prickles my right arm, sharp and intense, like a needle. But it’s a mere aftershock compared to the pure agony when Jared uses the tattoo to inflict pain on his victims. I’ve felt it before, twice, when lying exhausted in the dormitory—a blaze of crippling agony, like every nerve in my body is on fire. Nothing matters but escaping the pain. But the pain isn’t mine, it’s Cas’s. I’m not here. I’m not…

Cas lifts his arm, painfully, and my heart drops when I see that the scars converge at a point above his right hand, over the veins.

It’s another tattoo. Harsh black lines crisscrossing one another, a meaningless scribble rather than a particular pattern. Blood seeps from underneath, mingling with the dark ink.

The fist clenches and pain shoots up my own arm.

***

My vision flickers and I’m back in my own body, gasping for breath. My heart pounds in my ears, each beat sending a sharp pain shooting up my arm from my hand, even though there’s no mark there to hurt.

Another mark, a second one. Was that real? It wasn’t a vision of the past. I’d have seen if there’d been a second marking. Did I see the present? If the pain transferred to me… it feels like a sign. A bad one.

I’m restless all day, again. At least Val lets me back in training, and I practise hitting a dummy with careless abandon until I realise I’ve drawn an audience. I let my hands fall to my sides, pretending not to see the stares, and run off to practise with weapons instead. I’m still not used to being around people, not after two years outside, tiptoeing through the wilderness.

But those skills will come in handy when I leave to find Cas.

“Wow, you’re making up for lost time,” says Val, watching me with gleaming eyes as I pretend to decapitate a dummy. “I’d feel sorry for that fiend. Almost.”

I manage a faint smile. “I imagined it was Jared, actually.”
I should have killed him before.
What did he do to himself that he recovered from a wound that should have been fatal?

Not Cas. It can’t have been…
But he might have taken blood from either of us while I was unconscious, and used it to heal himself or…
no. He can’t have done that.

“Good,” says Val. “You’re definitely back on form. Much faster than I expected.”

I just nod, not wanting to bring up being Transcendent with everyone watching me. “Can I talk to you outside?” I glance meaningfully at the people making no effort to hide that they’re listening in.

“Sure.”

We find an isolated part of the corridor easily enough, since following us out of the training hall would be
too
obvious.

“I wondered… How much have you and Murray told the others about what happened? I mean, the important parts. Like… the Transcendent. Poppy and Tyler know.”

“Everyone knows the word,” says Val, “but we didn’t tell anyone you were Transcendent after you left in case Jared found out—in the end, it didn’t matter, because he knew anyway. Some people guessed because of the rumours, but we couldn’t risk it.”

Like the tattoo marks.

“So they don’t know I killed the Fiordan? That’s not something a normal Pyro can do, right?”

The root of my problem. If I knew
how
I did it, I’d feel a lot more secure going after Jared. Because he’s only human. Well, Pyro. If my powers can take one of the fiends’ leaders, surely they can take Jared, whatever experiments he’s performed on himself.

The dream of Cas’s new mark is fresh in my mind. My hands knot into fists.

“No, we didn’t broadcast it,” says Val. “But Elle would have found out from Murray, and she probably told your other friends.”

I nod. That makes sense. “Okay. Because being everyone’s saviour is a bit much, considering I beat the enemy by total accident. And Cas…”

What can I say? Few people here actually liked him. Okay, nobody, except possibly Murray, and only in the way he cares about all of us as the leader. Not that Cas himself helped that impression. But for them to just forget about him…

“I’m sorry,” says Val. “He wasn’t the easiest person to get along with, but he always… fought like a true Pyro.”

I don’t answer. He saved my life, more than once, and towards the end…

No. It wasn’t the end. I won’t accept that. “What about Jared? Do the others know?”

“He made a scene impossible to cover up,” says Val. “Murray’s been telling the others some of it, but not how he experimented on fiends.”

“Why?”
Because he wants to defend his brother?
That can’t be right.

“Because it’ll cause panic,” says Val. “The fiends are scary enough without imagining jacked-up versions. Of course, if they become a direct threat, he’ll change his mind. I know Murray. He hates deceiving people.”

“Seems like he did a good job covering up what his brother did.”

I don’t mean to be so harsh. Or maybe I do. But then, I wasn’t here two years ago. The fiends invading and destroying the world, and the Transcendent dying—that was more than enough for the Pyros to cope with already without adding betrayal into the mix. Especially when everyone thought Jared was dead, and the truth buried with him.

“He has his reasons. He cares about all of us.”

“I know.” That’s why he has her keeping such a close watch on me. Maybe I’ll be able to get back on missions soon, but
how
soon? Cas has been with the enemy four days already.

And Nolan? He’s still locked up.
I need to talk to him alone.
Because if there’s anyone who might know what Jared’s doing, it’s the latest betrayer.

“So do the others know the fiends might invade again, soon?” I ask.

Val nods, her face grim. “It’s always been a possibility.”

The Fiordan was a sign. They’re coming back.

Whether Jared provokes them or not, I have to make sure he’s taken care of. We have enough enemies out there already. I no longer doubt whether I can kill a person.
He’s as bad as the fiends. Easily.
I’ve been used to doing everything alone, despite the past few weeks of working with the Pyros. It might be unfair to leave the others out, but I’d never forgive myself if anyone got hurt because of me.

“Do… you think Nolan might know something?”

A head-shake. “He pleaded ignorance.”

“Can I talk to him?”

“You’ll have to ask Murray.”

Great.

Val apparently reads reluctance from my expression. “I shouldn’t, but I have a spare key. You can handle him, right?”

“Of course. I just don’t want to draw attention. He might not talk if Murray’s around, so…”

“I thought so. Murray always goes on the early evening patrol,” she says. “I’ll hand you the key after training, and I’ll wait out in the corridor.”

I head back to the training hall and try to forget. Eventually, when everyone else is in the recreation room, I manage to slip away, pretending I need to fetch something from the dormitory. Val casually strides past and nods to me.

Pushing back all doubt, I grip my dagger tight. Rust-red metal gleams in the firelight. It’s made from the ashes and blood of dead Pyros, which is kind of creepy, but Pyro blood has special properties. It’s what makes us different. And given the way Jared can control anyone thanks to his possessing their blood, it’s not always an advantage.

But I’m not facing Nolan unarmed.

I pull in a deep breath and ease the back door open, my dagger half-drawn.

Silence.

The door’s creak makes my heart skitter. Another door at the back leads to the spare room Murray locked Nolan in after he betrayed us. I slide the key into the lock and turn it.

Click.

The room behind is dark and dusty, and bigger than I expected—twice the length of Murray’s office, and filled with glass cases and long tables. A row of filing cabinets blocks my view of the back of the room. I edge inside, lifting the dagger.

A light flashes, and without warning, someone hurtles towards me. A hand grabs my wrist before I can swing the dagger, and the momentum sends me crashing to the floor. I kick blindly, and my foot connects with something solid. Nolan curses, his grip loosening slightly—and I’m on my feet and have my dagger at his throat.

“Don’t even think about it,” I say, through clenched teeth.

“I knew you’d come back.” Nolan’s pale face is crusted with dried blood, and his nose looks broken, though it’s hard to tell in this light.

“I didn’t come to set you free,” I say, pressing the dagger to his neck as close as I can without drawing blood. “I came to ask you something.”

“What?” Nolan asks, one eyebrow raised. “You want something from me?”

“The tattoo,” I say. “Murray’s working on a way to stop them affecting people.”

“He what?” Disbelief is etched on his face. I guess no one told him.

“It’s true,” I say. “He stopped Elle’s.”
Using my blood.
Why? Perhaps it’s because I’m Transcendent. I don’t know. Apparently, Jared used fiend blood in the original marks, and Transcendents can make mincemeat of the fiends.

“Murray didn’t tell me that.”

“You probably never gave him the chance.” I tilt my head. “I don’t suppose you want to tell me who else Jared marked?”

“I have no idea.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “How’d that go down, anyway? Did you see him mark you?”

“See him?” Nolan gives a hollow laugh. “He told me it was a rite of passage. He took his time. God. I still feel it.” He rubs his arm, lifts the sleeve to expose the tattoo, scabbed over from where he sliced it open to pass onto Elle. “You can’t imagine it, Leah.”

“Oh, I can,” I say. “You know what being Transcendent means? I feel what Cas does. Including… that.”

Why did you tell him that?
Maybe it’s because Nolan looks so defeated, slumped under my dagger point. Maybe it’s because I’m sick of being angry. Or maybe it’s because Nolan, of all people, knows what it’s like to be at Jared’s mercy.

“No shit?” Nolan shakes his head. “Damn. You’re something else.”

“At least I’m not a liar.”

I have to say that, to remind myself he’s the enemy. Who was he pretending to be before? Was it all an act?

Does it matter? Get your answers. Get out.

“I didn’t lie to you, Leah, not at first. We all thought he died. That’s why none of us went back to check the old place. It was crawling with fiends, too, the ones he was experimenting on. They got out when we lost the war.”

I hold back a shudder at the image. “And the tattoos? They stopped working afterwards?”

My blood counters it,
I think. My blood. If I use my own blood on Cas’s tattoo…

Nolan dips his head, confusion pulling his mouth down at the corners. He holds up his arm, letting the sleeve fall down to reveal the crisscrossing lines. Like a sketch of a flame.

“Right,” I say. “Jared has Cas prisoner. I’m the only one who can get him out of there. So I need to know where he is.”‘

Nolan blinks. “You’re going after him? I thought you hated Cas.” For a second he sounds like his old self.

Now
I’m angry. “Yes, and thanks to you, the enemy has him. I’m going to stop Jared provoking the fiends into another invasion.”
And if I don’t save Cas, I die, too.
The words are like bitter-tasting dust caught in my throat. Jared as good as said so. The visions will drive me to madness, like the others. Even being Transcendent doesn’t change anything.

“Right.” It’s plain he doesn’t believe me. Not that it matters. “How am I to know where he is?”

“The old lab was destroyed,” I say. “So he won’t be there. I need a guide.”

“You want me to come with you? No thanks. I’d rather stay here, thank you.” He compulsively rubs the tattoo again, but his gaze remains on the knife at his throat.

“You think you’re safe from him here?” I ask. “You know he can hurt you wherever you are. I don’t think Murray has any intention of letting you go… or removing
your
mark.”

Nolan blinks at me.

“I killed Jared,” I say, softly. “I killed him once already—stuck my dagger right in his chest. I don’t know how he survived, if he did, but I’m more than happy to finish him off.”

Nolan stares at me. It’s the first time I’ve acknowledged what I did aloud.

A long pause stretches out between us. Finally, Nolan says, “I’ll come back to the lab with you.”

“He might not be there,” I warn him. “The fiends broke in before. If he’s not, is there any other place he’s likely to go?”

Nolan shakes his head. “The other labs were destroyed when the fiends broke through. The divide opened right over our training ground.”