Ignited (24 page)

There was a knock at the back door.

Ruth froze. The back door was in the kitchen, and the knocks were coming persistently, but … who would be looking for Henry when everyone knew he worked every day at the clinic? Why would they go to the back door? Had someone seen her last night? She’d been so careful, but—

The banging continued.

Tentative, Ruth padded toward the door on bare feet. There was no peephole or glass pane, so she stopped by the kitchen window and quickly peeked out from behind the curtain.

Briar Steele and June Powell were standing side by side on Henry’s back porch.

Before she could make any sort of decision, June walked
through
the closed door, a slight wince on her face. She turned and unlocked it for Briar, who came in a moment later, a bag over her shoulder. They hovered at an awkward distance from each other, clearly not comfortable being together. 

“I
told
you,” Briar said, harrumphing as she held her bag closer to he body. “I didn’t have any reason to lie about this.”

June nodded, curt but civil. “Right. I’m sorry I doubted you.” When June turned to Ruth, her expression was screwed up with concern. “Ruth, are you okay? What’s going on? I haven’t seen you since the fundraiser.”

“You walked through the door. I heard you could do that, but ….” Hearing it and seeing it were two different things. Her mouth kept opening and closing like a fish. “And how did you know I was here?”

Briar picked up on her confusion, smiled kindly. “I ran into Henry this morning, and he told me.”

Ruth felt like her stomach had plummeted to the floor. “He
told
you?”

“I won’t tell!” Briar said, too quickly, and then shot a guilty look toward June. “Well, except for her. I just thought you might need a friend right now.” She brandished the bag in her arms. “And we brought you presents!”

June directed Ruth toward the kitchen table and sat a bag in front of her. “I raided my mother’s closet,” she confided, laying several dresses on the table. “I tried to pick the least ridiculous things. She’ll be less likely to notice that they are gone.”

Ruth fingered a dark blue dress. There were enormous fake pearls sewn into a belt around the waist, but it was otherwise fine. Nicer than anything she had ever owned.

“I know they’re not perfect,” June continued, “but they’re clean, and they’ll last you until you and Henry are married.”

Ruth reeled back from the table. “
Married
?”

June frowned. “Isn’t that the plan?”

“I don’t know,” Ruth said. She sounded distant in her own ears. “We haven’t talked about it.”

Briar butted forward, moving in front of June. “I brought you something, too.” She grinned and set her bag on Ruth’s lap. “Go ahead, look inside.”

Confused and overwhelmed, Ruth looked down into the bag—and then snapped her eyes back up to Briar’s face. The girl looked like the cat who got the cream; she was beyond pleased with herself, that much was obvious. Inside the bag were the fabrics Henry had bought her all those weeks ago, needles and thread, and a pair of her shoes.

“
How
?” Ruth sputtered, staring down at them in shock. She hadn’t looked at them in a while, afraid she’d be tempted to use them. “These were in my room, back home. Briar, what did you—”

“Broke into your house,” Briar said, shrugging carelessly.

“But—”

June interrupted. “I only have a few more minutes before I have to get back to the bank.” She moved around Briar so she could sit next to Ruth and then grabbed Ruth’s hand. “But I don’t want to leave until I know you’re all right. What happened?”

Despite all her earlier resolve, Ruth could feel the tears rushing back. It was all so much at once, and she couldn’t process it. She took a shaky breath and then hiccuped into tears.

Briar dropped down on the other side and placed a hesitant hand on Ruth’s shoulder. “Ruth?”

Ruth sniffed. She wanted to tell June, but … there was no reason not to tell her. Briar already knew about her powers, and June herself was powerful. She could be brave. She could trust them.

“I can … do things. Like you, June.” Fear vibrated beneath her skin, but she kept going. “Not exactly like you, I mean, but … I have a power.”

June’s eyes darted to Briar, and Ruth shook her head.

“She caught me once, she already knows.”

“Show her,” Briar said gently.

Standing on shaky legs, Ruth went to the cupboard and got down a glass. She filled it with water all the way to the brim and then handed it to June, who stared at it curiously. Ruth sighed. She couldn’t believe she was about to do this.

“Just in case,” she told June. She then raised her arms and pushed her sleeves to the elbows.

The fire was there, just beneath the surface, burning in her muscles, running hot and wild in her veins. It wanted to be released. She took a deep breath and gave herself over to it, bit by bit, letting the flames kindle just below her skin and then slowly seep forth.

Briar and June gasped in unison as the fire formed at her fingertips and ran to her wrists.

The flames started to travel higher, but Ruth didn’t panic. She took a deep breath and urged them back down, and nearly laughed in delight when they went. They suddenly grew taller, burned hotter—it wasn’t painful, not yet, so Ruth took another breath and urged them to quiet down.

It didn’t work. They grew an inch higher, and suddenly the tickle of the burning started to feel like heat and pain and—

“The water, June,” she managed, gasping for breath.

“Oh!” June hit the flames with the water and they disappeared instantly.

Ruth breathed a sigh of relief, shaking out her hands. “Thank you.”

There was silence in the room. Ruth was practically vibrating from nerves before June managed to sputter out, “That was amazing!”

Briar nodded vehemently. “I didn’t realize you could go so far. When you burned your hair off—”

“You burned your hair off?” June gaped at her for a moment before she started to laugh. “So that’s why you cut it. It makes so much sense. That was just—that was incredible, Ruth. You’re so powerful!”

They were both so excited, so enthusiastic—Ruth didn’t know how to react. She glanced down and fought a smile, suddenly bashful. “I can’t yet control it very well. That was probably the best I’ve done, actually. Henry and I—”

She cut herself off at the words. They were too painful. Her face twisted up into something unhappy, and June stood up, moving closer to Ruth. Briar was hot on her heels, her blond head peeking over June’s shoulder.

“Ruth, what happened?”

“My father—he found out about my powers. I’d been hiding them, because I knew how he felt about them. I thought I could make them go away, but ….” She shook her head. It seemed like a distant dream, now, how terrified her powers had once made her feel. She still wasn’t totally comfortable, but she no longer feared them so completely. June and Briar’s reactions had been so positive. Maybe her powers could be sort of … fun.

Maybe she didn’t need to get rid of them.

It wasn’t the time to dwell on that. Ruth cleared her throat. “I lost control in my sleep and decided I needed help, so I went to Henry, and he—he’s been kind to me.”

June looked at Ruth from between narrowed eyes. “He’s been kind to you? That’s all?”

How could she tell June the truth without immediately telling her what had happened the night before? And what if the other girls judged her, hated her, called her a fallen woman? She couldn’t stand up to their scrutiny.

And she loved Henry, despite everything. She didn’t want them to hate him.

“Yes,” she lied. “That’s all.”

“That is not
all
,” Briar said, a knowing smile on her face. “Believe me, I know you are lying. Besides, how you two feel about each other is written all over your faces! He looked so worried this morning when I spoke to him—he’s crazy about you.”

Pain hit Ruth square in the chest, so hard that she felt her body temperature rise and had to calm herself down before she burst into flames.

“I don’t know,” she said, unsure of how else to say it. He couldn’t care so much if he was immediately trying to get away from her after the night they’d spent together. She wished she could erase this day and start over from scratch, go back to the moment when she woke up and remembered what happened and had felt so
happy
about it.

June was still frowning at Ruth, and she patted Ruth’s shoulder with a soft hand. “Something’s upsetting you, Ruth. If you tell me, maybe I can help you.”

“You can’t help with this,” Ruth insisted, even as her voice turned watery.

“You don’t know until you try.”

The fire licked just below her skin, but Ruth refused to give in. “It’s complicated. I … I got away from my dad last night. He was upset, he had me—I don’t want to talk about it. But I ran away and I came here, and we—”

“You …?” June prompted.

Ruth shrugged and then gave June a meaningful look. Briar seemed to understand first. “I knew it, I knew it!”

Now that Ruth had started talking, the words poured out of her. “And this morning, he—he was so distant, he said he wants to move back in with his grandfather, that it’s not safe for me if he’s here ….” 

“Heartbreak” had always seemed like such a melodramatic term. Now Ruth was beginning to understand it. The pain in her chest may have been psychological, but it felt very real. “He and I—I thought we were
something
, and now he wants to leave me, and I—”

June’s arms were around her instantly, and she murmured soothing words as she pet Ruth’s hair. “Oh, you poor thing. Don’t get upset, Ruthie. Deep breaths.” 

Ruth did her best to comply and smiled gently at Briar when the girl reached out to place a hand on Ruth’s arm. 

“I think you need to talk to him, ask him what’s really going on,” June said. “It seems to me like he’s trying to … to retroactively protect your honor, or something.”

“He doesn’t want me anymore,” Ruth moaned. She would allow herself this moment of weakness, of self-pity, before she picked herself back up. “I was unchaste and now he’s—”

“That’s not you talking, Ruth, that’s your father.” June pulled back, her mouth set in a stubborn line. “Has Henry ever given you any reason to think he doesn’t respect you?”

Ruth shook her head.

“Sometimes love doesn’t happen in the order we were taught was right. Ivan and I ….” June blushed, a small smile tugging at her lips as she rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors that I’ve moved in with him. And, well, I wouldn’t do that if we hadn’t ….” She turned to Briar. “I trust you to keep that to yourself, you know.”

Briar nodded. “Not my business.”

June patted Ruth’s cheek. “I know Ivan is it for me. I love him. Even without a ring, I feel married to him. I don’t feel sinful or ashamed because there’s nothing sinful or shameful about this kind of love.” She caught Ruth’s eye. “Is that how you feel about Henry?”

Ruth thought about her answer. Henry was … different than other men. He was certainly different from Arnold Johnson, the man her father had picked out for her. Henry was so easy to talk to; he never made her feel inferior, was encouraging and enthusiastic and kind. When he’d touched her the night before, he had been gentle, reverent. She had felt loved.

And she loved him. Despite everything, she loved him.

Ruth nodded.

“Well, then. It’s possible this is a misunderstanding. Don’t assume you know his motives until you ask him.”

June had changed since meeting Ivan, Ruth thought, and it was for the better. She’d always been a nice girl, but now she seemed to have a kind of wisdom she’d never had before. The man was good for her.

“All right,” Ruth conceded, giving a tiny slip of a smile. “Thank you. Both of you.”

“Maybe all you need to do is show him that you are okay with what happened. Flirt a little.” June grinned. “
Seduce
him.”

Briar tittered, and Ruth felt herself go bright red. “I don’t even know
how
—”

June dug into the pile and came up with a flouncy dress the color of peaches. “Here. This one is short. And I bet you can hem it different, or do something with the bust line ….” Her voice trailed off and she inspected the stitching there. “He’ll like what he sees.”

“You should lean over and pick something up while you wear it,” Briar suggested. 

June goggled her and then burst out laughing. “Oh, that’s terrible! Ruth, you should definitely do that.”

Was it possible to die of embarrassment? Ruth was starting to think she might.

“I could never ….”

“Sure you can, Ruth.” June laid a gentle hand on her knee. “You just have to flirt a little, entice him. Do better than tell him you’re fine with what happened—
show him
.” She nudged at Ruth with her shoulder. “Maybe it’ll happen again.”

Ruth covered her tomato red face with her hands, fighting the urge to burst into flame. Even as she did so, she laughed aloud, feeling better for the first time all morning. “All right, all right! Just get out of here, go to work!”

When she pulled her hands down, both Briar and June were grinning at her. She was overwhelmed by their help, their acceptance. She took a shuddering breath. “Thank you both. So much.”

At that, June grinned, every inch the sunny girl she had always been. “No problem! Now I have to get going, but before I do …. You should consider coming down to the mine.”

Ruth and Briar spoke in union. “The mine?”

June gave Briar a sympathetic look. “Sorry, Briar. It’s for people with powers.”

Briar opened her mouth to say something, then closed it and looked away. June didn’t notice. “That’s where we practice. The rest of the Independents—that’s what we call ourselves, neat, right?—are there all the time. Not tonight, I’m afraid, but tomorrow night. We can help you practice.”

Ruth frowned, considering. It was scary, to think of herself as one of them—the people her father so hated. But she couldn’t deny it: She had powers, and she needed to learn how to control them. If June thought this would help, Ruth trusted her.