Into the Fire (10 page)

Jeremy shrugs. “I don’t have a clue what’s going on, but I didn’t touch the cut, Cara.”

“I know you didn’t.
I
did.”

Logan stirs in the back seat, and I almost send us careening into a cornfield when I turn around to look at him.

“Eyes on the road!” Jeremy yells, reaching for the steering wheel and straightening it out.

“What’s going on?” Logan sounds dazed.

“Don’t try to talk. You hit your head on the underwater ledge and lost a lot of blood.” At least, I think that’s what happened.

“My head?” Logan sits up, and his face fills the rearview mirror.

“Easy or you might pass out.”

“I feel fine.” He leans forward, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Cara, stop the car. I’m really okay.”

That’s not possible. He was unconscious not too long ago. And the faint red mark… have my hallucinations started?

“Listen, we’re bringing you to our mom.” Jeremy sounds almost too calm. The old Jeremy would’ve been freaking out right along with me. I might have tapped into powers I shouldn’t have yet. “She’s a nurse. Let her look you over, and then we’ll take you home.” Jeremy looks to me to confirm what he said.

“He’s right. Our mom will make sure you’re okay.” Tears well up in my eyes.

Logan squeezes my shoulder. “Okay.” Somehow I know he’s only agreeing to make me feel better.

I pull into the parking lot of the hospital next to the employee’s entrance. It’s totally against protocol, but I don’t care. Mom will be waiting for us here. Logan gets out of the car on his own and is walking fine, but Jeremy and I stay close to him just in case he gets wobbly.

The door opens, and Mom’s eyes fall first on Jeremy, making sure he’s really okay. I’m going to catch hell for taking him out of the house so soon. Jeremy nods, and Mom finally looks at Logan and then me. Her eyes burn into mine, and a strange expression falls over her face. Oh God. She knows. Somehow she knows I’ve imprinted on him.

“Logan hit his head,” I say, breaking the silence.

She forces herself to look away from me and gently takes Logan’s head in her hands, tilting it sideways. Her eyes widen when she sees the red line. “Luckily, it isn’t a bad cut. More of a scrape.”

A scrape doesn’t bleed the way Logan’s head did. “Mom—”

Her eyes shoot daggers at me, and I shut up. I’m going to be grounded until my rebirth.

“Logan, come inside with me. You two, wait out here.” She takes Logan in through the employees’ entrance, leaving Jeremy and me alone.

“What was that about?” Jeremy asks.

“She knows.” I lean on the hood of the car. “She could see it in my eyes. The imprint.”

Jeremy runs his fingers through his hair, another thing I’ve never seen him do. “Does she have Spidey-sense or something?”

“I see you’re catching up on the movies you watched in your first life.”

He shrugs. “I figure I should watch the movies I have on DVD. What if someone asks me about one?”

I wave it off. I’m not mad at Jeremy. I’m mad at myself. “I shouldn’t have let this happen. I should’ve listened to you and stayed away from him.”

“Cara.” Jeremy scrunches up his face like he’s trying to pull at another memory that’s long gone. “Damn it! Do I usually comfort you or bust on you in a situation like this?”

I let the tears flow. I can’t hold them in knowing I’m ruining the last month of my first life and I’m frustrating Jeremy at the same time. He walks over and puts his arms around my shoulders in the most awkward hug I’ve ever had.

“Ouch.” He pulls away and looks at the tears dotting his shoulder. “If I had my T-shirt on, your tears would be burning holes through it.”

“Sorry.” I shake my head. “I feel so out of control. How did you deal with it? One minute I’m fine, and the next I’m burning everything in sight.” Even when Logan held my hand at the falls, the best I could do was keep my temperature at hot instead of scorching.

“It gets easier. You’ll feel it coming on and you’ll be able to hold it back or get out of whatever situation you’re in before you burn your friends to cinders.”

“Was that supposed to be a joke?”

“Bad one, huh?” He shrugs. “I wasn’t very funny, was I?”

“Actually, you were.”

“Great. Another thing I suck at now.”

“No, you don’t. I should’ve just let you rest, but I really wanted to meet Logan and didn’t want to go alone. Any chance selfishness and stupidity are signs of the rebirth, too?”

Jeremy laughs. “Sorry, but no.”

“Hey. You remember the time leading up to your rebirth.” How had I not noticed before?

“Yeah, but that’s about as far as the memories go. It’s like my brain can only store the Phoenix stuff.”

I look around, making sure no one is in the parking lot. “We shouldn’t be talking about this here.”

The door opens, and Logan steps out. Mom is good, but this has to be some kind of record. “Good as new. Your mom said I knocked myself out, but I’m not bleeding anymore, and the scrape is already healing.”

Jeremy pats Logan’s back. The gesture is almost robotic. “Good to hear. We should get you home so you can rest.”

“What if you have a concussion or something?” I step toward the door. “I’ll ask Mom if it’s okay for you to be alone right now.”

Logan gently grabs my arm, and I have to concentrate on keeping my body temperature in check. “Cara, I’m fine. Your mom said sleep is the best thing for me.”

“Oh.” Why didn’t she come back outside with Logan?

“She said she’ll be home soon,” Logan says. “Oh, and you should start making a salad.”

So that’s that. Mom’s sending everyone home. To their
own
homes.

Jeremy gets in the passenger seat, but I glare at him and motion to the back seat. “What?”

“Logan’s hurt.”

“Cara, I’m fine.”

I give him a look, too. “Jer, age before beauty.” It’s Mom’s favorite line, not that Jeremy remembers.

“Are you calling me beautiful?”

“Just get in the back.” I get in the car as Jeremy switches seats. On the way to the falls so we can get our clothes, I wonder if it’s legal to drive around in nothing more than a bathing suit. I don’t need Officer Monroe having to bail me out of another ticket.

Everyone else is gone when we get back. Rachel sends me a text to see if Logan’s okay. I’ll fill her in later—if Mom doesn’t take my cell away after all this.

“Where do you live?” I ask Logan as we get back in the car.

“Just up the road from the café.”

I drive by, waving to Monique as we pass. Logan points to a white colonial up ahead. “That’s it.” He sounds disappointed, and I can’t help wondering how big his place in New York was. Did he live in one of those penthouse suites that overlook the city? “Thanks for today.”

He can’t be serious. “For inviting you to hang out and then nearly getting your skull cracked open?”

He laughs. “Believe it or not, I think it might be the most fun I’ve had since we moved here.”

“If that’s true, then I won’t be surprised if I hear you packed up and moved back to New York before sundown.”

“Relax. I’m really okay.”

What do I do now? Invite him to hang out again? Just say goodbye? If I don’t at least invite him to hang out, I’ll be the girl who nearly got him killed and then ditched him. “I don’t suppose you’d want to do something with us again tomorrow, would you? I mean, if I’m not grounded for bringing Jeremy out.” And using my Phoenix powers to heal Logan’s head.

“Tell you what.” He puts his hand on the door, getting ready to go. “If I wake up in the morning, I’ll meet you after school for lunch at the café.”

“
If
you wake up?”

“Yeah. If I really do have a concussion, I might not wake up. I might slip into a coma or—”

Jeremy leans forward. “Listen, man, if you don’t want her to check up on you five thousand times tonight, you’d better stop teasing her.” Does Jeremy think I’m overprotective? He leans back. “And if she keeps me up all night because she’s worried she might be responsible for killing you, I’m seriously going to have to kick your ass. You might be older than me, but I’ve got a couple inches on you.”

Logan laughs. How could either one of them be joking about this? I should be happy Jeremy is acting somewhat normal, but there’s too much wrong with this situation to focus on the good.

“Cara, I’m seriously fine. My dad will be home soon, and I’ll have him watch me like a hawk.”

I still don’t want to leave him, but I’m too afraid to ask if I can check up on him. He might think I’m using the situation to get his phone number.

“So what do you say? Lunch at Monique’s tomorrow?”

“You really want to see me again after today?”

Jeremy clears his throat, warning me that this isn’t a good idea. He’s right, but Logan’s right here. The pull I feel is too strong to ignore.

“What time does school get out?”

“Noon, but I usually drive Rachel home.”

“You could bring her if you want.”

Bring Rachel? Okay, so this isn’t a date. It’s two friends—no, three friends—eating together. My shoulders drop.

“Or not.” He smiles and winks as he opens the door.

“See you tomorrow.” I give a small wave as Logan gets out of the car.

Jeremy shakes his head. Normally, he’d jump over the seat the second it was available. That’s what he does when I drive Rachel home. Or he did. But he doesn’t move. “You’re setting yourself up for heartbreak. You know that, right?”

Of course I know that. It’s already breaking my heart that I’m going to lose the first guy I really care about.

We drive in silence, and the moment we get home, I start on the salad. Jeremy studies his memory book. Ten minutes later, Mom storms through the front door, drops her purse on the counter, and glares at me.

“Cara, I forbid you from seeing Logan Schmidt again. Do you understand me?”

Cara

I stop slicing the tomatoes, afraid I’ll cut myself from the shock. Mom’s never told me who to be friends with. This has to be about the imprint. “How can you tell?”

She pushes off the counter and walks to the fridge to grab a pitcher of iced tea. She can’t even look at me.

“Mom—”

“How could you do this, Cara? Your rebirth is right around the corner. Jeremy needs you now more than ever. And you go and imprint on a boy you don’t even know?” She slams the pitcher of iced tea on the center island, spilling it all over the salad.

“I didn’t do it on purpose!”

“I know that.” She grabs a dishtowel and mops up the tea. “But this can’t happen. Don’t you understand that?”

“How do I stop it? Please tell me, because I’m freaking out about it.” My hands shake and smoke rises from my fingers. I remove my hand from the island and see a scorch mark.

“Stop.” Mom grabs me by the shoulders. “You have to get control over what’s happening to you. Logan isn’t helping. He’s going to make the rebirth ten times worse on you.”

“I can’t stop thinking about him. I’ve tried. I wanted to cancel on him today. I wanted to keep my distance, but I can’t. I physically can’t.” I’m crying again. How I have this many tears is beyond me.

“You’re going to have to find a way.”

“That’s it? Find a way?” I shake my head and squeeze my hands into fists. “Ow!” I look down at the bloody half-circles my nails sliced into my palms. “What the hell?”

Mom takes my hands in hers, bringing them closer to my face. “See this? This is what I’m talking about. Your Phoenix abilities are tied to your emotions right now, and Logan is making your emotions go crazy. It won’t always be this way. Once you go through the rebirth, you’ll be able to decide when to use your powers.”

“Yeah, because I won’t have any emotions left!” I look at Jeremy, who’s in the kitchen now. “Jer, I didn’t mean—”

He holds his hand up and walks past me to his room.

“Jer.”

“Let him go.” Mom holds my hands tightly so I can’t follow him. “See what I mean? You just insulted your brother. I can’t remember the last time you two argued.”

“Yeah, well
he
doesn’t remember either.” I hate myself for saying it, but I’ve reached my breaking point.

“That’s not fair.”

“And this is?” I raise my palms to
her
face now. “I didn’t ask to imprint on Logan. My stupid, freaky abilities just tuned in on him.”

“When exactly did it happen? You haven’t mentioned Logan before, even when I brought him up last night.” She sits down on the stool and covers my right hand with hers. She drags her fingers along my cuts, and I watch them heal. She does the same thing to my left hand. “Sit. Talk to me.”

I sigh and slump onto the stool next to her. “I met him after Jeremy’s rebirth. He showed up at the falls. I was cautious of him at first. He was wearing a leather jacket, and I thought maybe he was—”

“Concealing the Phoenix dagger.” She nods. “It’s good you questioned him.”

“Then he took the jacket off and went for a swim. I knew he didn’t have the dagger.”

“But it didn’t matter at that point, anyway. You’d already imprinted on him.”

She’s right, but I can’t admit it. “This is so much worse than the sex talk.”

Mom cringes. “Don’t bring that up.” Nothing freaks her out more than a sex talk—well, except for a Hunter.

“How did it happen so quickly? I barely know him.”

“That’s just the way it is. Imprints take seconds. And believe me, they don’t just affect us.”

“Are you saying Logan imprinted on me, too? Is that possible?”

“No, but he feels the pull. It’s not as strong. He’s probably totally confused about why he can’t stay away from you. But if you keep your distance, his draw to you will fade.”

“But mine won’t.”

“No. And as for not really knowing him, that’s not true, is it? I bet you two have told each other things you wouldn’t normally tell someone you just met.”

She’s right. We opened up to each other right away. “I’m still keeping a huge secret from him.”

“And you’ll continue to. You can’t tell him what you are, what
we
are.”

“I’m not stupid, Mom.” I push my stool out and walk to the sink. “Or maybe I am.” I take a deep breath. “I burned him.”