C
HAPTER
9
“S
o let me get this straight,” said Michael. “Calla trashed your place and said she’s going to burn houses down until you bring Guides here.”
“Yeah.”
“And then she told Vickers that you roughed her up.”
Hunter set his jaw. “Yeah.”
“Well, there haven’t been any more fires—yet. Gabriel downloaded a police scanner app or something and he’s been keeping tabs on it. The fire marshal thinks the real arsonist is behind bars, so they’re not expecting more. But I’ve got a bigger question. Why you?”
Hunter looked at him. He hadn’t said anything else about his grandfather, and he was glad Michael was focusing on Calla’s role in this mess. “Why me?”
“Yeah.” Michael shrugged. “Why you? If she wants Guides here, they’ll come eventually, right?”
“That’s what Bill said, too.”
“You told Bill? What did he say to do?”
Hunter snorted. “He said I made my bed, so I should lie in it.”
Michael made a disgusted noise. “What a dick. I don’t even know what that means, but it pisses me off.”
Hunter blinked, surprised at the vehemence—and a little shocked that Michael would take his side. “He said I should have killed Calla when I had the chance.”
“What a coward.
He
didn’t help pull those kids out of the library fire. You and Gabriel did. He’s the frigging Guide. If he wanted her dead, he should have gone and taken care of the problem himself.” Michael hit the turn signal a lot harder than was necessary. “So frigging typical, setting someone else up to do his job. Is that what this is about? The hell with him, Hunter. Seriously.
Fuck him
.”
It had been so long since someone had taken his side that Hunter had forgotten what it felt like. Some of the tension that was coiled around his chest slipped free.
“But he’s right,” he said. “I should have just shot her.”
“You’re a kid. You shouldn’t have been there at all, and you definitely shouldn’t be expected to kill someone. Jesus, I want to drive over there and shake some sense into that guy.”
Hunter didn’t know what to say to any of that, so he just looked out the window again.
After a moment, he said, “Thanks.”
“Sure.”
Then he added, “I did shoot someone once.”
Michael glanced over, but he didn’t say anything.
Hunter realigned the rocks strung along his wrist. “The father of a girl I went to school with. Her name was Clare. He was beating up her and her mom. I hit him in the shoulder.” He paused. “My dad—he was disappointed I didn’t kill the guy.”
“Your dad was
disappointed
that you hadn’t killed someone?”
“Maybe disappointed isn’t the right word. He used to say that being a Fifth means it’s too easy to want to help people—even people who aren’t doing the right thing. He’d tell me that to become a Guide, I’d have to learn to overcome that.”
“No offense, Hunter, but I’m glad you didn’t.”
Hunter gave him half a smile, but it was grim. “Because otherwise I’d have shot you in the face when I came here to kill you all?”
Michael didn’t smile back. “No, because that sounds a whole lot like turning off your conscience. Who gets to decide
right
and
wrong
? You?”
“It’s not turning off your conscience.”
“Why not?”
“It’s just
not.
” Hunter made a frustrated sound and glared out the window again. “You don’t understand.”
“I’m not judging you.” Michael paused. “You’re talking about life and death here, Hunter. One of those, you can’t undo.”
As if he hadn’t been thinking of his father and uncle all day. Hunter didn’t say anything.
All of a sudden, he wanted to get out of the truck at the next stop light.
Especially when Michael said, “What happened with your grandfather?”
They were on the 50-mph stretch of Ritchie Highway, so Hunter just shrugged and said, “It was a misunderstanding.”
“About what?”
Hunter hesitated. The worst part was that he was
embarrassed
to say what had happened. “Vickers called the house and told him what had happened with Calla.”
Michael let that sit out there for a long moment. “And?”
“And he believed her.”
Another long pause. “You’re going to have to throw me a bone here, Hunter, because I don’t know what that means.”
Hunter swung his head around. “He
believed
her, okay? So did my mom.” His voice was shaky with fury, and he couldn’t stop it. “So they packed up my stuff, and they told me to get out, and when I tried to explain that it was a misunderstanding, he—he just—”
Hunter stopped, feeling his hands curl into fists. His breath was fogging in the air again, and Michael reached over to kick up the heat.
“It doesn’t matter,” Hunter finished. “I took my stuff and left.”
“Was this today?” said Michael. “Is that why you were so keyed up at Home Depot?”
Hunter shook his head. “Yesterday.”
“Yesterday?”
Michael glanced over. “Where did you go last night?”
“I slept in the jeep.” His voice was small. “Behind Target.”
To his surprise, Michael reached over and smacked him on the back of the head. “Are you insane? Jesus, Hunter, you should have called the house.”
“Why?” he snapped. “So your brothers can keep giving me shit?” They were rolling to a stop at the end of Old Mill Road, just one turn away from the Merrick house. Hunter grabbed the door handle. “I don’t need this.”
Michael grabbed his arm. “Stop.” He didn’t let go, and turned the truck one-handed. “They might be giving you shit at school, but if you’d called and said you had nowhere to go . . .”
Hunter jerked free. “I can take care of myself.”
“Oh, really? Is that why I’m blasting the heat right now?” They were pulling up the driveway. Michael threw the truck in park in front of the garage. “Come inside and get something to eat. Your dog could probably use some water, too.”
It was the mention of Casper that made Hunter pause. His dog’s head was hanging over the seat back, his tongue lolling out from the heat blasting in the cab.
“Fine,” said Hunter. “But you can’t blame me if I end up punching Gabriel in the face.”
“Don’t worry,” said Michael. “He usually deserves it.”
Silver was fiddling with his weapons again, laying them out on the table.
He’d been pissed off all evening.
Finally, Kate couldn’t take it anymore. “What’s your problem?”
His eyes flicked up. “You very nearly gave us away.”
“I told you it was a bad idea to follow them.”
“I wouldn’t have
had
to follow them if you’d been able to get more information from Hunter Garrity.”
She scowled. “I’m trying. He made me get out of his car. What do you want me to do, throw myself at him?”
“I have doubts whether you can do even that effectively.”
“Shut up.” But she kind of agreed with him.
Silver gave her a look that stopped her heart in her chest and made her very aware that he was holding a loaded weapon. “Let’s remember our roles here.”
She held his gaze and didn’t apologize—but she didn’t say anything else, either. Her heart had restarted and was kicking up a rapid pace.
She had to clear her throat to speak around the thunderous rush of blood in her ears. “What should we do next?”
“The more I consider it, I rather like your idea of spending time around all of them,” said Silver.
She snorted. “I almost had an invite back to their house today, but Nick Merrick’s girlfriend is a
bitch
.”
“Not their house. I’m thinking somewhere more public. Somewhere with the chance to see if they take the bait to cause a little damage.”
She fought the urge to sulk. “Somewhere you can watch me?”
“You should not be so dismissive of my protection.”
“Fine. Whatever. What did you have in mind?”
His eyebrows lifted, and his hands went still on the weapon. “A little less attitude, perhaps.”
She raised her own eyebrows and stared at him, waiting.
Silver pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. “You’ll go to this.”
Kate took it. She’d seen and ignored the posters around school. “A school carnival? Seriously?”
“Seriously. It’s public, they’ll likely all attend, and I can observe without being noticed. It’s also tomorrow night.”
“And what should I do while I’m there?”
“You’ll make sure you haven’t blown our cover.”
A new edge had found its way into his voice, matching the darkness in his expression. Kate looked at her nails and did her best to ignore it. She’d barely spent any time with the Merricks—she couldn’t imagine she’d blown their cover.
But she kept thinking about Hunter, and the way he’d thrown her out of the car.
She’d touched him, and he’d caught her arm. Had he figured it out somehow?
She glanced up at Silver, but he was looking back at his laptop. “And if I have?”
“You’d do well to run.”
“From them?”
He met her eyes. “From me.”
C
HAPTER
10
G
abriel and Nick Merrick were sitting at the kitchen table when Hunter followed Michael into the house. They were identical twins, but Hunter had never had a moment’s trouble telling them apart. Their powers were so different that they registered differently against his senses. When he’d first met them, he hadn’t known what that meant—he’d never spent any time around full Elementals. But once he knew their abilities—Nick’s affinity for air, and Gabriel’s for fire—he wondered how he’d ever missed it.
Nick had a thick textbook open on the table in front of him, with a notebook beside it. He looked irritated, and he was watching Gabriel break Oreos into a bowl of milk.
“You know,” Nick was saying, “you could actually make dinner for a change.”
“I am making dinner.”
They hadn’t spotted him yet.
Hunter didn’t exactly want to remedy that.
But Casper didn’t care, he just followed Michael into the kitchen, his tail waving like a banner behind him.
Hunter watched their expressions change, saw their eyes follow Casper as his nails clicked across the ceramic tile, then watched them swing their gazes around to the kitchen doorway.
The silence lasted about three seconds.
Then Gabriel’s expression sharpened, and he said, “Look, Michael brought home a dog and a—”
“Gabriel. Leave him alone.” Michael grabbed a bowl from a cabinet and filled it with water.
Hunter had no idea how this was going to go, and he didn’t really want to be standing here, waiting around to find out. He could sit on the front porch while Casper got a drink.
Before he could move to take a step, Nick cleared his throat. “You help Mike with a job or something?”
“Yeah.”
“Want something to drink?”
Hunter hesitated, like this could be a trap. But Nick was just looking at him, waiting for an answer.
So Hunter shrugged. “Sure.”
Then he tensed, realizing he’d probably walked right into it, that Nick would say something shitty like, “Too bad,” or he’d throw a glass of water in his face, or—
Or he’d just walk to the fridge, fetch a bottle of Gatorade, and toss it.
Hunter snatched it out of the air but hesitated before unscrewing the cap. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
Gabriel watched this whole exchange. “What the hell are you doing here?”
There was something reassuring about the hostility. This, Hunter could deal with. He took a sip and made Gabriel wait for the answer. “Your brother blocked my car and forced me into his truck at Home Depot.”
Nick’s eyebrows went up. He looked at his older brother, who was dropping into a chair at the end of the table. “Really.”
Michael shrugged but didn’t say anything. He reached for the package of Oreos.
“Gee, Mike,” said Gabriel. “I’m sure that didn’t look sketchy
at all
.”
Michael didn’t answer him; he just looked up at Hunter. “What are you going to do tonight?”
Hunter shrugged and leaned against the doorjamb, swirling the Gatorade in the bottle. “I’ll be all right.”
“What’s tonight?” said Nick.
Then the front door slammed, and a pair of feet came down the hallway. Hunter moved to the side, and Chris appeared in the doorway, his eyes narrowed. “You’re
here
.” He tossed car keys on the counter. “Well, that was a wasted trip.”
Hunter raised his eyebrows. “Meaning?”
“Becca made me swing by your house before I dropped her off.” Chris made it sound like Becca had asked him to swing by the county dump. “You weren’t in school and then you didn’t return her texts. She was worried.”
Becca was worried. Hunter was oddly touched.
Then Chris said, “Your grandfather said you left.”
Hunter’s chest tightened until it was hard to breathe again. His grandfather said he’d
left
? Like he’d just walked out?
“I figured you’d skipped town,” said Chris. He dropped into the chair next to Nick. “Guess we’re not that lucky.”
“Guess not,” said Hunter. His hand gripped the Gatorade bottle so tightly the plastic crackled. His thoughts were spiraling like a tornado, and he couldn’t make them settle. His mother had watched—his grandfather had—his mother—his—
“Casper,” he called.
“Hierr.”
The dog shot to his side and nosed at his hands. Hunter glanced at Michael. “Will you drive me back now?”
“Why don’t you wait,” said Michael. “Have some dinner.”
Hunter glanced at the bowl of crushed cookies in milk. “Thanks, I’ll pass.”
“You going to sleep in your car and skip school again?” said Michael.
Well, that changed the tenor of the room. Hunter couldn’t look at any of them now. He could feel them staring, and that was bad enough.
“Forget it,” he said. “I’ll walk.”
The night air stung his face when he stepped out of the house, and Hunter pulled the hood of his sweatshirt higher against his neck. No one followed him.
Good.
He was dirty from helping Michael, and a hot shower would have helped ease the soreness across his shoulders, but that would have to wait until tomorrow morning. He wasn’t sure how long he could keep using the school gym showers without someone noticing he wasn’t going to class, but he’d do it as long as he could keep it up.
Your grandfather said you left
.
Hunter swallowed. Stupid old man. Like he wanted to be there anyway.
He thought of the Merricks, sitting around the kitchen table, a room full of aggression and old wounds—but full of camaraderie and solidarity, too. The brothers didn’t always get along, but they
knew
each other.
His grandfather didn’t even know that Hunter would
never
have hit a girl.
His grandfather hadn’t even hesitated before hitting
him.
Hunter had to swallow again.
God, stop being such a wuss.
His father would be so disappointed.
Hunter rubbed at his eyes.
His cell phone chimed, and he yanked it out of his pocket, stupidly hoping it would be his mother.
It wasn’t.
Bueller . . . Bueller . . . Bueller.
Kate. Hunter smiled and wanted to kick himself. He stared at the text and wondered how to respond.
He felt a flicker of guilt at the way he’d thrown her out of his jeep.
Sneakers ground on pavement behind him, and Hunter whirled, hands up. Then the air sparked with Gabriel’s presence.
He shoved the phone in his pocket and kept walking.
Gabriel fell into step beside him.
Hunter didn’t even glance over. “Leave me alone.”
“Having a good cry?”
He wasn’t, but Hunter set his jaw anyway. “Go to hell.”
“So yesterday,” said Gabriel. “Remember when I flipped your tray?”
“No. I forgot all about it.”
“Totally didn’t know you’d have soup on there. Jesus, I didn’t even know the cafeteria
sold
—”
Hunter stopped on the street and looked at him. “What do you want, Gabriel? What?”
“I want to know why you pretended to be my friend.”
Hunter started walking again.
Gabriel kept after him. “Michael said your grandfather threw you out because of what happened with Calla.”
“So what?”
“Does
anyone
trust you? Or do you just feed everyone a line of crap until it catches up with you?”
Hunter couldn’t look at him now. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Remember that day we went running? Remember how you sat on the side of the trail and cried about your father? Was that real? Or just one more act? Something to get me to talk, so you could report back to Bill?” His voice turned into a breathy lisping mockery of Hunter’s. “ ‘Guess what I learned today. Gabriel Merrick misses his mommy.’ ”
“Fuck you.”
“No, fuck
you
, Hunter.” Gabriel got in his face and shoved him, true anger behind the motion. “You know why you slept alone in your jeep last night? Because you’ve screwed over anyone who might help you.”
Hunter shoved past him and kept walking. He remembered that day, jogging on the trail, racing Gabriel for fun until they ran out of energy and adrenaline and collapsed in the grass. The air had been crisp and clean with the sun beating down—and memories of his father had clouded Hunter’s brain until he couldn’t help but talk about it. Emotion was tightening his chest again, just thinking about it.
A car rolled down the road, swirling dead leaves from the roadside in its wake. Night wind snuck into the space between Hunter’s collar and his neck. He begged the air for warmth, but it was merely content to nip at his skin and make him shiver.
“What I don’t get,” said Gabriel from behind him, “is how you could trust that asshole.”
Hunter didn’t say anything.
“I mean,” Gabriel continued, “you know he abandoned his own daughter. You know he trapped Chris and Nick and used them as bait. Hell, you saw the news footage of the bridge when he tried to blow up Becca’s
car
. Some fucking father.”
Hunter just kept walking.
“And if you want to pick Bill’s side, then why did you help Michael tonight?”
“I needed money.”
Gabriel caught his arm and spun him around. “Bullshit.”
“It’s not bullshit. I did need money.” Hunter jerked free.
Gabriel shoved him in the chest. “Lying to yourself, too?”
Hunter gritted his teeth. “Go away.”
“Why can’t you even answer a straight question?” Another shove. “I’ve seen you drop Mike on his ass one-handed, so I don’t buy this crap about him forcing you into the truck.”
Gabriel shoved him again, a fierce motion that drove Hunter back a step. He didn’t want to fight. He didn’t want to
be here.
“Are you messing with my family again, Hunter?”
“Stop it.”
“If you wanted to finish what your father started, then you should have shot us on the soccer field.” Another push, another step. “Quit screwing around so I can decide whether to help you or kick your ass.”
Hunter moved to shove him—and when Gabriel shifted to brace and strike back, Hunter stepped into the motion, hooked an ankle, and spun. The back of his fist caught Gabriel in the face, and the other boy went down. Hard.
Hunter glared down at him, fists clenched and ready for retaliation. “You could
not
kick my ass.”
Gabriel winced and touched the back of his head. “Dude, this is concrete.”
“Good.”
“Jesus.” He winced again and sat up on the curb. “One of these days you’ll have to show me how you do that.”
Hunter stared down at him, feeling his breathing settle and his hands loosen. He sighed and dropped to sit on the curb. Casper came and pressed against his knees, and Hunter buried his fingers in the scruff of fur at the dog’s neck.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have told you. About Bill.”
Gabriel didn’t say anything, so Hunter kept his eyes on his dog. “When I followed you to the first fire—I wasn’t even going to let you know I was there. But then I could tell someone was trapped, and I couldn’t
not
—well, you know.”
“I remember.”
“I never told Bill anything. He asked, but I didn’t tell him any of it. Not about the fires, or about the—the other stuff. About my dad, and your mom—”
“I get it.”
“Sometimes . . .” Hunter hesitated. “Sometimes I don’t know what’s
right
, you know?”
“Yeah, man. You do.”
Did he? It made Hunter think about Michael’s comments in the car, about turning off his conscience. Who decided what was right?
Gabriel stood and held out a hand. “Come on. You can crash in Nick’s room.”
Hunter peered up at him. “What? Why?”
“Because he’s got more floor space for an air mattress.”
“What about all this crap about not trusting me?” Hunter took the hand and pulled himself to his feet.
“Keep your enemies closer, right?” said Gabriel.
But the tension, the challenge and aggression, was gone from his voice.
“Thanks,” Hunter said. “Maybe just one night.”
“Stay as long as you need to.”
Hunter was surprised by the sudden lump of emotion in his throat. He couldn’t say anything.
But then Gabriel smiled. “Besides. If you fuck with me or my brothers again, I’ll just let Nicky suffocate you in your sleep.”