“Seriously, in the interest of taking it slow, we probably shouldn’t.”
“Alright, but that rule starts tomorrow.” He tilted her chin up to meet his lips briefly.
They continued walking, skirting the crowd as they headed to his car along the path through the woods.
“I guess it’s time to say goodnight.” He wrapped his arms around her, backing her up against the car. “If this is going to have to last a while, we better make it good.” His breath was warm against her throat as his teeth grazed her sensitive flesh. Allie’s pulse raced as he pulled her closer and she greeted his kiss eagerly, sliding her fingers through his hair. He held her tightly, his lips moving slowly with hers.
“You’re one fiery little redhead.” He finally backed away, leaving her to stand on shaky legs.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he promised, leaning in for one last kiss. “Yeah, that rule’s never going to last.” He ducked into his car with a smirk.
<><><>
“Fireworks are starting soon, let’s find a good seat,” Aidan said when she found him waiting for her along the trail back to the beach.
“You do know the guy’s a tool, right?” he sighed in resignation.
“I think I see him a little differently than you do.”
“He doesn’t deserve you, but if you like him I suppose I can tolerate him,” he said, “but if he hurts you, I hurt him. Got it?”
“Thanks, Aidan.” She smiled.
“Hey guys!” Kayla called. “Come share our fire for the show?”
“Sure.” He pasted on his fake smile as they joined her friends around the driftwood fire.
As the night sky burst into bright colors, they fell silent, watching the brilliant sparks trailing down to the water.
“Just don’t move too fast, Lex,” he murmured, the light reflecting strangely in his eyes. “You’ve got a lot on your plate.”
“I’ll be careful. I don’t want to rush into anything either.”
“Watch out!” someone shouted as a loud screech pierced the night. Allie watched the bottle rocket sail over them, landing in the dry willow branches above. They were sitting under a grove of kindling and the rocket was about to explode.
“No!” Kayla cried when the trees erupted in flames.
Scalding hot embers rained down around them in an eerie silence. Allie smelled her hair singing just before the excruciating pain hit her. Her jacket melted from the sudden intensity of the heat and she screamed in agony. Her skin bubbled and burned, melding with the oozing fabric of her jacket. She was so paralyzed from fear, she couldn’t move.
“No! Lex!” Aidan shouted, working frantically to strip her jacket off, but it came away with chunks of her skin and some of his. She shrieked as her arms went numb and she choked on the gritty smoke filling her lungs.
Cries of alarm went up all around, but they were trapped when their driftwood fire suddenly raged, merging with the fire overhead. In mere seconds, they found themselves caged inside a blazing inferno. It was unnatural the way the fire spread so quickly—burning hotter and brighter than it should, as if there was an accelerant.
“Rein it in, Aidan!” She heard Quinn’s booming voice beyond the wall of flames.
A loud crack sounded and before Allie could register what was happening, Kayla pushed her to the ground just as large flaming branches crashed on top of her.
Kayla was pinned under the burning debris, screaming as her body burned.
“No!” Aidan cried, leaping into action, beating, cursing and pleading with the flames in a futile attempt to help his friend. Allie watched in horror as Kayla grew quiet, the fire consuming everything around her…except her body.
Aidan worked feverishly, grabbing the smoldering branches with his bare hands, panting and sweating from the effort, gagging on the stench of his own burning flesh.
“Get out of here!” He shoved the heavier limbs aside as if they were mere twigs.
She crawled across the hot sand, the tiny grains ripping into her wounds like shards of glass.
“Is she alive?” She choked on the thick black smoke. He finally freed Kayla and reached for her limp form.
“I told you to run, you stubborn pain in my ass! Go!”
Holding Kayla with one arm, he reached to pull Allie to her feet with the other. She looked up just in time to see the fire in front of them snuff out, creating a convenient path to safety.
“What the—?”
“Run. Now!” Aidan shoved her.
When she stumbled through the smoke, Quinn swept her up like a feather and carried her far from the flames.
“Kayla’s hurt! We have to help her!”
“She’ll be fine with Aidan. Just try to breath, Allie.”
“Kayla needs to get to the hospital now. If she wakes up she could go into shock,” Aidan said urgently.
“Paramedics will meet her at the docks at Gordon Park, but we have to get her over there now,” Quinn said. “Graham’s flagging a speed boat in now.” Aidan carefully placed Kayla on the grass and leaned over her, grimacing in pain. He clutched her hand with his badly burned ones.
“Aidan, you’re hurt!” Allie cried.
“I’m fine!”
“Stop, you can’t do this here!” Sasha sobbed.
“It’s Kayla!” He grasped her limp hand.
Allie watched helplessly as her friend drifted into consciousness, crying out in pain, her breath growing shallow.
As Aidan held Kayla’s hand tightly, Allie noticed how the charred skin around his fingers, flaked off, revealing healthy pink skin beneath.
“I’m so sorry. I-I can’t help you!” All the color drained from his face when she passed out again.
Allie crawled to Aidan’s side and gave in to the strange impulse to wrap her aching arms around him. She felt him shudder and her vision grew blurry as a wave of lethargy hit her. His trembling subsided and the color returned to his face.
“Allie, you are amazing!”
“What was that?”
“That was not me, but if you’ve never been patient a day in your life, now’s a good time to try.” He reached to wipe the trickle of blood from his nose.
“Please stop! You’re not strong enough!” Sasha begged.
Her words made no sense, but Aidan was turning a sickly shade of gray and he broke out in a cold sweat. He reached for Allie, still clutching Kayla’s hand with his perfectly healed one.
“This isn’t your fault,” Sasha insisted.
“Bullshit!” he spat. “Everyone here knows this was my fault.”
Allie felt completely disoriented as the world tilted, and the ground rushed up to smack her in the face.
<><><>
CHAPTER
SEVEN
“Aidan?”
“I’m here, Lex. You’re okay. Just breathe.”
“Where’s Kayla?”
“She’s headed for the hospital now. I’ll take you to see her later. Just rest.” The ambulance doors closed and she sagged against him. They’d crossed the bay while she was passed out and were now speeding toward Cleveland Clinic.
“What the hell was that?”
“What was what?”
“Don’t do that—don’t make me sound crazy! Why do I feel so weak? What was that and why did I pass out? And how exactly were you flinging burning tree limbs around like they were nothing? And your hands! They were completely charred not an hour ago! How did we just walk out of that ring of fire?”
“Now is not the time to discuss it,” he said firmly, nodding toward the paramedics.
“Aidan, please?”
“Not now.”
“When?”
“Later!” he snapped.
“Fine!” She winced at the splotchy blisters covering her arms.
“I’m sorry you got burned.”
“It’s not as bad as I thought. I just don’t understand…how do you not have a scratch on you?”
“Not now, Alexis Ann!”
<><><>
; “Allie,” Gregg sighed in exasperation. “You’ve been through a traumatic experience! You’ve got severe second-degree burns along both arms and shoulders. You need rest, sweetheart.”
“I need answers!”
“I told you she’s stubborn.” Aidan smirked.
“Aye, you weren’t kidding.”
“Enough! I am not crazy! Strange things happened during that fire! Things that should not be possible and I want a rational explanation!”
“She needs to calm down, son.”
“Be careful, Da, she can hear you.” He sounded amused.
“Of course I can hear you! I’m not deaf!” Angry tears glistened in her eyes.
“No, you aren’t crazy—”
“Aidan,” Gregg warned.
“I can’t stand this. Look, Lex, I know you’re confused and totally pissed off, but I need you to relax.”
“How?” She felt a fire burning in her chest and couldn’t breathe.
“Da, I don’t know how to do this. Help her! Please?”
“We’re different, Allie,” Gregg said gently but firmly. “I think you’ve known that for a while now, and I’m certain you’ve encountered others like us.”
She nodded hesitantly, taking another slow, shaky breath. She thought of Navid and the countless strangers she’d met in the past—the ones she was always drawn to. But every time she felt that connection, they moved almost immediately. Somehow, she never put it all together.
It’s like I refused to see the connection!
“You are drawn to us because you are what we are,” Gregg continued. “How you came to be wholly ignorant, I do not know. You want logical answers, but I have none to give. I need you to trust that now is not the right time. I will not elaborate any further tonight, so don’t even ask,” he finished firmly.
“Alright, I’ll be patient—”
“It’s a freaking miracle,” Aidan muttered.
“IF you can tell me when it will be the right time,” she added stubbornly.
“Alexis Ann—”
“Like you’d be any less irritating?” Gregg chuckled. “It will be the right time very soon, and it will be the right time because you’ll know it is.” He grinned mischievously at his complete non-answer. “Now, give him a break, Red.” He nodded at his son. “He’s a fixer. And he cannot fix this. It’s driving him crazy, which is driving me crazy.” He winked.
“Don’t look at me like that, Allie,” Aidan sighed. “I know you don’t understand, but you helped me save Kayla’s life today and I’ll never be able to thank you for that. But I need you to forget it. Don’t try to force it to make sense, just move on.”
“Look at your hands, Aidan! I can’t just move on! That fire was unnatural and it just went out. Poof! Like you…willed it!”
“Do you to trust me?” He leaned in close and took her bandaged hands in his.
“Yes, but—”
“Do. You. Trust. Me?”
“There’s no one I trust more, but—”
“No but’s. We’re done with the but’s and the why’s, and the tell me’s. Whatever else comes out of your mouth tonight better not be a question!”
“But what about—?” She couldn’t help smiling at his answering growl.
“Trying your patience, is she?” Gregg chuckled.
“I’ve always heard redheads were a handful.”
“Lad, you’ve no idea.”
“How’s Kayla?” Allie ignored their teasing banter.
“Still critical.” Aidan scowled. “She has severe second and third degree burns along the left side of her body, face, and neck. The doctors are optimistic, but it’s—”
“Aye, the doctors claim she is very lucky she did not go into shock,” Gregg said. “And they are attributing that to the very good care she received on site.”
Aidan glowered at his father, but Allie’s parents returned from chatting with the doctor before she could ask why he seemed so determined to take responsibility for the accident.
<><><>
“Got it!” Allie shouted as she rushed downstairs to answer the door. She was discharged from the hospital the previous evening, but Lily insisted she get a good night’s rest before Vince was allowed to visit.
“Careful!” Lily said as Allie dashed past her study.
“Burned my arms, Ma, not my legs!”
“Hey, Short Stuff.” Vince grinned when she flung the door open. His smile faded when he saw her bandages. “Are you in pain?”
“Not really. Just itchy and numb in places.”
“I was so scared.” He hugged her carefully.
“How boyfriendly of you,” she murmured against his chest. “Be careful, you might catch the Cliffton girl cooties.”
“Do you have any idea how adorable you are?”
“Some.” She grinned from ear to ear. He had a remarkable knack for making her feel so normal.
“Wow, sweet house!” He took her hand as she led him into the giant living room facing the walled garden.
“Your hair is shorter.” He reached to touch her shoulder length tresses.
“Had to cut it. I looked like a half-plucked chicken.”
“You’ve got a bandage stuck in it. Sit, I’ll fix it.”
She sat on the edge of the sofa, and a chill swept through her when he pulled her against his chest. He trailed soft kisses along her throat, stopping when he reached the angry blisters at her shoulder.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you.” He tugged the stray bandage from her hair.
“I’m fine.” She leaned back, taking comfort in his embrace. “Better now.”
“Are we revisiting the just friends label already?” She giggled when his hands began to wander.
“Don’t you think that ship has sailed?” he sighed. “I was so scared when I heard about the fire and I didn’t know if you were okay. It just made me realize how much I want to be with you, despite my reservations.”
“Well, I do need a date for my birthday party.”
“Then I’m your guy. Your party, by the way, was on the verge of ridiculous.”
“I told the girls to keep it small!”
“They were planning some kind of outrageous masquerade ball, so Aidan and I fired them. We figured you’d ditch your own party if anyone tried to put you in a hoop skirt.”
“You two are working together? Should I be scared?”
“We figure if the redhead’s happy, everyone’s happy.”
“Wait…hoop skirts?”
<><><>
CHAPTER
EIGHT
I feel like death on a cracker.
Allie shuffled to the bathroom; her head throbbed and she just felt weird. She’d been on edge since the fire last week, but was losing patience with Aidan. He insisted she needed time to recover, and promised to explain the strange things she’d witnessed, but he wanted her to enjoy tonight. Allie was feeling incredibly anxious about her birthday party, but not entirely sure why. It was like an ominous storm churned on the horizon, just out of sight.
Allie stared at the bandages covering her arms. They were a constant reminder of the scars that would be with her forever. Her doctor claimed her recovery bordered on miraculous and the scaring would be minimal, but she didn’t know if she could trust her definition of “minimal.”
The fire left her with hideous burns from shoulders to wrists. But if it weren’t for Kayla, it would be so much worse. Allie constantly relived that moment when Kayla pushed her out of harm’s way. She felt so guilty and wondered if the situation had been reversed, if she would have—could have—done the same for her friend.
Allie was trying very hard not to be vain, but accepting her permanent disfigurement was proving difficult when the image of Aidan’s perfectly healed hands was still so fresh in her mind.
I saw something that didn’t happen…that’s all.
Kayla had accepted her more substantial scaring without pause, and Allie was determined to be forever grateful for her sacr
ifice.
“Presents already?” She smiled when she joined her mother in the kitchen. She eyed the small gift-wrapped package on the counter as she poured a cup of coffee.
“Morning, Allie. Happy day-before-your-birthday!” Her father beamed.
“Thanks, Dad! What’s with that car-key-sized-box there?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He chuckled.
“Har, har. You’re killing me!” She slammed her mug against the concrete countertop for emphasis. The cup shattered and hot coffee splattered everywhere.
“Oops! Sorry, Ma. Guess I don’t know my own strength.”
Carson eyed his daughter warily, a shadow of sadness crossing his face.
“Really, stop teasing her.” Lily swatted her husband playfully as she swooped in to mop up the mess.
“Alright.” Carson eagerly handed her the box. He was almost as excited as she was.
“Yes!” Allie shrieked when the keys fell into her palm. “Where is it? Can I drive to school? Does it run yet?” Her dad loved fixing up old cars. She knew he wouldn’t have passed up the opportunity to do some restoration work.
“It’s in the driveway.” Lily smiled.
“Oh, Dad, it’s beautiful,” Allie whispered reverently when she stepped outside to see her present. “When did you do this?” She stared at the silver, sixty-five Chevy Impala. It still had the original faded black leather seats, but the new chrome trim and rims sparkled in the sunlight.
“I’ve been working on it since we got here.”
It still needed a lot of work, and would never stand out among the expensive cars parked in the Cliffton student lot, but it suited her.
She lunged at her father, catching him around the middle in a bone-crunching hug. “Thanks, Dad,” she mumbled into his shirt. “Can I drive the guys to school?”
Carson winced, rubbing his ribs.
“Aw, come on. You’re not that old.”
“Yeah, old,” he rasped.
“You might want to call Sasha first,” Lily said, “but you’ll need this.” She handed Allie a shiny new iPhone.
“Who are you, and what have you done with my parents?” she grinned. They’d always had cheap pre-paid phones before. This new smartphone came with a contract, and that meant more to her than anything. It meant permanence.
Emerge: The Awakening Page 5
