Ignite (Solar Academy Book 1)

by Raven Steele

  I flinched before saying the name, knowing they’d give me hell. “Maisy.”

  Bonnie lifted her eyebrows. “You wanted to hang out with that crowd?”

  “It wasn’t like that.” How could I explain why I wanted to go? I didn’t want to tell them about Hudson. Not until I understood myself what was happening between us. I sighed. “It just sounded fun. I’ve never been invited to a party before. I know, I sound desperate.”

  The corner of Bennie’s mouth cinched up half his face. “If you want a party at night, we know how to throw the best ones.”

  “With ghosts?” My gaze dropped to the nearest headstone. “No thanks.”

  Bonnie giggled.

  I narrowed my eyes at them, realizing something. “If tonight is such a dangerous time to be out here, what are you two doing?”

  “I like to come out here to practice my magic over the dead,” Bonnie said. “It’s stronger for me on full moons.”

  “And I tagged along in case she got hurt,” Bennie added. “Plus I like to see her conjure ghosts. It’s so cool.”

  “Is it though?” I glanced nervously behind me. I still wasn’t sure all the ghosts had been put back to sleep. I wondered if Bennie’s gift to heal was strong enough that he could heal two people on the same night, if he needed to. “How far away is the school?”

  “Not far. There’s a path just over there that takes you directly to the dorms.” Bonnie pointed to our right. “We’ll go with you. I think I’m done anyway.”

  We began the long walk back to the school, the night colder and darker than an hour earlier. Bonnie nudged me with her elbow. “You really helped me tonight.”

  “How so?”

  “Seeing your life in danger with those wolves helped to channel my powers a lot easier. I’ve never conjured so many ghosts before.”

  “It’s true,” Bennie added.

  “You’re welcome?” I shook my head, never for a moment thinking it was good me being out there. “So what element were you using to call those ghosts?”

  “Air.” She popped a stick of gum from her pocket into her mouth.

  “Huh. I though it would’ve been earth.”

  “Some can do that using the element of earth, but I use air to draw them out. It’s kind of complicated. I only recently learned to control it.”

  Bennie chuckled. “Our childhood was a horror show. Ghosts appearing out of nowhere. Pretty cool.”

  Bonnie scowled. “Not really.”

  We made it back to campus without any further altercations. I almost confessed what Linda had said about my mother maybe being innocent, but they would think I was crazy. Not to mention how upset Linda would be after I promised to keep her suspicion secret. Besides, I wasn’t sure I even believed it. I still couldn’t sort through the emotions her words had caused inside me.

  After parting with Bonnie and Bennie and sneaking back into my room, disappointed settled into my gut. I’d really wanted to see Hudson. Somehow I had to find a way to talk to him.

  And if I was honest with myself, I wanted to touch him again. Since leaving the graveyard, heat had once again begun to simmer inside me. I craved Hudson’s touch and his ability to immediately cool my intense burning.

  I got ready for bed, then threw open two opposite windows to allow for a cross breeze through my room. It helped a little. I dropped into bed, exhausted. Before I fell asleep, I wished I could tell my mother about Hudson.

  Chapter 10

  “You did what?” Ireland exclaimed through a mouthful of chips.

  “I know it was stupid now, but I … ” My words struggled to come out. “I don’t know why I did it.”

  She stared at me incredulously, shaking her head back and forth. Sunlight lit up her green eyes, making them sparkle and dance with humor. “Maisy’s playing you for a fool.”

  We both turned and glanced Maisy’s direction. Just like half the student body, the Red Letters had chosen to eat on the campus lawn. It was another unusually warm day for fall. It was also a Saturday, so no one wanted to stay indoors.

  Maisy was lying on her back, dark sunglasses over her face. Grant and Arrow were laughing and shoving each other playfully, while Becca read a book splayed out in front of her crossed legs. Hudson, however, stared into the forest, seemingly lost in his thoughts.

  As if he could feel my eyes on him, he glanced over and furrowed his brow. Not like he was angry but like he was trying to figure out twelve long on a crossword puzzle. And I felt like I was trying to solve the same word.

  “You should do something about Maisy,” Ireland said, snapping my attention back to her. “She’s going to keep messing with you until you stand up for yourself. I know from experience.”

  “You stood up to her?”

  “Pshh. Of course I did, but it took me finding out a little dirt on her to make her stop.”

  “Any way you want to share said dirt?”

  She shook her head. “It’s all mine, but a girl like Maisy is bound to have a lot more. Or you could just march over there and tell her to back off. You do have a badass power and a terrifying family name to match. Might as well use it to your advantage.”

  I glanced back at the Red Letters. Hudson had gone back to staring into the woods, and Maisy still offered her body up to the sun gods.

  Ireland was right. I should nip this in the bud right now. Things at Solar were different from others schools. I actually had a little clout here, good or bad. Maybe, for once, I could use my ability to help my situation instead of hate on it.

  The flames within me crackled and spit with approval.

  “I think I will.”

  Ireland dropped the chip in her hand. “Serious?”

  I climbed to my feet. “Why not?”

  She rubbed her hands together. “This is going to be so good.”

  I strode towards Maisy, my confidence faltering briefly before I shored it up. I stopped in front of her, my shadow covering her face.

  She lowered her glasses and looked up at me. “What do you want?”

  The others around her stopped taking to watch our interaction. I could feel Hudson’s eyes on me, but I refused to look at him. I needed all my attention and energy focused on Maisy.

  “You set me up last night.”

  She lifted onto her elbows and smirked. “You actually went to the well?”

  “What is she talking about, Maisy?” Hudson asked her.

  “Just a little joke between me and her. Besides, I didn’t think she’d take me seriously, especially on a full moon.”

  Arrow burst out laughing, a sound that might’ve been pretty had there not been an underlying mocking tone. “You sent her to Mill’s Well on a full moon? That’s hilarious!”

  “It wasn’t funny,” I snapped at her. “I was nearly torn apart by wolves.”

  Becca kept her eyes glued to her book, but she chewed on her nails as if she was trying to stay out of our conversation.

  “Serves you right,” Grant drawled, resting a lazy arm over Arrow’s shoulder. “Everyone knows not to go out on a full moon.”

  “I didn’t. New here, remember?”

  “Maisy,” Hudson ordered in a serious tone. “You could’ve killed her.”

  “Me?” Her eyes widened. “If she got hurt, it would be because of those ridiculous half-breed monsters.”

  “But you sent her out there.”

  “Look,” I said, not wanting this to turn into a bigger argument, “just back off, Maisy. I’m warning you.”

  The air thickened around us and everyone grew quiet. Even Becca looked up from her book.

  “You’re warning me?” Maisy said, enunciating each word.

  “I am. You know what I’m capable of. Stop messing with me, or there will be consequences.”

  She stared at me for a moment before saying, “Like mother, like daughter.”

  I smiled at her, real deliberate and slow. “Exactly.”

  I spun on my heel and walked away. Not back towards Ireland, who was sil
ently clapping and grinning with glee, but away from them all. My insides trembled and burned with rage. I hated when people compared me to my mother. I’d always disagreed with anyone who had done it before, but this time… this time, I allowed my mother’s name to help me out of a tough situation.

  I don’t know why I did it. Maybe Linda’s words had rooted themselves inside me deeper than I thought. And maybe the mother I knew as a child was still that woman, and I didn’t need to be ashamed of her anymore. Dare I hope?

  Somehow I needed to discover the truth about her, but how? I glanced back at Ireland just as Bonnie joined her. Bennie wasn’t far away, tossing a football with Levi. Maybe they would help me. I hadn’t known them very long, but I felt like I could trust them. I’d tread carefully.

  “Rose!”

  I turned around, flames igniting as Hudson jogged towards me. He stopped when he reached me, his blond hair flopping just past his dark eyebrows.

  “Hey.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked everywhere but at me.

  “What’s up?”

  “I just want to say sorry. For what Maisy did. Sometimes she can be a real pain in the ass.”

  “Yes.”

  “I want you to know I had nothing to do with it.”

  “I didn’t think you did.”

  His lips pursed together like he wanted to ask me something.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Why did you go? I mean, it’s not like Maisy has been nice to you, so why accept her invitation?”

  “It wasn’t for Maisy,” I said, my voice suddenly shaking as fire consumed my words. “It was for you.”

  My flames became so hot I reached out to him, wanting so badly for him to cool me. His gaze dropped to my hand, inches from his. He met me halfway and hooked his fingers around mine tightly, almost desperately. Coolness, icy and sweet, raced through me, quenching the heat the same way rain satisfies the hot, arid desert floor. I sucked in a quick breath.

  He licked his lips, his eyes wide as if he too were feeling something. “What is that?”

  “I don’t know. That’s why I went last night. To talk to you about it.”

  “I’ve been wanting to talk to you, too. I’ve never felt anything like this before. Part of me thinks it’s the nature of our powers. Fire and ice. I’ve heard of opposite elements being attracted to each other, but I never thought it could feel this powerful.”

  My heart circled my stomach leaving a trail of pleasure in its wake. “Attracted?”

  His gaze darkened and burned into me with the bite of winter’s frost. Every nerve ending in my body came alive. He pulled me closer to him until I could feel his arctic breath on my cheeks. “Extreme attraction. Uncontrollable. Dangerous. I can barely stand it.”

  His eyes dropped to my lips like he wanted to devour me. I fought the urge to let him do just that, even though it’s what the heat inside me yearned for.

  Using all my willpower, I said, “But it’s just our powers attracted to each other. Not us.”

  He searched my eyes. “I don’t know if that’s true.”

  “You don’t know me, and I barely know you.”

  “Then let’s get to know each other.” He squeezed my hand. “This feeling. I can’t get enough of it. It’s the first time I’ve felt truly warm all my life.”

  His words sparked more flames, but the heat focused between my thighs, making my breathing hitch. Definitely not a feeling I was used to either.

  “Do you want to go on a date with me, maybe to the movie on Friday?” he asked. “Hopefully it will involve lots of touching.”

  When I didn’t answer right away, he added quickly, “We can go just as friends. It would be nice to be with someone and not have to wear gloves for fear of turning them into an icicle.”

  I nodded slightly. “I get it, and I’d love to go. It will be refreshing not to be accused of giving someone a heat rash just by looking at them.”

  He smiled, and it made his eyes twinkle like moonlight on snow. His forefinger and thumb gripped my middle finger tightly and slid down until our fingers separated. “Let’s see each other soon. I want to feel your touch again.” He paused, then grinned. “That sounded so creepy.”

  “I know what you mean though.” I laughed uncomfortably. “And don’t worry. I want to feel your touch, too. It takes away some of the heat. Sometimes I swear I’m going to burst into flames.”

  He touched my bare arm with all five of his fingers and lightly dragged them across my skin. It felt like a cold ice cube in the heat of summer. “I’ll touch you as much as you want to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  My lips parted. His words, his touch, his stare. All piercing into me, creating an open wound I feared would only grow bigger the more we were around each other.

  I forced myself to step away from him. I had to. I had to recognize this for what it was—an attraction of powers. Nothing more. I wasn’t his type, and I was fairly certain he wasn’t my type. But then what was? I’d never given myself space to think about a potential boyfriend, not when my fire was so uncontrollable. A future with someone just wasn’t something I’d ever considered.

  “I’ll see you soon,” I finally said and turned away from him. Turned away from the one person who soothed my burning soul and body. Whose touch ignited a different kind of fire inside me, one I was more afraid of than my own flames. For his cold fire would consume me whole and probably leave me a charred mess for the wind to scatter across the land.

  No matter how great and refreshing his touch was, I should be focusing on my mother. If she was innocent, then somehow I had to clear her name. Not only for my sake, but my father’s, too. And who knew? Maybe we could be a family again.

  That thought made me skip a step, and I nearly stumbled. A family. There was hope of us being a family again, just like before the incident.

  My mother’s smiling face and wide blue eyes flashed in my memory as she held a daisy in front of me. “Go on, Rose. Pick the petals. See if your prince loves you.”

  I plucked at the white, soft petal. “He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me … ”

  I shook my head to knock the memory from me, surprised I’d even thought of that moment. I hadn’t thought of our family’s past for years. It was too painful. But this time, I didn’t feel the familiar shame those memories used to bring. Instead, I felt hopeful.

  I would ask for my friends’ help. Tonight.

  Time ticked by painfully slow. Saturday afternoons were for studying. Three long hours of it. As soon as the bell rang, I bolted from the library and hurried to the small shed at the back of campus, the place I’d asked my friends to meet me.

  By the time I got there, they were already waiting. Ireland was in the process of telling them how I’d threatened Maisy.

  “I even pissed a little when Rose said she was going to light her up.”

  “That’s not exactly what I said.”

  “Close enough.”

  They all laughed. Bennie was leaning against the shed filing a knife. Nothing ever seemed to bother him. Maybe with a gift like healing, what would?

  “What’s this meeting about?” Bonnie asked. “I want to make sure I have a good spot for the movie tonight.”

  I looked at each of them, my expression serious. “What I’m about to say might freak you out a little—”

  Ireland leaned forward. “This is going to be good.”

  “—but I want to talk to you about my mother and something Linda, I mean Ms. Swanson, said to me.”

  At this, Bonnie settled down next to Ireland, her petite hands rubbing along her short black skirt. Bennie stopped sharpening his knife. I paused, thinking of the best way to say it.

  “Spit it out already!” Ireland exclaimed.

  I inhaled a deep breath. On my exhale, I said, “She thinks my mother is innocent. That someone set her up. If she’s right, I’m going to find a way to set her free.”

  Chapter 11

  Silence blanketed us, and
even the forest beyond had gone quiet.

  “Impossible,” Bennie said, a lone eye narrowed. “I’ve seen the footage.”

  “So have I, but Ms. Swanson said she has evidence that makes her believe my mom was somehow coerced into doing it, maybe even by the use of magic.”

  “If that’s true,” Bonnie said, “then this is huge! Everything we’ve been told about that day is a lie.”

  Ireland shook her head. “As much as I like you, Rose, I don’t believe it. Aurora is guilty as sin. But I love a good mystery, so I’ll help you. On two conditions, though. First, we get to break into something, and second, when we find out I was right, I get to say, ‘I told you so.’”

  I wrinkled my nose. “I don’t know whether to thank you or tell you to screw off.”

  “I’ll take either one.”

  I turned to Bennie and Bonnie. “What about you two?”

  They looked at each other as if silently communicating.

  “I don’t want to get into any trouble,” Bonnie said.

  “She’ll do it,” Bennie blurted. “We both will.”

  Bonnie’s eyebrows lifted. “We will?”

  “Remember when mom was accused of using magic illegally? They imprisoned her for almost a month before proof was found stating the opposite. It sucked ass. If Rose’s mom is innocent, then we should help prove it. Besides, what’s the worst that could happen? If we find out she really was a mass murderer, well then, she’s already imprisoned so no harm done, right?”

  “Unless we get caught,” Bonnie mumbled.

  “No one’s getting busted for anything,” I assured. “I’ll take full responsibility.”

  I meant the words, but something in the back of my mind told me I couldn’t protect them. I was about to take them down a dangerous path, and yet, I wasn’t about to stop.

  I wanted my mother back.

  I headed towards the theater with Bonnie and Ireland on each side of me. Bennie had gone on ahead. Neither one of them had ended up with a date but they didn’t seem to care. I sort of had a loose one set with Hudson and couldn’t wait to feel his touch.