Singe

by Casey Hays

  “Great.”

  I reach the foot of the stairs; the front door swings open, startling me. Kane pops in, a fast food bag in one hand, a Styrofoam tray with two cups of coffee in the other. He spots me with a grin.

  “Hey sleepyhead.” He raises the tray. “Breakfast is served.”

  I check for my necklace. It’s right there, resting inside my tank top. Okay. I’m awake, I think. For some reason, it seems the key doesn’t mean that anymore, but I’ll go with it.

  I join Kane, collecting my cup of coffee, which throws the tray off balance. Kane teeters a second before safely making it to the table.

  “Close one.” He rubs a hand through his hair, clutching the paper bag. It smells like bacon. Burritos? He looks at me sideways. “You all right?”

  “Yeah, just—” I wave a hand around the room. Counters, top of refrigerator, the sink—everything has a layer of black powder. “What... happened in here?”

  He unrolls the bag and shuffles around inside. “You don’t remember?”

  I blink. “No.”

  Concerned, he abandons his rummaging and steps closer. “You dreamed. That’s what happened.”

  I scan the room again. “I did this?”

  “Well, let’s just say it wasn’t like this when you went to sleep, and I spent yesterday afternoon and all last night putting out your little fires.”

  “But… you were in my dream too.” I pause, thinking. “We were in that courtroom. With the regents.”

  “Yep. This is the outside result of everything that went on in there.” He points two fingers at me with a wink. “Yes, yes, ladies and gentleman, I have a badass girlfriend.”

  He lugs me into his strong, safe arms, and I bury my face in his chest, my coffee-cup laden hand jutting around him. I peek out from underneath his embrace at the blackened table. Ash everywhere… ash instead of water. I’m almost afraid to find out what this means.

  “How long have I been sleeping?”

  He shrugs against me. “About sixteen hours.”

  Sixteen?

  “My brother?”

  “Delivered safe and sound.” He veers back, pride in me sketched all over his face. “You did it.”

  “We should go, then,” I say. My sooty hand leaves a black thumbprint on his sleeve. Oops. I brush at it, only making it worse, while he stands still, staring. Just smiling down at me with such pride. “Sorry. I guess I should shower first.”

  “Yeah, about that.” He links his fingers together behind my back at my waistline, holding me in my spot. “The bathroom is just as filthy, so we can either clean it first, or you can use the shower at the truck stop I just came from.” He displays his own clean self. “It was decent.”

  “Truckstop, please. Let me grab my bag.”

  His hands slide to the ends of my arms, but just as I pull away, he tugs, stopping me.

  “Jude?” His voice scares me.

  “What?”

  “Where’s your ring?”

  I look. No ring. And my skin is as smooth and flesh-toned as can be.

  “I… don’t know.”

  “But you’re—”

  Kane stops short, and I’m frozen. He’s frozen. In unison, we spin and dash up the stairs.

  We dig through all the soot and ash until we find it—on the nightstand. Kane picks it up and blows. A puff of smoky dust flits into the air. He peers at me, shocked, and trust me… the feeling is mutual.

  “How… are you doing that?”

  I don’t answer him. I can’t stop staring at my ordinary olive complexion peeking at me through all the soot. Kane touches my elbow.

  “The ring isn’t compelled anymore at all.” He blows a whistle through his teeth. “This is crazy.”

  “Yeah.” My voice is wispy, dazed with shock.

  “How do you feel?” he asks.

  I test this question on the edge of my brain. How do I feel?

  It’s only then that I sense the change in me. The warmth in the very center of my core is still there, contained, a tight but comfortable ball of energy cocooned inside. I focus my whole self on the feeling, my mantra grows a bit louder. I pull away, and the sound lessens.

  “Wow.” I blink once.

  “What?” Kane’s fingers, still at my elbow, tighten.

  I don’t answer him—not in the traditional sense, anyway. This discovery is far too incredible for all of that. Instead, I concentrate on the heat nestled just behind my heartbeat, the sound of my song vibrating through my veins, the smell of roses. I hold my hands up between us so that he can see what I’ve found. And together, we watch the transformation.

  I shift my energy, and the heat pours out from the center. It runs through my blood and spreads out, lighting my skin on fire with that familiar, orange glow. Kane, clutches my ring tight in his fist, his face changing into something that almost looks like awe, but stronger. I let myself laugh because I’m amazed too. I have to laugh, and the sound sizzles out of my lungs, and in the reflection of Kane’s eyes, I see my own all ablaze.

  His hand falls open, my ruby ring, the gold blackened and dirty, sitting on his palm. I slide away from him—away from it—until my heel bumps the leg of the bed. And with very little effort, I gather up the heat cascading through my body, collecting it like a mother hen collects her chicks, and it obeys me. It’s so easy. My mantra sings, and the heat folds in, nestling deep in the middle of my ribcage. My temperature cools, my mantra quiets into silence, and here I stand. Simply Jude.

  Stunned, Kane drops my ring. It rolls under the bed, clinks a few times along the floor, and goes still in a swirl of sound.

  “How are you doing that?” he repeats.

  “I can feel it.” I slide into him, press my palms against his chest, my smile clinging to my face. “A tight knot in my stomach, like a bellyache, but… it’s kind of beautiful. It listens. Is that what it’s like? To camouflage yourself?”

  “Yeah.” He’s fairly blown away, his head shaking in shock. “But how? I—I don’t understand.”

  I think a minute.

  “This is how I felt in that courtroom in my dream. Like I was in control of everything. Maybe… this is an aftereffect? Maybe I pulled the feeling out of the dream with me?”

  “Maybe.”

  Kane’s smile edges into place, and then he just laughs and pulls me closer, running his hand over my hair. He kisses me, straight through the soot and the ash and all the black mess clinging to my body.

  “Dreams,” he whispers against my lips. “They really are strange.”

  “Well, just for the record,” I bunch my fingers into his tee shirt. “My dreams aren’t that normal in the first place.”

  “No. They’re way more entertaining.”

  “If this is residue from my dream, it will probably wear off.” I brighten up one hand. Just one. Mesmerized, Kane does the same, weaving his fingers in with mine.

  “Yeah.” He dips his forehead, planting it against mine. “But I gotta say, you’re turning out to be quite the Fireblood, Gallagher.”

  “Well… I had nothing better to do.”

  He smiles just before his lips meet mine.

  ***

  I gear myself up to face Mom long before we arrive at the lab. There’s no telling what she’s going to throw at me. I suppose it’ll depend on how Jarron is doing.

  As promised, Petra was ready for his arrival. For now, he’s isolated and still sedated in one of the lab’s reinforced cells. She tells us Rylin has been on guard outside Jarron’s cell ever since. That’s where we find him, sitting on one of those uncomfortable plastic chairs and looking beyond exhausted.

  Rylin rises with a weak smile, and I dive at him, clinging to his waist. He checks with Kane over my head and must get the okay, because slowly, his arms encircle me.

  “We did it?”

  I pose it as a question because I’m suddenly unsure. Afraid that my dream was just that—nothing more than a dream. That something went wrong along the way. That I wasn’t strong eno
ugh. Every scenario other than success floods me with fears. But when Rylin eases back with an easy smile, I know we did not fail. Inside his exhaustion, I can sense total relief.

  He tips his head toward the door to the cell. There’s a small window in it, and I move close and peer in.

  My brother—sound asleep and looking like an angel. I feel the sting of tears, but it’s pure happiness that stings my heart. My dreams have come true.

  “Any updates?” Kane asks.

  “Petra is taking some precautions while she assesses him,” Rylin answers. “But her treatments should improve his quality of life really soon. Especially now that he has access to Firebloods who can communicate with him.”

  I sigh, biting my lip. Yep. Isolation was not going to work anymore.

  “And my mom?”

  “She was a wreck, so Petra gave her something to help her sleep and put her up in your suite. She’ll be out for a while too.”

  Another relief. That gives me a few more hours to work up to our first conversation in a week. It could go many ways.

  “That was quite an interesting dream you had.” Rylin raises both brows. “Transportin’ Jarron wasn’t enough of a challenge for you, I see. A multi-tasker.”

  “Jarron dragged me into that place,” I defend.

  “Straight into the assembly room at Headquarters.” His expression changes into a satisfied smile. “That was brave.”

  He’s casual, unabashed, but a fear grabs a hold of me. “I let those regents into my dream, didn’t I?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Rylin grins. “That you did. You exposed us all.”

  “Then… why are you smiling like an idiot?”

  “Because I’m happy.”

  I flash a glance at Kane, totally confused, but he doesn’t seem to know any more than I do.

  “Could you elaborate?” I plant my hands on my hips.

  “Petra’s informant, Ramon?” Rylin plops himself into his plastic chair with a yawn and stretches his feet out in front of him, content-like. “He showed up a few hours ago. The Contingent held a special session last night to discuss the “unidentified Fireblood female who has remained elusive thanks to the help of the O’Reillys.” He pops a grin toward Kane. “Who by the way, were being called renegades.”

  “Ridiculous,” Kane quips.

  “I know. But it doesn’t matter. They’re safe. Home free.”

  Kane goes still.

  “What do you mean?” I take the seat next to him.

  “Do you remember your dream?” Rylin asks. “The part involving the regents?”

  “Yes. The soot all over the farmhouse eventually jogged my memory.” I cringe. “We’ll help you clean that up.”

  A chuckle escapes him. “That’s the last thing on my mind.”

  “Come on, Rylin,” Kane interjects. “What happened?”

  Rylin eyes me, a gleam embedded in hazel. “Every Contingent member present in that assembly was blinded.”

  “Blinded?” I straighten, meet Kane’s horrified eyes, my heartbeat kicking up a notch. “Are you saying… I did that?”

  “Well…” He wags a finger between himself and Kane. “You did enlist some help. But yeah, that blast of light did them all in.”

  “Literally?” I’m dumbfounded. “They’re literally blind?”

  Rylin’s grin spreads. “What happens in a hybrid’s dream, happens for real.”

  I’m a statue, frozen in shock, barely hearing Rylin’s voice as he describes the day the Contingent went dark like it’s the most prodigious act that has ever befallen them. I’m not sure what to think.

  “They all claimed to see a faceless girl with golden wings, glowing in white light and flanked by two flaring Firebloods.” He grins at Kane. “That would be us. Anyway, they were all examined by the in-house physician who can find no cause for the blindness. It appears to be a temporary ailment due to an electrical blast that caused a power outage—so they think. But that’s not the most interesting part.”

  Kane and I seem to lean into his words, waiting for the most interesting part. Because how could there be anything more?

  “Along with their eyesight, they’ve suffered memory loss. Some sort of selective amnesia brought on by trauma. Apparently, it’s varying, but a majority of them have lost significant chucks of the last six years of their memories right up to yesterday.”

  I squint at him, unable to bring myself to believe that my dream could have done that much damage. Rylin… well, he’s still grinning like that idiot I mentioned.

  “I was right, Jude. You can compel Firebloods in your dreams. You compelled all the regents and staff in that room. You compelled Kane and me to help you... not that we would have refused.” He gives off an excited yelp like it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to him to be controlled by little ol’ me. “I conferred with Petra. Based on the information Ramon was able to gather, other than my godfather and one or two other sympathetic regents, the entire board appears to have been redirected all at once. This may even extend to other members of the Contingent who knew regent business.”

  “But… I didn’t…” My dismay loads me down like a ton of rocks. “Wouldn’t I have known what I was doing. This was not deliberate.”

  “Think about it. Go back into your head and see yourself inside that dream. You may not remember now that you’re awake, but you were deliberate in there. More deliberate than I’ve ever seen you.”

  “He’s right,” Kane adds. “I felt it too.”

  I dig up the memories of my dream. They’re pieced together erratically, but I see. My brother curled on his side, the bumpy road, the vines and flowers and music. And the fire flooding a courtroom and blasting twelve regents right off their seats. The power is there… the one that curls up beneath my ribcage waiting for me to command it. It feels strong enough to blind an entire fleet of regents.

  “What about my parents?” Kane runs an anxious hand up the side of his face.

  “I’d imagine they’re halfway home by now. They also had an informant keeping them up to date. When they heard that you were at Singe, they stayed away for your safety.” He pulls a prepaid from his pocket and tosses it to Kane. “It’s safe to call them on the number programmed in there.”

  With a quick breath, Kane presses the programmed button. Two rings.

  “Mom?” He connects with me, and the utter relief that washes over his face makes my heart swell. He turns away quickly, moving up the hall, his voice shaky. “I’m fine. Yeah. You? Is Dad there?”

  Rylin drops a gentle hand on my knee. I cover it with my own and lean my head back against the wall.

  “What now?” I ask.

  “We’re done.”

  I jolt upright.

  “We’re done? Just like that? What about sticking it to the Contingent?”

  “You did.”

  I nudge him. “I mean in person.”

  “Why?”

  Why? I simply stare.

  “We accomplished what we came for,” he smiles, soft and sure. “And it turns out you did every bit of it incognito. We never have to face them in person.”

  “But they killed your sister. And… your dad, Rylin.”

  “And if I choose to seek revenge, that will be my cause, not yours.” He pauses, then sighs long and deep. “I didn’t ask you to come here for me, Jude. I did this for you—and for every hybrid who comes after you—so that they could have the same chance that your father gave you.”

  Right. A small ache digs at my heart.

  “Their wings have to go,” I say. “It’s the only way to live like me.”

  “Yes.” His eyes warm. “It’s not so terrible. Did the loss of your wings cause you a lifetime of suffering? No. They’re a fun addition to our anatomy, and yes, the shield they provide is helpful. But they don’t define who we are, and that’s the real point when it comes to hybrids. Very rarely do their wings function anyway.”

  Kane said this to me once, and I thought at the time, yeah, it’s really ea
sy to say something like this when your big, glorious, iridescent wings are intact. But… he was right. They’re both right. Wings have never defined who I am.

  “You learned how to behave as a human because you were given the chance to fully live as one,” Rylin continues. “And yes, it came with a hefty price, but look at the potential you reached because of it. Every hybrid needs the chance to blend in with humanity, and every hybrid needs the chance to be a Fireblood when they want to be too. And because you came here when I asked and allowed Petra to study you, every parent of a hybrid can be offered the opportunity to make the choice your parents made.”

  “That seems like a cruel trade-off to lose an integral part of your natural make-up.” I just need to get one more punch in there for the sake of my fellow hybrids before I relent. It’s an awfully fine line between fire and flesh, after all.

  “At least there’s a choice.” He pins me. “And look what you gained. Even temperament, self-control. You’ve mastered the gift of dreaming in such a way that… it is your weapon. Your defense. Others will have the same chance.”

  “I’ve learned how to camouflage…”

  I let my voice trail, feigning indifference. Rylin leans back, amused.

  “What?” he laughs.

  I flash him a fiery wink before it fades to brown. He looks for my ring. It’s tucked away in my bag in the Explorer.

  “That’s incredible.”

  “I think it’s only temporary.” I focus on myself inwardly, searching for this answer. “It was a pretty strong dream.”

  “You realize you’ve just proved my point, don’t you?” He slides an arm around me, lugging me into his side “I predict that you’re going to save a lot of lives.”

  “So this is it?” I feel the burning sensation, dull and aching between my shoulder blades. “This is how we fight them? No revenge? Only subversion?”

  “Subversion is revenge.” He slinks low, eye level with me, his arm still snug around my shoulders. “One day, the Contingent will be so outnumbered by Firebloods and their well-behaved hybrid children that they won’t have the manpower to do a thing about it. And if it happens that even a tenth of them can dream like you can? Well… I don’t think I need to say much else on that subject.”