Ignited

by Corrine Jackson

  I lowered my guard for one moment, and I knew. Asher’s energy buzzed in the air, the vital power reminding me of the day I’d first met him. Intentional or not, he’d absorbed the dying Healer’s energy. Asher had gained his greatest wish—he was immortal once more. And stealing that woman’s energy didn’t seem to affect him the way stealing Erin’s had done to me. His eyes opened, and I sensed the stretching of his powers, along with his muscles, as he sat up with little care for his injuries. And why should he care? He could no longer feel them. I guessed the instant he felt my energy, though, because he winced with the first hint of pain. Slowly, I put up my walls to block him out like I had that first day on the beach. We stared at each other, and it was as if everything that had happened between us had been deleted, along with his senses.

  Gabe and Lottie appeared in the doorway, and the five of us surveyed each other. Bruises and cuts (everyone), one broken limb (Asher), a knife wound (also Asher), and Gabe wheezed like he couldn’t catch his breath. I guessed broken ribs.

  “Mark?” I asked.

  “Ran away,” Gabe answered matter-of-factly.

  I swallowed. “And Alcais?”

  “Gone. He ran down the stairs while I was fighting Mark.”

  Lottie pushed past Gabe to help Asher. She ripped the sheet in strips and wound one around his shoulder to stem the blood flow. Another looped around his neck to create a makeshift brace for his broken arm.

  “We should get out of here before they have a chance to regroup,” she said.

  Then Lucy asked, “Where’s Erin?”

  I shook my head at her, unable to speak past the boulder in my throat.

  My sister’s face drained of color.

  From downstairs, we heard the slamming of doors before I could explain. Enemy or friend? I gritted my teeth and stood. Wordlessly, the five of us arranged ourselves into some kind of formation with Gabe and Lottie at the forefront. We waited to see what kind of hell would be unleashed on us next. I pressed a hand to Gabe’s back, and he reached back to touch my waist. The momentary connection made my pounding heart settle and my mind still. One fight at a time.

  Feet thudded up the stairs, and three women appeared on the landing. Immediately, I sensed it. I could feel Gabe, Lottie, and Asher, but this energy was different. Familiar. And there were three sources.

  I stared at them in shock. The scowling blonde with the miniskirt and combat boots. The curvy vixen with fire-engine-red hair and a nose ring. The tall, elegant brunette with dark brown skin and gentle black-brown eyes. They were all different and similar at the same time. They stared at me with just as much curiosity, somehow able to divine that I was like them in a room full of people.

  Phoenix, I guessed. Seamus had lied about me being the first one born in centuries.

  Lottie sensed something about them, too, but she interpreted it as a threat. She crouched, ready to attack, and I laid a hand on her shoulder. “No, Lottie. They’re like me.”

  The brunette spoke up in a French accent. “We’re here with Seamus. We need to go. The Morrisseys could be on their way, and we don’t have the numbers to fight them.”

  “There were two men in a bedroom on the bottom floor,” I said.

  “They are gone,” the woman answered. “We found no others.”

  She left the room, heading for the stairs with the other two women. I pushed Lottie ahead of me and told her, “Help me with Erin.” Lottie appeared the least hurt out of the group, and I wouldn’t leave my friend’s body here for the Protectors to find, even if she was beyond caring about such things. We left the room with the others behind us. With each step, I could feel my strength returning.

  “Where is Er—”

  Lucy’s words cut off when she stepped onto the landing and saw Erin’s lifeless body. “No,” she whispered. “How?”

  “Alcais shot her,” I said in a dead voice. And I stole her energy as she was dying.

  My sister approached Erin. She leaned down, grief tightening her mouth into a flat line. Though she crouched close, she didn’t touch Erin, but gazed at her with pained eyes. Lucy disappeared somewhere inside herself where none of this world existed.

  I bent down to touch my sister’s cheek. “Lucy, we have to go.”

  She didn’t respond. Her blank eyes looked right through me when I tugged her to her feet. Lottie lifted Erin, carrying her like a sleeping child. The sight of it loosened the sob I’d buried, and I shoved it back down again. I wouldn’t cry again. Not until we were safe. The four of us limped to the stairs after Lottie.

  Seamus met us in the entrance hall, a newsboy hat pulled low over his forehead. His gaze roved over us, from our injuries to Erin, and I shook my head when he appeared about to offer sympathy. He gave one short nod of understanding. “Sean is waiting for you in the Land Rover out front. A few of you can join him, and the others can come with me in my car. Let’s go.”

  He strode forward, unconcerned that we might not follow his lead. The street outside looked the same as it always had. Nobody seemed the wiser for what had happened in our house. The neighbors had never heard of Erin and would not mourn her passing. The thought of it knotted my gut. My throat closed, and I looked up at the black sky, feeling just as empty as it appeared. Fingers twined with mine, strengthening me, and I gripped Gabe so tightly that it hurt.

  He led me to the Land Rover, and we climbed in with Lucy between us. Sean slammed on the gas as soon as my door closed, and the house blurred and disappeared.

  The blank expression on my sister’s face worried me, and I leaned forward.

  “Lucy?”

  Her eyes finally focused on my face, and she shattered into pieces. I wrapped an arm around her, and she fell across my lap, her fingers clutching at my sweats helplessly. She shuddered in my arms, and I stroked a hand down her back. I wanted to cry with her, but I was afraid of what that would unleash.

  Keep it together, Remy.

  Gabe laid a hand over mine, and I looked up, meeting his watery gaze. We didn’t say a word for the entire ride. It was enough that we held on to each other, the three of us grieving for another lost member of our family.

  They took us to Seamus’s place. I hadn’t realized how large the house was until we pulled through the gates and onto the property. The cobblestone drive had probably stood up to hooves and carriages back in the day, and I spared a thought for the O’Malleys that had ridden in them.

  Lucy had managed to fall asleep on the short drive, and I shook her when Sean stopped the SUV. She opened dull, swollen eyes, and I brushed the hair from her face. “We’re here.”

  Sean opened the door on my side, and we all clambered out. Lucy glanced around, looking more lost than curious. Another car pulled up behind us, and Seamus, Lottie, and Asher joined us. I frowned when I got a good look at Lottie limping toward the house. Though hurt the least, she wore the badges of her fight with the Protectors. Cuts, scrapes, and bloody bruises darkened her skin, and she had a black eye forming.

  Seamus paused in front of me, and I asked, “Erin?”

  “We will take care of your friend. We can make arrangements to get her back to her family.”

  I nodded gratefully.

  Seamus held out an arm to usher all of us through the front door. He and Sean led us upstairs to the sitting room I’d been in before.

  “First aid kit?” I asked, but Seamus shook his head.

  “You won’t need one.”

  I glanced around the room, assessing the injuries as everyone collapsed in whatever was available, from armchairs to the couch. Asher’s broken arm needed attending, and so did the wound at his back. Lottie’s limp would need to be checked. My sister appeared physically unscathed but her eyes said something else.

  We all wore the evidence of battle, but we weren’t soldiers. A crack formed in my shield, and I tried to patch it up. There’s work to be done. Fall apart later.

  Gabe drew my attention with his stillness, and I studied him with a frown. I’d thought his ribs might
be broken, but now I wondered if it was something worse. His skin had a gray tone to it, and his expression had turned stony the way it did when he was being stoic in the face of pain. Like me, he would wait for the others to be tended to before he asked for help.

  I dropped to my knees in front of his chair. “Gabe? What is it?”

  He tried to smile and failed miserably. “That bastard Mark managed to stick me in the back with a blade before he got away.”

  I tore at Gabe’s T-shirt looking for the wound. “Damn it, why didn’t you say something? Seamus, help me!”

  Seamus joined me, helping Gabe out of his T-shirt. Asher approached, too, watching the process with a grimace. Gabe leaned forward so I could pull his arms from the sleeves and he grimaced in pain. I rose and gasped when I saw his back. Mark had been aiming for Gabe’s spinal cord, and Gabe had managed to veer so that the injury landed an inch to the right. Blood oozed out of the cut, seeping into his sweats and shirt. And he could feel it. Asher couldn’t feel his injuries anymore, but Gabe could. Because of me.

  “Remy?” Gabe said faintly.

  I couldn’t see his face, and he couldn’t see mine bent over like he was. I swallowed, glad I didn’t have to hide my horror. “Yeah?”

  “If you dare try to blame yourself for any of this bullshit, I’m going to be pissed. It hurts like a son of a bitch, but I can handle it. Got me?”

  The challenge in his voice steeled my faltering courage, and I laid a hand over his neck to warm him. “Got you,” I answered. “Hold on, okay?”

  He nodded under my hand, and I motioned to Asher to move away. The last thing I needed was for his energy to jack with mine. Who knew how our powers would interact now that he’d gone back to his old self? Asher’s mouth tightened into a straight line, but he stepped back.

  “I hate that this will hurt you,” Gabe whispered. “That’s why I didn’t tell you.”

  “Sh. It’s like a Band-Aid. It will only hurt for a second because you’ll help me heal myself. Ready?”

  Gabe gripped my fingers in answer, and I lowered my guard to unleash my energy. I almost recoiled in shock when it leapt out of me and green sparks struck Gabe. He jumped as if I’d jolted him with an electric current, and the wound on his back disappeared like it had never been.

  Never had my powers worked so quickly or been so out of my control.

  Terrified, I yanked my hand from Gabe’s, and the pain was instant and furious when a similar wound ripped open on my back, and bruises and cuts scattered over my body. Relief filled me because this was normal. Now Gabe could help me heal. I winced, imagining the ugly wound at my back. More power coursed through me, slamming into my injuries in a flash of pain. I cried out as everything healed at once, including the wounds Mark had inflicted.

  What’s happening to me?

  “What was that?” Gabe asked. He shifted, the muscles in his back rolling, and then he sat up, his expression full of confusion. “How did you do that?” he asked me in wonder.

  I had healed Gabe without having to envision the injury or the mending. That had never happened before. I sank back on my heels, almost falling. Gabe’s hands clamped on my forearms to keep me upright. Asher circled us to peer at my back. I twisted around, studying my shirt, the material hardly damp with blood at all because the wound had healed so quickly. I lifted the hem and saw the evidence of what I’d done. Aside from a small stain of blood, the injury might never have existed. My mouth dropped open in wordless shock.

  “What the hell?” Asher asked in bewilderment.

  I shrugged, entirely at a loss.

  “Are you okay?” Gabe asked, running a finger down my cheek.

  I shook my head, unable to keep it together another second.

  Gabe pulled me onto his lap. Hot tears threatened, and I pressed my face into his neck to hide from everyone. I could feel their stares, and for once, I didn’t care what they thought about seeing me with Gabe. I needed him. The change had to be because of what had happened when Erin died. Gabe’s arms wrapped around my back and one leg, tucking me closer and securing me against him.

  I should heal the others, I thought. The idea of it terrified me. How else might my powers have changed?

  “No,” Gabe said. “They’re already being looked after.”

  I dropped my defenses enough to sense the presence of the women I’d met at the house. The women are Phoenix, aren’t they?

  Gabe nodded. Any other time, I would have been full of a thousand questions, but the night had caught up with me. I’d been running on adrenaline and denial and the fierce desire to see my family safe. Warm and in Gabe’s arms, I could no longer hide from what had happened.

  Get me out of here, Gabe. Please.

  He stood, lifting me in his arms, and I looped my arms around his neck, blocking everyone out. Gabe asked Seamus a question and the man’s voice rumbled in answer, and then Gabe was carrying me from the room. I didn’t care where we went, except I didn’t want to see anyone else. The air changed and I finally lifted my head. We were on a stone balcony that faced a private garden. Gabe had brought me outside without leaving the safety of the house. The sweet gesture unraveled me. Losing Erin had hollowed out a section of my heart, and the ache of all the death that happened around me felt permanent. Fixed grief that would never go away or heal.

  There were no chairs on the balcony, but Gabe sat on the cold stone, curling me around him again. He tucked my feet into his hand so they wouldn’t touch the ground, and I realized I had no shoes on. I still wore the tank top and sweatpants that I’d worn to bed. I shuddered, my body jerking so hard it was painful. Reaction had set in, and I couldn’t stop it.

  “I’ve got you, Remington.”

  And he did. Gabe held me while I cried, murmuring nonsense. Later, when the air became too cold, he carried me back into the house and tucked me into bed. I fell asleep in his arms while he sang me a song that I remembered from a long-ago night when he’d carried me in the darkness. It seemed Gabe had always been there for me, and I vowed to hold tight to him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Dawn lit the room in golden tones when I woke in Gabe’s arms. I shifted a little, and his hold tightened.

  “Stay,” he said in a gravelly morning voice that I’d come to love.

  I relaxed again, trying not to think about anything but Gabe. His eyes were still closed, and I traced a finger over the lids and the long dark lashes. His lips tilted in the barest smile, and I traced that, too, feeling the rasp of his morning beard under my fingertips. This was something to be grateful for on a morning when my soul ached with loss. I loved this man, and he loved me. We had a future worth fighting for.

  Gabe kissed my fingers, and his eyes opened, the green so bright and luminous that I could lose myself in them. How could one person make you feel so much? “I love you,” I told him, and the words didn’t seem enough.

  A muscle in his cheek jumped under my hand. “Why do I feel like you’re about to say ‘but I need to leave you for your own good’?”

  I propped myself up on an elbow and shook my head. “No. You’re stuck with me now.”

  His fingers tangled in the fall of my hair, letting the curls brush his bare chest. “That’s a relief,” he said. “I’ve been chasing you for so long that I’m ready to kick back and chill for a while.”

  “Wimp!” I scoffed. “I thought you had stamina.”

  His eyes lit with a playfulness I loved. “Was that a dare? Because it sounded like a dare.” Gabe shoved me to my back and rose up on his knees to straddle my hips, his hands holding mine hostage by my head. “Prepare to be awed by my stamina,” he threatened.

  He bent forward, and I lost my breath when I thought he might kiss me. His breath brushed my collarbone, and I shivered when his lips touched my skin. Then I froze in shock when he blew a raspberry on my neck. This was promptly followed by his hands loosening their grip on mine in order to begin an all-out tickle war.

  “Uncle!” I shrieked, laughing brea
thlessly.

  He finally let up and sat back, looking far too pleased with himself. “That will teach you to mock my stamina. Have you learned your lesson?”

  I nodded solemnly and crooked a finger at him.

  A wary expression crossed his face. “You’re up to something.”

  “I just want to kiss the victor.”

  His eyes flared with heat and he placed a hand on either side of my head. He bent closer, muttering, “I know this is a trap, but I can’t stop myself. You’re my Fair Food.”

  The mischief I’d planned faded from my mind. “You say the sweetest things.” I wrapped my arms around him and tugged him down to kiss him.

  He was out of breath when he raised his head. “I love running in the forest with you. I love how you savor the good things in life because you know they matter. I love how you love people with two hundred percent of your heart, and I love how your mind works and that I get to hear it. Most of all, I love your laugh because your entire body lights up with it and it’s like holding a mirror up to your soul so the rest of the world can see it. I could spend the rest of my life listening to that laugh.”

  I stared up at him wordlessly. My heart belonged to him, and I felt the click of the lock as I tossed the key away. Nobody had ever known me so well and loved me so much. Gabe had never asked me to change, and he never would.

  “Hey, what’s this?” he asked, brushing his thumb over my cheek.

  “You overwhelm me sometimes,” I said, sniffing. “In the best kind of way.”

  I pulled him close again, and his weight rested heavy on me, but I didn’t care. He laid his head on my chest, and I ran my fingers through his hair. Outside our room, people were waking and moving about, but in here it was just us and this moment when I felt safe and adored.