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“Not really,” he said, “but at this point, I guess no one is.”
I shook my head and took Theo's hand in mine, tugging him after me into the cabin. "I'm going to bed," I said. "We can argue some more in the morning."
33
Curled against Theo, secure in the knowledge that Julian and Luca were standing guard, I slept.
The voice I'd heard in my dreams was louder now, the formless sounds morphing and shifting into strange, foreign words. Velartan? Latin? They echoed as I walked, my footsteps loud on the pavement. Leaves swirled around my legs, and a fine mist of rain dampened my skin.
I looked around. The low buildings on either side of the street were dark and empty, their windows shuttered or shattered. How had I come to this place? I turned in circles, but saw no hint of life.
The voice faded and drifted, seeming to beckon me further down the abandoned lane. I walked, unable to do anything but heed its call. The ring on my finger pinched and burned.
Theo? I opened my mouth to call for him, but nothing came out. I tried again. Luca? Julian?
No sound. Nothing but those haunting, melodic voices.
My teeth began to chatter. I was shivering and wet, and, I realized, my feet were bare. Strangely, though, I couldn't feel the gravel or cracks in the road. All I felt was bone-deep cold.
There. Up ahead: a single intersection, with a darkened traffic light and an empty gas station. Between two of the pump islands, under the overhang, was a large pile of firewood.
Thinking only of warmth, I started to run. My legs were heavy and slow, as though I was knee-deep in honey. I pushed harder, grimacing, every step making my legs cramp with effort. When I arrived at last, I was out of breath and colder than ever.
I touched the wood. It was dry, but how would I light it? I had no matches, and the shattered gas station windows looked unlikely to yield any forgotten lighters.
The voice grew louder, the words incomprehensible. My hands, aching with cold, began to tingle. I held them in front of me, turning them this way and that. They looked the same as they always did, but—
The cold began to fade from my fingertips, replaced by a growing warmth. I stared in disbelief as tiny sparks began to appear between my fingers, crackling to life and quickly fading.
"What the…” I murmured, realizing that I was able to speak, after all.
I reached forward with one finger and lightly touched the piece of firewood nearest me. As soon as my skin made contact with its rough surface, a flash of fire sparked from my hand, briefly igniting the edge of the bark. I leapt backwards, almost falling on the slick pavement.
Warmth. The urge to do it again was irresistible. I reached forward a second time, more deliberately, and placed both hands flat on the firewood.
There was a flash, a rush of heat, and fire burst from beneath my palms. I felt nothing except warmth and stared, fascinated, as the flames licked and curled up my arms. The wood caught, the fire spreading quickly from one dry bundle to another, until the entire pile was an inferno.
I stepped back, staring in shock at what I'd created. It was beautiful. It was perfect. It was—
"Fire!" screamed a voice.
Abruptly, the scene before me vanished, dissipating into tendrils of black smoke. I opened my eyes.
"Leave it!" Luca shouted to Julian, who was trying desperately to beat back what seemed to be a wall of flame.
"River, come on!" I felt a hand on my arm, pulling—Theo was yanking me, but—
"I can't get to the door!" Theo yelled. "Luca—"
But Luca was already at the window, heaving one of Julian's rough-hewn chairs over his head. I had a sudden vision of the gas station in my dream. Oh God. What was happening?
The flames roared forth, advancing with terrifying speed as the glass shattered beneath Luca's swing. Hot air blasted my face and I staggered.
"No—" Theo's arm came around my waist, speeding me toward the window. Luca was scraping away shards from the frame with a frying pan. "Get her out!"
Luca dropped the pan and reached for me, and in one quick movement tossed me through the window. My feet hit the ground at an odd angle, my ankle twisting beneath me as I fell.
"Theo!" I screamed, struggling to stand, and a moment later he was tumbling out the window himself, landing on one shoulder and rolling away. He was on his feet in an instant, reaching back inside to pull Luca through.
