Gabriel pulled.
And then he had help. He didn’t know where they’d come from, but two firefighters were beside him, dragging them through the door that must have been right there, pulling them out of the smoke and flames, getting them into the fresh air.
Someone had a blanket around his shoulders, smacking at the flames on his coat and his legs. Someone else was in his face yelling something about a medic—making Gabriel remember that he had only a helmet and a coat. No pants, no oxygen mask, no tanks.
He probably had about fifteen seconds before all these guys realized he wasn’t who he was pretending to be.
“Yeah,” he coughed. “Medic.”
And when the guy turned his head to speak into a radio, Gabriel ran.
CHAPTER 17
Gabriel sat beside Hunter in the front of his jeep, eating a Big Mac and wondering how he was going to go home looking like this. He couldn’t even walk into a store. If the cops and firemen were looking for an arsonist, a kid walking around with burned clothes might draw a little attention.
“So we need to bring a change of clothes,” said Hunter.
Gabriel gave him a look. “You think?”
“You said they got a good look at you?”
Gabriel shrugged. “I don’t know. I had the helmet on. There was a lot of smoke.”
But he’d bet good money they’d figure it out.
“Did you delete the text I sent you?”
Gabriel nodded. “I’m not an idiot.”
He wondered if Hannah would put it together that he’d run out of the house on the same night a stranger showed up at a fire. She hadn’t come to their house suspecting him of arson—she’d just been looking for information.
Right?
He set half the burger on the wrapper. “I need to tell you something.”
Hunter was eating a grilled chicken sandwich. He didn’t even look over. “This is so sudden.”
“Shut up. They think someone is starting these fires.”
Hunter shrugged. “An arsonist. I know.”
Gabriel blinked. “You do?”
“Sure. It was in the paper. My grandfather mentioned it at dinner. Something about that guy at school having his house targeted.”
Gabriel picked up his soda and took a sip. “He’s a tool.”
Hunter looked over. “You regret pulling his little sister out of that fire?”
“No.” Gabriel hesitated. “I need to tell you something else.”
“Shoot.”
Gabriel told him about the night he’d started the fire in the woods, how he’d lost control. He told him about Hannah, how she’d come to the house tonight, fishing for information.
Hunter didn’t say anything when he was done, just polished off the rest of his sandwich and shoved the wrapper into the bag.
“I couldn’t control it tonight,” said Gabriel. “There was too much. I lost it. That guy could have died.”
“That guy would have died.” Hunter started the ignition. “If we hadn’t been there, he still would have fallen through the ceiling, and he still would have broken his leg, but he would have been dead before anyone could get to him—not to mention the rest of them. You want to stop?”
Gabriel hesitated. He did—and he didn’t. It was addictive, drowning in fire every night.
And it was helping his control. He was getting stronger; he could feel it. But he eventually would kill someone if he couldn’t manage his element better than this. He was going to get caught.
He looked out the window. “I don’t know,” he ground out.
Hunter fell silent again, pulling his jeep onto the main road. But after a while, he glanced over. “Maybe we’re going about this all wrong.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’re a sports guy. You don’t just go out and play a game—you practice, right?”
“This isn’t a game, Hunter.”
“Still. Practice makes perfect.”
Perfect. It made Gabriel think of Layne. He pulled his phone out of the center console.
No messages.
He sighed. “So what are you saying? We should go set a house on fire for practice?”
“No, not a house. We’d start smaller than that.” Hunter glanced away from the road. “My grandparents have an old barn at the back of their property. It’s full of old hay bales, the lawnmower, stuff like that.”
Gabriel stared out at the road. He and Nick used to go down to the beach to set things on fire. Gabriel would always try to drive the fire as high as he could, to incite the flames to burn as much as possible.
He’d never tried to draw flames back, to convince them to settle.
Hunter hit him in the arm. “Come on. Do I really need to convince you to play with fire?”
Gabriel smiled. “No. You don’t.” He paused, noticing they were pulling into the Target parking lot. “Where are we going?”
“You sure can’t go home looking like that. I’ll go in and get you another pair of jeans. You have any cash?”
Gabriel pulled out his wallet and found a twenty.
Hunter shoved it into his pocket and jumped out of the jeep. He left it running. “Don’t steal the car,” he called.
Gabriel smiled.
He missed his twin—almost to the point it hurt.
But it wasn’t so bad having a friend either.
Michael was waiting on the front porch when Hunter pulled his jeep up the driveway.
Gabriel swore under his breath. He’d killed time at Hunter’s house, splattering zombies on Xbox again after grabbing a shower. It was after eleven now, and he’d hoped his older brother would be in bed.
“Problem?” said Hunter.
“Stick around. I might need a getaway car.”
“Want backup instead?”
Tempting. Gabriel hesitated.
Michael stood up from the porch chair and came to the top step. The light by the door had been replaced, making his hair shine and keeping his face in darkness. “Get out of the car, Gabriel.”
Hunter hadn’t even put the jeep in park. “Your call.”
Gabriel heaved a sigh and grabbed the door handle. “Go home. I’m sure as hell not bringing you down with me.”
But when Hunter was backing down the driveway, Gabriel felt very alone facing his brother from the sidewalk.
He set his shoulders and tried to play it easy. “Why’d you wait up? Think Hunter was going to get fresh with me?”
“Where were you?”
Gabriel shrugged. “Grabbed a burger. Hung out.”
Michael was looking at him a little too intensely. “And what did you do last night?”
For a second, Gabriel wondered what his brother would think if he told him the truth.
He wondered how much Michael had guessed already.
“Cut the crap, Michael. What do you want?”
“I want to know if you’re starting these fires.”
The words hit Gabriel like a fist to the face.
That’s what his brother thought? That Gabriel was out deliberately setting fires, purposely killing people?
He almost couldn’t breathe for a second, the feeling of betrayal hit so hard. Just like last night, when Nick had stolen his air. Only Nick hadn’t been accusing him of murder.
That moment of brotherly camaraderie earlier in the evening was completely gone. He’d been so stupid to think Michael could ever be a friend. Gabriel clenched his jaw and moved to walk past him up the steps. “Fuck you.”
His brother caught his arm. “Are you doing this to get back at Becca’s father? Do you want the Guides coming here? Tell me.”
Not just a murderer, but someone who would turn on his family. Gabriel jerked free and shoved him away in one motion.