But Tristan was taking too long! My strength was running out, and every second felt like torture to me. Then a dark silhouette appeared in the fire and Tristan walked right through, his brow beaded with sweat and peppered with soot, and his T-shirt a bit charred.
“It’s done! He’s out for the count! Everything is okay now!” he exclaimed, running up to me. “It’s all vanished, like you said it would.”
I sighed in relief and forced the fire to slowly shrink and disappear into a swift warm breeze. All that remained of the flames was a large charcoal ring on the burnt grass.
My arms dropped to my sides, and a second later, my knees gave way. Tristan was at my side as fast as an arrow, his arms wrapping around me, holding me and not letting me fall.
“I’ve got you,” he assured me, while he helped me sit down on the grass to rest.
“I know. You always do,” I murmured, with a tired smile.
“How did you come up with that crazy plan? I can’t believe it actually worked!” he said, looking impressed. He kneeled down next to me.
“Tris, is Simon okay?”
“Well, as far as he can be. He’s been knocked out, after all.”
“Can anyone help me get the hell out of here now, please?!” Josh shouted as loud as he could.
“Go help Josh. He needs as many pairs of hands as possible to get him out of there. Go!” I told Tristan.
“You sure? How are you feeling?” he asked, hesitantly, torn between helping our friend and staying with me until he was sure I was really all right.
I pulled him close for a deep kiss to answer his question. He stared at me, surprised and slightly confused, after we broke apart. “I’m totally fine, Tris! And I have all my memories back,” I explained ecstatically. “Every last one. I remembered everything when I unleashed all that fire. I have them back now – you, the boys, our life together, everything.”
“That’s wonderful, Joey!” He grinned happily, but the boys’ voices caught his attention and he turned his face in their direction, getting worried again.
“Go help them. I’m tired, but fine. Go! Josh needs you more than I do.”
“Okay. Hang in there, I’ll be right back.”
Chapter Thirty
Memories Out
“THERE WAS MENTION of fire breaking out, down by the lake,” I remembered Craig saying . . . How had he known about that? There was definitely something fishy about Craig; I remembered the shifty look in his eyes.
“What is it that you want to ask me?” I had said, full of suspicion.
The main house front doors had been only a few feet away. If I could walk that small distance up those steps, I’d known I would be safe again . . . But Craig had known that I sensed he was a threat. His cover had been blown.
The hit had come unexpectedly, and I hadn’t been prepared for the blunt force of a surprise mental attack. My knees had caved and I’d hit the ground, grabbing my head in pain. I could hear Craig a few feet away from me. He had hit the ground the same way I had. We’d locked eyes for a split second. In his eyes I’d seen surprise. And fear. But something else . . . realization.
I realized I was more exhausted than I’d imagined, because soon after Tristan had left to help Josh, I blacked out, and it was only when Tristan gently shook me awake that I gathered I’d been unconscious.
“You said you were fine,” he harrumphed as soon as I blinked awake.
“I am fine. What happened?”
“I went to help Josh, and when we came back, you had passed out.”
“Oh. Well, I did say I was pretty tired,” I mumbled, groggily, sitting up on the grass. “How’s Josh’s leg?”
“I’m all right,” Josh said, limping out from behind Tristan, with Sam right by his side, providing a shoulder to lean on. “Leg’s kinda painful, though, so I might have broken something. But it doesn’t hurt too much. I reckon I’ll be walking normally in a few days,” he said bravely.
“We have to get you back to the main house as quickly as possible and check your leg properly, Josh. That tree branch looked pretty heavy,” I said anxiously, but was relieved to see my friend safe from creepy shadows – and from burns, too. Well, to see that all my friends were okay, I registered, as Harry and Seth approached, also safe and sound. “How long have I been out?”
“Not long. Ten minutes or so,” Tristan said, crouching next to me. “How are you really feeling, Joey? You scared us half to death! I didn’t know you had it in you to create a wall of fire like that. It was impressive . . . and kinda scary.”
“Yeah, and since we’re on the topic, I’d like to ask something, here,” Harry interrupted. “What the hell was that about?” he asked in a freaked-out voice. “One minute you’re Joey, the next you’re Miss Pyromania, blasting fire everywhere! Care to explain that?”
“Yeah, I almost pissed my pants when I saw what you were doing!” Sam exclaimed. “In a very manly way, I mean . . .” he added.
“You pissed your pants? What about me, stuck under that highly flammable piece of wood? I was practically a bonfire waiting to happen!” Josh said.
“Oh, erm, it’s . . . sorry, guys, I was trying to keep that a secret for now . . . you know, because I didn’t want you thinking I was some sort of freak of nature,” I mumbled.
“Ah, come on, Joe! You know we would never think that of you!” Seth said. “Haven’t we all supported you and Tristan through the weirdest things ever? The witch stuff, the ghost issues, Vigil, your eye thing. When did we ever think badly about you?”
“Yeah, Seth’s right!” Harry huffed indignantly. “That’s not a good reason to keep secrets from us! You know we will always support you, no matter what!”
“Come on, you guys! I saw the way you were all looking at me when you saw the, erm, fire and all . . .” I argued, shuffling my feet guiltily.
“That was only cos you took us by surprise, is all!” Harry countered. “We don’t care what weird stuff you can do. Just give us a heads-up first, so it won’t scare the shit out of us when it happens.”
“Yeah, you do know you can trust us with everything, right?” Seth asked, his tone conciliatory now.
“Of course I do. I’m sorry for keeping this from you, guys. Really, I am.”
“Okay, then.” They accepted my apology, although still looked slightly miffed.
“Tristan!” I straightened up, suddenly realizing something urgent. “We still need to go see Craig! He could be leaving the camp right this second!”
“W-what? Why?” he asked, looking confused “We’ve figured things out already. It was all Simon. We don’t need to see Craig now, do we?”
“Yes, we do still need to talk to him! I’ve remembered our last talk by the front steps. This amnesia has something to do with him. I think he’s the one who caused it but I don’t know why. And he kept asking about the fire on the lake, too. He knows something. We need to know for sure what he has figured out, and before he leaves the camp!”
“He could have left already, Joe.”
“Yeah, but we have to find out, Tris. Maybe he’s still here! I’m sure there’s something he has realized about me, I swear! We have to go find out what it is. Simon has already made the connection between the fire and me; I can’t have Craig blabbering about it, too! I need your help now, boys,” I told them, turning very businesslike. “Sam, can you wait with Josh until we send help? Josh, if Simon by any chance wakes up, knock him out again, would you? You know how to do it without hurting him. He has to be unconscious until help arrives, or he could make those shadows appear again.”
Sam and Josh nodded, shuffling quickly to where Simon had been left sprawled on the grass.
“Seth, go grab your iron poker and keep guard over there. Keep them safe, okay? And Harry, you need to run down to the main house and get the Harkers. Tell them what happened to Simon. They will come to help,” I instructed them quickly. “I’m going to run with Tristan to Craig’s cabin now, okay? There are things we need to find out before he
bails.”
“Okay, but Joey, are you sure you don’t want us to go with you? For backup and all?” Seth asked anxiously.
“Don’t worry, man. I’ve got her back,” Tristan reassured him.
“Well, I reckon you do, tough guy. Since when can’t you get burned, anyway?” Seth asked curiously. “That was majorly impressive! I thought you were going insane, walking through fire like it was nothing!”
“Yeah, well.” Tristan scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed. “I think it’s another ex-ghost ability. The first time it happened, it scared us like hell, too, until we realized it couldn’t hurt me. Sorry you had to find out that way.”
“You almost gave me a heart attack, but it’s okay. I don’t think anything can surprise me any more after that . . .” he mused, looking at the large, dark, smoking ring on the grass.
“Okay, guys. We need to hurry. Seth, I need you to be taking care of things here now, okay?” I interrupted, because we were running out of time. Craig could be leaving at this very second! “Please, tell Celeste that whatever she’s planning to do, not to call that pompous secret Top League. That’s Simon’s biggest fear; he’ll lose it all over again if he suspects they are coming to get him. Tell her that, please. It’s important, don’t forget!”
“Got it, don’t worry. I’ll tell her,” Seth said.
“Oh, and please don’t mention to anyone about me making that fire wall!” I remembered at the last second. “I want to keep that between us; it’s best no one knows about that, okay?”
He nodded before backtracking to the place he had last seen his iron poker.
“Come on, Tris. Let’s go!” I urged, hoping Craig had not left yet.
We only had this one last chance to get some real answers before the guy disappeared without a trace into the world.
Chapter Thirty-One
One Last Thing
CRAIG’S PICKUP TRUCK was heading down the road, tires spitting gravel, before it stopped only a few inches in front of us. We were halfway through our hike up the trail that led to his cabin when we bumped into him driving away.
I had been right to be in a hurry. We would have missed him if we had arrived only a minute later. Craig cut the engine and slowly stepped out of the car. He wasn’t wearing his usual khaki shorts any more, just jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, though with his round-rimmed glasses perched as ever on the end of his nose.
And he didn’t look ill: his face wasn’t pale and his eyes weren’t puffy as they had been before.
“Miss Gray,” he greeted, with a nod, his eyes fixed on me. “What a surprise, bumping into you on my way out of camp.”
“Cut the crap, Craig! I’ve got all my memories back. I remember everything,” I snapped, irritated, my fists balled at my sides. I was exhausted and in a foul mood, and Craig was still pretending, right in my face. I had had it with his deceitful lies!
“Ah. I see.” He didn’t seem surprised by my little outburst; his expression had remained cool and collected since he’d left the car. He watched me in silence for a moment, taking what felt like all the time in the world before he continued, “You are just like your old man: charging in without thinking, letting your anger dictate your moves. Typical Gray.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I snapped, taken aback.
“It means you are not being smart. It is very easy to connect your father’s flammable personality to yours. You act the same way as him, thinking you’re being bold and brave, but actually you’re only impulsive and stupid.”
I pursed my lips and forced myself not to lash out. “How do you know my father?”
He paused and watched me squirm in doubt before he replied. “Oh, we were colleagues once, a long time ago. I assume you not only inherited his passionate temper, but his ability as well, am I correct? The boy looks like he’s stepped right out of a fire. I imagine that’s probably because of you?” He nodded at Tristan.
Even though my flames couldn’t hurt Tristan, his skin being immune to the fire, his clothes hadn’t been so lucky and there were a few holes burned through his slightly charred shirt.
I felt Tristan’s hand taking hold of my arm and squeezing with gentle pressure to let me know I should tread lightly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I decided to take Tristan’s silent advice and go for a deflective approach.
Craig tilted his head, watching curiously how Tristan’s hand on my arm had so easily been able to restrain my impulsive advances. “I see that you are different from your father, since you have someone to help you. It’s a pity Jonathan didn’t have anyone to keep him from his reckless ways. You’re lucky to have the boy taking care of you.”
He got that right on the mark. Tristan was the epitome of prudence and caution, and had helped me handle things calmly more times than I could count.
“What is he, by the way?” Craig asked, his eyes flicking away from me to observe Tristan in scrutinizing detail.
“He is my husband,” I stated, with my chin up in defiance and my eyes flashing a silent warning to stay the hell away from Tristan, or there would be hell to pay. I’d make sure of that.
The pressure of Tristan’s fingers increased slightly on my arm, warning me to stay quiet. He shouldn’t worry so much. It was not like I was revealing any breaking news, here. I had told Craig I was married when we’d first arrived at the main gate, but I hadn’t told who was the husband. Everyone at camp knew Tristan and I were married, though, and even if they didn’t tell Craig, he was bound to find out sooner or later, from some magazine or gossip TV show. Our faces were all over the news right now.
“Oh, so he is the famous husband you had mentioned before,” Craig said.
Ah, so he did remember things. Why was he still calling me Miss Gray then?
“But once a Gray, always a Gray,” Craig told me, in answer to my unspoken question. Even though he” – he gave a cursory nod at Tristan – “is now your husband. But that’s not what I meant. I want to know what he is. I’m positively sure he’s not entirely human . . .”
“Excuse me? I’m certainly very human!” Tristan said, offended on more than one count.
“Oh, no, you’re not. Want to know how I know that? It’s the eyes, boy. They give you away. Plus, your mind is like a fog filled with muffled whispers. I can’t understand a damned thing,” Craig said, squinting at Tristan.
“Are you saying you can read minds? Is that what you did to me by the front steps? Did you cause my amnesia?” I asked, stepping protectively in front of Tristan. Whenever something – or someone – ever threatened Tristan or the boys, I completely lost it and charged in without thinking.
Once again, I felt Tristan’s hand resting gently on my shoulders, telling me to calm down and keep my center, so as not to give anything away.
“Yes, I can read minds. That’s my special ability,” Craig stated, crossing his arms over the chest. “What? Did you think you were the only special one in this world, Miss Gray? Or Mrs. Halloway, if you insist. Did you believe you were the only one with abilities? Our numbers are not many, but I’d like to think all good things come in limited edition. It makes it that much more special, don’t you think?”
“Is that how you knew Jonathan Gray is my father? By reading my mind?” I asked defensively. “You surely haven’t assumed that on the basis of my name alone.”
“Actually, no. I’ve had my suspicions since the incident by the lake, but I didn’t know for sure. Well, not until now, when you’ve just confirmed it for me. Thanks for clearing that up, by the way.” He chuckled smartly.
I gritted my teeth, silently cursing my big fat mouth. “You’re saying you can read minds, but you didn’t know for sure? That’s bull! One of those statements is a lie.”
“I didn’t say I can read everyone’s,” he corrected, tutting playfully. “I can read most. But I can’t read his, for instance, whatever he is.” He pointed at Tristan. “And I certainly learned my lesson when I tried to re
ad yours, didn’t I?”
“W-what?”
“Oh, you know. The blackout by the main house. That was all you, sweetie pie.”
“You’re lying. I didn’t do anything! It was you!”
“I’m not lying. I didn’t know about your empathy-sight. Jonathan didn’t have that, so I wasn’t expecting you to have it. Shouldn’t have tried probing your mind. If what people are saying is right, you’re a strong empathy reader. Tell me, then, Mrs. Halloway, am I lying now?” He locked his eyes on me, squinting ever so menacingly.
He wasn’t lying. I could see it in his big round bespectacled eyes.
“That doesn’t make any sense. Why would she cause herself amnesia?” Tristan said, deciding to join in the interrogation.
Craig sighed, getting tired of having to explain everything to us. “I tried to get a full read on her by the front steps.” He paused and turned to look at me. “You were running away, I didn’t have much time, so I barged in with too much force, you might say. You reacted on instinct. It was very raw and crude, very untrained, too, but I can’t say it wasn’t effective. That backlash of yours gave me quite the headache, dear. I haven’t had one like that in decades. You even knocked me out cold. Only very few can do that. It was very impressive.”
Glad you think so, you smug bastard.
“The memory loss was a side effect. You tried to block me from getting to your memories, and locked them up, causing your amnesia. Sorry about that. If I’d known you’d react that way, I wouldn’t have tried to take a peek. I won’t be making that mistake again, trust me. My head’s still hurting . . .” he complained, rubbing his temple. “I’ve never had migraines as strong as these before. If it weren’t for your empathy-sight, you wouldn’t have suspected anything, and wouldn’t have been so alarmed when I tried to read you. That was my biggest mistake,” he confessed. “I should know better than to try to read a mind when there’s all sorts of alarms and shields on. It’s a surefire recipe for a bloody migraine, that’s for certain.”