Consuming Fire

Chapter 37

"Hey."

"Hey," he said in a soft voice.

She picked up a rock and tried skipping it across the surface of the lake, but her skills were about as good as a stuffed teddy bear when it came to the art of rock-throwing. She smiled up at him and blushed.

He flicked his wrist and the stone hopped three times before landing in the black lake.

"I hate you," she grumbled.

Will smirked down at her. "It's not rocket science, you just-"

"It's okay, I'm not training for the rock-skipping Olympics."

He shrugged.

Hunter clenched her fists and went for it. "Look, about the other day on the mountain, I didn't-"

"Hunter." He turned and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into his shadowed face, feeling protected. If only she could be reassured that he'd never leave her or that nothing would ever come between them, she could live with the tension. "I know what you're going to say. But first let me tell you that ... I really do like you."

Her heart fluttered in excitement. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "A lot. But ... I'm not ready for this yet."

Just like that, her buzz was killed. Not just killed, slaughtered gruesomely. She bit her lip and nodded, stepping back.

"Sure. I understand, you need some time."

His brow creased in a sexy, please-don't-hate-me kind of way.

"Seriously, it's fine," she lied. "Now what do you think about going after Dr. Wolfe?"

Will looked at the lake in thought. "I don't ever want to go back there. But you're right – we have to honor Dr. Rosenthal's wishes and take him down. No one deserves to go through the hell I did."

"Exactly," she said. "What should we do?"

"I think-"

Will was just about to throw another stone when he froze, slowly lowering his arm. His gaze was focused on the lake, a frown forming across his forehead.

"What is it?"

Will stepped closer to the shore. "Do you see that?"

Hunter tried to match his eye line, scanning the surface of the lake and the opposite shore. The line of trees was dark and distant, but empty. "See what?"

"There," he raised his arm and pointed. "In the trees? I think there's someone watching us."

Hunter's stomach flipped nervously. Laughter roared from the others around the campfire; they didn't notice anything.

"Will, I don't ..."

They watched the trees for a few more seconds before Will sighed. "I must be imagining things."

"It's okay," she said and squeezed his shoulder. "I know what it's like to be paranoid."

"Are you still having the nightmares?"

She nodded. "I think I'll sleep better once we don't have a world threat on our hands."

"Maybe."

"Hey. We'll get through this."

"Then what?"

"What do you mean?"

"You don't think about the future?"

"I'm too preoccupied."

Will skipped another stone. "It distracts me. I think about going back to London."

"To see your family?"

"Well ... not exactly. Mostly to see the place I was supposed to grow up in. I may need to get a job too, one day."

Hunter found herself grinning.

"What?"

"I don't think I can see you in a business suit," she chuckled.

"Well maybe I'll be a musician. Or an actor." He made an attempted smolder that was actually incredibly sexy, but Hunter was too busy laughing to notice. He laughed with her and shoved her lightly on the shoulder.

Their moment of warm joking shattered when suddenly, Fearne started to seize again. Will and Hunter ran back to the fire, falling down beside Fearne whose eyes were rolling back into her head.

"What happened?" shouted Will.

"I dunno," said Benji, "she just collapsed. I think she's having a vision or something."

Will slid his arms around Fearne and shook her, tapping lightly at her cheek. "Fearne? Wake up!"

A moment later, her eyes fluttered open. "It's ... the Agents ..."

Hunter's head shot up. She looked at the edge of the lake where Will thought he saw someone in the shadows. But now it was not just a girl that she saw, but a whole swarm of people. Figures were starting to bleed from the trees.

Men in black suits.

Hunched mutants in shabby, dirty rags.

A young girl in a bright, white dress. She raised her arms and waved at Hunter, who realized she knew exactly who she was: the burnt girl from the Death Caves.

Fearne gasped and her eyes slipped back into her skull again. In a deep, demonic voice, she whispered, "They're here."