After a minute, he pockets the phone and crosses his arms over his chest. He circles me, an assessing slant to his eyes. “Anger takes away your ability to think and process information correctly. Your reactions slow and you’re more prone to make irrational choices. Those choices can get you into trouble. If you pay attention, I’ll teach you how to live smart.”
I give him a nod; it’s about all I can do as the rope whips over my head and under my feet. My skin tingles with the urge to use magic, and I resist showing him just how good my abilities are.
An hour goes by with me skipping rope, doing squats, chin-ups and sit-ups, and getting water sprayed at me. I don’t know what Wyatt thinks about Grandpa and his water fixation, but he takes it all in stride, yelling commands between texts and calls.
After the last drill, I’m doubled over, hands on knees and sucking down air. Grandpa’s distracted by a phone call. From what I can tell, it’s Grandma checking up on us. I’m surprised when Wyatt shoves a bottle of cold water at me. “You’ve earned it.”
I straighten. With shaking hands, I rip off the top and guzzle down half the bottle. Lowering it, I nod my head in thanks.
Wyatt slaps my back, motioning to my drowned appearance. “I’m not sure if he’s keeping you from getting heatstroke or he’s an old ballbuster getting his jollies, but it’s one hell of a show.”
I shrug, keep quiet, and quickly drain the last of my water.
He takes the empty water bottle and tosses it into a nearby trash bin. “Since it’s my job to get into your business…you look like shit. When’s the last time you slept? Really slept.”
I dozed on and off last night, but it’d been forever since I’d had a full night’s sleep. “I don’t remember.”
“You know, there’s lots of stuff that can keep you from optimal performance. I’m talking life, not just sports.”
“I get it. No drugs. No alcohol, and I need sleep.”
“That, and you need to tell me why your skin’s so hot it can melt metal.”
A sliver of alarm shoots up my neck. I look down to see what he’s talking about, and notice one of the old metal clasps riding my hip has melted and fused. Tiny drips of metal shimmer against my shorts.
“Now, I’m just a simple soldier, home on leave,” Wyatt says nonchalantly, but there’s an underlying tension that can’t be missed, “but even I know metal doesn’t melt without some serious heat.” He splays his fingers at me, revealing their red tips. “Touch fire, you get burned.”
I remember every time Wyatt switched exercises, he’d tap my shoulder. I thought he was simply getting my attention, focusing me on the task when I got angry, but he’d gotten burned, which made him curious. There’s no way he could’ve figured out how, so now he’s laying out his cards, showing me what he has in a ploy to get me to reveal what he couldn’t find.
And I’ve got nothing. There’s no logical explanation that will make him believe I’m an everyday, normal guy with anger issues.
“It’s complicated,” I finally say.
“I know you can’t tell by looking at me, but I’m a complex guy.”
“I thought you said you were a simple soldier?”
“I am, with deep complex issues swirling in my head, so listen up. Byzantine tactics are my specialty, which is funny, because I hate being tricked.” He takes a step closer in a way that feels threatening, and he lowers his voice. “You and your grandfather haven’t been honest with me.”
He isn’t going to let this go, but how much can I tell him? “Yes, we have. Lately I’ve been getting angry.”
“And…”
“Really angry.”
“And…”
“Out-of-control angry.”
“Don’t make me push. I’ll win. You know I will.”
“I light up.”
“You start hitting people? Typical teenage shit. I want to know what’s with the heat.”
He’s not getting it, and why would he? It’s not something someone would think possible. Since he’s standing there, waiting for me to continue, I decide to tell him the truth.
“I don’t hit. I do this.” I hold out my hand and uncurl my fingers. A ball of fire springs to life in the middle of my palm.
Wyatt rears back, his disbelief snapping from the ball of fire to my face. “What the hell kind of freak show are you?”
There it is. I’m sick of everyone telling me I don’t belong, that I’m unnatural. Faldon said it so often, I almost believed him. A burn of anger flashes in my gut. “And when I’m really angry, I do this.” The flame races up my arm and engulfs my body in a blink.
Wyatt jumps back and a sudden douse of water hits me, licking at the flames and cooling my skin until the fire dissolves under the onslaught. Grandpa stands with the hose gripped tight, his phone forgotten on the floor and his lips pressed into a thin line. “What don’t you understand about keeping this quiet, son?”
“Holy hot hell, what was that?” Wyatt yells.
I swipe the water off my face and rake my wet hair out of my eyes. “My problem.”
“You self-combust? That’s not a problem, that’s impossible!”
I throw my arms wide. “Apparently not.”
Grandpa tosses the hose down and storms over. His chest nearly smashes into Wyatt and he grabs the younger man’s shirtfront. “You value your life?”
“You threatening me, old man?”
“Do you have any doubts?” His fingers curve into a tight fist. “I can clear it up.”
Wyatt looks from me to Grandpa. He’s trying to make sense of what he saw. “He caught fire. Real fire. That’s…it’s…you weren’t honest with us.”
“I was as honest as I could be. Would you have believed me?”
Wyatt shakes his head. “I’m still not sure I saw what I saw.”
“He’s a good kid. He doesn’t need any more trouble. All I want from you is your word you’ll forget what you just saw.”
A long moment passes before Wyatt shakes his head. “I can’t.”
Grandpa pulls back his arm, his fist a solid hammer of meat. “Wrong answer.”
Right Place, Wrong Time
“It’s a dragon, Kera.” Leo cautiously moved to the left for a better view and licked his dry lips.
She tugged on the braided strip of ivy she’d rigged as a leash to keep Blaze’s attention on her instead of Leo. Wound around his jaws and neck, it also kept Blaze from spitting fire whenever he chose.
“’Course,” Leo dragged the word out nervously, “I’ve never seen one up close, or far away…well, not one this big. Faldon had a little one about as mean as a feral cat, but…yeah, from all the manga drawings and video games Jason and I have pored over, that’s a real
“Why are you so surprised? I told you I had a dragon.”
“I don’t know.” Leo folded his arms across his chest and cocked his head for a better look at Blaze. “I guess I was thinking along the lines of a tiny lizard you can buy at the pet store, not a fairy-tale creature that doesn’t exist.”
After all he’d seen, Leo still didn’t believe in what the human world deemed impossible? She tugged on Blaze’s leash when he stretched too close to poor Leo, who quickly jumped back. The dragon huffed, turned away, and stared over Kera’s shoulder at a section of the barrier separating the two realms.
Unlike the official gateway heavily guarded on both sides by men and iron, some areas of the barrier had deteriorated almost completely. The
