Flamethroat (10 page)

‘
What did you do?
’
I asked.

Jack cringed.
‘
I wasn
’
t really sure what to do at the time. I ran away.
’

I smiled.
‘
That doesn
’
t sound like you.
’

‘
Then there was Esther McGowan, a Mage who could change the composition of raw materials. I was sixteen. She was thirty-one.
’

‘
Jack!
’
I exclaimed.

‘
She was my teacher. I kissed her after class one day as a dare.
’
Jack
’
s smile was mischievous.
‘
She slapped me afterwards.
’

‘
I should hope so,
’
I said, aghast.

‘
Third was Camryn.
’
Jack
’
s cheeks burned pink.
‘
At seventeen.
’

‘
Camryn?
’
My eyebrows shot up.

Jack shook his head.
‘
It
’
s not what you think. We have never been together. I grew up with Camryn, so I considered her as a sister. She saw it differently, I suppose.
’

‘
She kissed you?
’

Jack nodded.
‘
She did.
’

‘
Did you kiss her back?
’

‘
Of course,
’
Jack laughed.
‘
Many times, on many occasions.
’

I frowned.
‘
Why?
’

Jack laughed.
‘
A girl wanted to kiss me, Avalon. What was I supposed to do?
’

This annoyed me.
‘
Just because a girl fancies you doesn
’
t mean you have to use her-
’

‘
Oh, it wasn
’
t like that,
’
he said.

I scoffed.
‘
Who was lucky number four?
’

Jack
’
s teeth clenched and I saw a vein throb in his temple.
‘
Abby Butler. She could pass through solid objects. We were eighteen.
’

I waited for Jack to elaborate; but he did not.

‘
And?
’
I pressed.

‘
And she turned out to be quite horrible,
’
he said, swallowing hard.

‘
What did she do?
’

‘
It
’
s not important,
’
he said.
‘
She was not very nice, that
’
s all.
’

‘
You can tell me,
’
I said.

Jack gave in easily.
‘
I guess she was the first girl I really liked. I met her in the marketplace and saw her every day, but I never spoke to her. Until one day she spoke to
me
. I was so excited, I asked her on a date and she said yes. Everything went really well for a couple of weeks.
’

‘
What happened?
’
I asked.

Jack rolled onto his side and faced me.
‘
She was a criminal. A thief. She was using her Power to steal from all the manors in Frost Arch. She had been using me to get information on Forsythe manor.
’

My brows knitted together,
‘
That wasn
’
t very nice of her.
’

Jack let out a dramatic sigh.
‘
There you have it,
’
he said.
‘
My love life.
’

I gave a small laugh and Jack grinned, his past heartaches forgotten.

‘
So, go on then,
’
he said.
‘
It
’
s your turn.
’

‘
What?
’

‘
How many boys have you kissed? Or girls, whichever you prefer.
’

‘
Oh.
’
I turned red.
‘
Well I don
’
t know if you would count it, but Noah kissed me-
’
I cringed as the memory came flooding back.
‘
When he … when he forced me to kiss him.
’

‘
I wouldn
’
t count that,
’
said Jack.

‘
No,
’
I agreed.

‘
So, who else?
’
he asked.

I shrugged.
‘
No one.
’

‘
No one?
’
he repeated.
‘
Weren
’
t there any boys in Mortlock?
’

I shrugged.
‘
I have never been very good at meeting people.
’

‘
You met me,
’
Jack noted.

‘
Yes,
’
I agreed.
‘
But that is different.
’

‘
Why?
’

I uprooted a patch of grass, stalling. Why was it different? Because Jack was Jack and that was all there was to it.

‘
Would you kiss Georgia if she asked you to?
’
I said suddenly.

Jack thought about this for a moment.
‘
I don
’
t know,
’
he said.
‘
I don
’
t really know her. I might never see her again. Concord City is a big place.
’

I would be quite happy if Jack never saw Georgia Devereux again.

~

The following morning was bright and sunny, though according to Jack, still chilly. The nearest town was still a couple of hours away and we were determined to make it to Scyre before noon. This would be an easy task to accomplish now Jack had insisted upon healing my blistered feet. On top of that, the excellent meal from the previous night had left me with copious amounts of energy in the morning. Today, I walked ahead of both Jack and Hawthorne, marching through the trees, striding across fields and wading through shallow rivers.

It was almost noon when we reached the peak of a hill and saw the village of Scyre below us.

With a smile on my face, I led the way down the hill towards the village. I had heard that Scyre was home to an excellent marketplace where Jack and I could purchase food to last us the remainder of our journey. Hawthorne, used to hiding, slinked into the forest until we would need him again.

I was in extremely good spirits until we actually reached the marketplace. Looking around, Jack and I saw that everything was exceedingly expensive. Bread was three times the cost of what I was used to. Jack
’
s money would not go far here. With what little coin we had left, we managed to buy bread and water to last us only a couple of meals. We could not afford any meat, but I reminded Jack that Hawthorne would be able to help us with that.

As we wound our way through the crowded marketplace, eyeing stalls left and right, I remembered what Jack had said about stealing food.
No
, I thought. I would not succumb to that, I was not a petty thief.

‘
Read your palm dear?
’
said a toothless hag, shrouded by a veil.

‘
No thanks,
’
I waved her away, but she caught my wrist.
‘
I said
no
.
’

‘
Won
’
t take more than a minute, my sweet,
’
she grinned at me.

‘
I haven
’
t any money to pay you,
’
I told her, trying to wrench myself free from her grip. Jack had not noticed what was happening and was now several paces ahead of me.

‘
Free, for a pretty girl like you, my dear.
’

‘
Let go of me,
’
I said to her, but she was already staring at my palm.

‘
Heart line, it has a steep curve,
’
she told me.
‘
Good, good. You are filled with passion. A short head line. Hmm, you are direct and to the point.
’

I had stopped struggling to listen to what the woman was saying.

‘
And what is this line? It is odd.
’
She brought my hand close to her face and stared at my palm.
‘
Aacht!
’

The woman dropped my hand as though I had burned her. She pointed a gnarled finger at me and hissed.
‘
A demon! A fire demon from the pits of hell!
’

Spittle
flew
from her mouth as she shouted at me and I stumbled backwards into someone. It was Jack. He caught my shoulders and steered me away from the old witch, but I could hear her calling after me.

‘
A demon in our midst! She will watch the world burn and laugh when we are dust!
’

Jack continued steering me down the street until the woman
’
s cries died away.

‘
What was her problem?
’
I said, rather disgruntled.

Jack shrugged.
‘
Probably barking mad. Why
’
d you let her read your palm, anyway?
’

‘
I didn
’
t,
’
I said.
‘
She grabbed me.
’

Jack took my hand and held it up to his eyes.
‘
Ah, yes, I see what she was talking about.
’

‘
What? What do you mean?
’
I said, snatching my hand back and staring at it.

‘
See this line here?
’
he said pointing to the middle of my palm.

‘
Yes, so what?
’

‘
That line means you shouldn
’
t listen to batty old ladies.
’

I dropped my hand and rolled my eyes while Jack grinned at me.

‘
Don
’
t worry about her,
’
he said.

‘
She called me a fire demon,
’
I said, annoyed.
‘
That
’
s twice in two days I
’
ve been called a demon.
’

Jack shrugged.
‘
You don
’
t look like a demon to me.
’

With a sigh, I continued my way through the marketplace, with Jack at my heels. It wasn
’
t until we came to the end of the crowded street that we saw anything of interest.

I hadn
’
t noticed immediately, but Jack was no longer behind me. In fact, he had stopped following me several moments ago. When I turned to talk to him, I found that he was not there. Looking around, I saw that he was a good twenty meters behind.

‘
What are you doing?
’
I called back to him.

He did not move. Instead he was staring at a shop front. It looked like an apothecary.

I backtracked and made my way towards Jack.

‘
What is it?
’
I asked once I was at his side again.