Light the Fire (Jackson's Hollow #1)

Chapter 57

"Holy--"

Whatever Brett had been saying was cut off when the small lighter Jo had been aiming at exploded. All of them ducked, except Ryker, who stepped in front of Jo, and Aaliyah, who pushed the boys farther back behind the lawn chairs.

For the past thirty minutes, members of the Monroe family had been finding things to put on the edge of the firepit so Jo could set them ablaze. While she couldn't explode anything on her own, Lexi seemed particularly good at finding things that would blow up. The biggest thing she had tossed a fireball at so far was an old beat-up toddler-sized wooden train engine toy that had been sitting at the edge of the yard. It was weather-worn and moldy, and Malcolm had been meaning to toss it anyways since the boys couldn't use it. It had mostly smoldered, but they had all enjoyed watching her hurl fireballs.

"Aren't you getting tired?" Ryker asked her, his fingers brushing against her lower back.

Jo shook her head. "Since we've been practicing so much, my stamina's gotten better."

"Don't pass out," Brett said, "I'm off the clock."

"Says the guy who wanted her to start with blowing up a tree," Ryker said, giving his brother an exasperated look.

"I didn't know her capabilities ok? I only asked once." Brett smiled at Jo, clearly trying to win her to his side. "You forgive me, right?"

Jo held her hands up. "I am so out of this argument."

"Actually, I think you're exactly in the center," Lexi said, practically skipping up to her. "This is the best secret ever," Lexi said quietly as the boys' conversation dissolved into some kind of semi-wrestling match with Brett's boys trying to climb on and join in the fun.

"I am sorry..."

"Don't," Lexi said, narrowing her eyes at Jo as she interrupted, "I probably would've done the same thing, I get it." They glanced over as Aaliyah came up to them.

"Hey, I'm going to bring the boys and Blake our leftovers for dinner. You guys want to help me pack it up?" They quickly agreed, heading inside and leaving the guys outside for a minute. Jo was on a strange energy buzz--likely the heady mix of sharing her secret and extended use of her fire powers--and she figured it wouldn't hurt to cool down a little bit.

Thinking about Blake was certainly a sobering thought.

"Hey," Aaliyah said, nudging her with an elbow as she scooped some spaghetti into tupperware. "He's a werewolf, he's healing just fine." It seemed like all of them could half read her thoughts...

The werewolves kept talking about how they healed quickly, but as Jo hadn't really seen a whole lot of evidence for herself, it was hard for her to believe sometimes. "You've seen him?" Jo questioned. For some reason she'd been thinking only people with leadership roles in the pack would be able to see him, but she guessed it wasn't like he was actually a prisoner or anything. Well, as far as she knew...

Ryker did have several guys keeping an eye on Blake, but she suspected that was mostly for his piece of mind.

"Just briefly this morning," Aaliyah said. "When I was bringing some supplies for Brett." She glanced at Jo and gave her a reassuring smile. "He was awake and seemed to be doing just fine, already grumbling about wanting to leave."

Jo grinned a little at that---that definitely sounded like perfectly normal werewolf behavior. As they put the lids on the containers, Aaliyah looked at her again. "Want to come with me and see for yourself?"

Jo hesitated for a split second. She knew--a big part of her knew--how much Ryker wouldn't like it. But the stubborn, independent part of her was determined that it shouldn't matter what Ryker thought. They weren't official...whatever yet. Blake obviously wasn't off limits to other pack members. And she could handle herself, as proven. She had every right to go.