East

East | Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"I HAVE NO IDEA WHO the first lighter was," Andrew says, setting his burger down to swallow a mouthful of orange juice. "But we've been around for awhile. For sure since, like, centuries."

I hand him a napkin, which he takes, though somewhat confusedly. "Your chin," I say.

"Oh. Thanks." He wipes the orange trail away, and picks up the burger again. "But, yeah. You know that huge fire that destroyed most of London, back in 1666?

"The Great Fire of London, or something? That was you guys?" I curl my lips. "What happened?

He shrugs. "I dunno."

"You should stop saying 'you guys,'" Parker says wryly. He's a little shorter than Andrew, though older, I think. "You're one of us, too, now."

I grimace, watching him summon a small red flame in the palm of his hand. With the other he holds a bowl of cold soup over it. "I guess it comes in handy," I say slowly, all the while wondering if I can get away with never using my supposed powers.

"It's fun," Parker agrees, and sets the bowl down in front of Maggie. She beams at him adorably. "Thank you!"

I look out the window when he pats her on the head and sits down next to her to dig into his own dinner. The two of them aren't related, but he has three younger sisters at home, he told me, and so it's easy for him to take care of her while they're staying at the house.

It's a strange place; Callia showed me around on my second day, once I'd recovered from trying to break out and once she started to believe that I wasn't going to break out again. The top floor has a sloped ceiling—"That's the professor's office," she said. "You'll meet her when she gets back." The middle floor is where all the bedrooms are, including the one where I'd woken up, which Callia shares with Maggie. A guest room is usually left empty, but Ash is using it while he's in town for the holidays; the rest belong Andrew, Parker, someone named Ian whom I'm haven't met; and now, me...

The ground floor has all the living areas—kitchen, dining room, entrance hall, living room, and another family room. "We're all a family here," Callia had said. "We take care of each other." She gave me a look as if to say, So watch your step.

Family. I've been trying hard to avoid thinking about what Dad and Dennis and Jem said; I can still hardly believe it, even if they had no reason to lie, even if it would explain why I'm a lighter when none of them had ever shown an affinity to fire...

I glance at the doorway as the oldest member of my strange, new family walks into the kitchen. Ash greets everyone with a nod or a pat on the back, and comes to stand next to me. I narrow my eyes at him.

"The professor is ready to see you," he says. "She got back yesterday."

Andrew perks up. "Sweet! I want to show her what I've been doing. I can pretty much make a full armour now."

Ash slants him a look. "Maybe in a day or two," he says. He looks at me and tilts his head towards the stairs. "Ready?"

I breathe slowly. "Yeah." I wave good-bye to the others, and follow him into the hallway. He leads me up two flights of stairs and waits for me on the top landing. When I get up there, he's still looking at me. "What?"

"Have you told Jem where you are?"

"No."

He hesitates, then asks, "Did something happen?"

"It's none of your business," I say warily.

"Whatever he said," Ash says, "I'm sure he didn't mean it."