The Survivors: Body & Blood (book 3)

This Fire, pt. 2

THAT MORNING, EVERETT AND GINNY USED THEIR INCREDIBLY USEFUL DISAPPEARING power to travel back to Canada in a single second instead of a two-leg plane ride and a thousand dollar airfare.

Sadie checked out of the hotel as Ben, Noah, and I waited for the Land Cruiser with far less luggage. When Sadie arrived, she was dressed like she always was, but her hair was in a ponytail, and there was no polish on her nails. These were small details, but I could tell they mattered. She was ready to get to business now, and even she was-n't about to let her perfect hair or an inventive manicure get in the way.

"What?" she said when she saw me looking.

"Nothing," I said, and I got into the driver's seat. "Where to?"

"LAX," she said.

"What's that?" Ben asked.

"An airport," Sadie said. "It's time to visit Raven's mausoleum town in England, where hopefully Tituba will still be."

Sadie, I said in my head.

She looked casually in my direction to signal she was listening.

Noah? On a plane? Enclosed space, tons of humans . . . You're not worried?

"I've got it handled," she said.

And she did. On the plane, she used a charm that would put Noah in a sort of sleep-state.

"How do we wake him up?" I asked.

"You think I had time to learn that?" she asked, her voice incredulous. "That's what I have the plane ride to figure out."

These moves were so very Sadie. Do something potentially brash. Don't worry though because of a deep conviction that you'll figure it out anyway.

Halfway through the flight to Manchester, I asked her about her goodbye.

"So my darling, how hard was it to part from the one you love?"

"You say it like he's the only thing in the world I care about," she said. Then she yawned.

"Fine then. How hard was it to say goodbye to the one you're more or less betrothed to?"

She shrugged. "Not as hard as I gather it should be. But I'm trying not to notice. How was the girl you brought home?" she asked, a coy smile on her lips as she closed her eyes.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," I said. I just assumed she didn't . . .

Sadie laughed. "You were twenty-five feet away. I was asleep at 6:30 in the morning and then awoke to overwhelming waves of lust, passion, general turned-on-ness, and . . . yeah. Didn't stop to think about how strongly I feel what humans in my vicinity feel, did you?"

I was actually speechless. Of course I had never thought of that, not like that. So if I did something to Redhead, she could feel it?

It was hard enough having my now closest confidante on the planet be my brother's girlfriend, and it was hard enough having my closest confidante and my brother's girlfriend be one of the hottest creatures I'd ever interacted with but to say things like this? THAT WAS JUST UNFAIR.

I swallowed hard, collecting myself. "I'm sor—"

She stopped me. "It's fine. Just food for thought the next time you bring a human home." She was light about. Casual, even. Was this still the same Sadie? Should I be worried?

Before I could say anything else uncomfortable, Sadie closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

At some point, Ben leaned over. "A human? You can . . . do that?"

I sighed. "Yeah. I can do that."

"But the rest of them . . ." he trailed.

"Can't. Right."

"Is it a power? A power Noah could get?" he asked, an emotion I couldn't read in his eye.

I should've lie to him. In that moment, when he loved someone like me — no, not like me, like my siblings — I should've lied to him. It would've given him hope.

But what did hope ever do?

"It's not a power, Ben. It's self-control."