Ablaze Without Flames

Chapter 12, Part 1 - Thea

B/E: So sorry for the long wait. This chapter has given me so many problems and I got severe writers' block trying to fix it. BUT it's done now \o/ If you notice any inconsistencies or otherwise things that seem to have popped up out of nowhere, I will be going back to edit previous chapters to fix that. I hope you enjoy!

Thea clutched the jacket in her lap as Oliver drove them back into the city. They didn't talk. The car was quite obviously expensive; she had no idea what half the buttons on the console between them were for. Another time she might have asked. She stole glances at his profile instead, silently urging him to drive faster to wherever it was he was taking her. He knew where Blaise was, and that was all that mattered. He looked older with his fringe held back beneath the bandana, the features of his face made harder. Joe fidgeted awkwardly in the back seat.

'This Carl guy has Blaise?' she asked, just for confirmation.

Oliver glanced sideways at her. 'There's no point asking me anything. You know I won't tell you.'

She rolled her eyes, sighing. 'Look, I'm not just some random girl off the street-'

'With all due respect, that's exactly what you are. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, that's all.' He indicated left to turn back into the city proper. 'Right place, right time for him, I guess,' he added, with a furtive glance in his rear-view mirror. Joe's mouth twisted like he wanted to ask a question, but thought better of it.

Thea leant on her fist and stared out the window. After a few more turns, she mumbled, 'You seem to have an awful lot of spare time to hang around the Shieldmaiden.'

Oliver chuckled, but didn't bite.

He pulled over at an illegal spot at the mouth of the high street. Cars behind blared their horns at having to drive around him, but Oliver didn't flinch. He leant on the steering wheel and dismissed them both with an uneven grin. 'In the nicest way possible, I hope I don't see either of you again.'

'The feeling's mutual,' Joe muttered before slamming his door shut. Thea said nothing, opting to sniff instead. They stood side by side in silence until the car disappeared among the stream of the main road. Thea stamped her foot and threw her hair out of her face. Joe eyed her like she was on the brink of exploding.

'They know something!' She pointed an accusing finger at him. 'They know where he is!'

'...I guess so,' Joe said, eyes flicking between hers and the tip of the offending finger. 'But he's probably right, you know? What's the point in getting involved in something we know nothing about? We'd just get in their way.'

Thea held her tongue against the tidal wave of argument that threatened. It wasn't Joe's fault, she reminded herself. The opposite, in fact. Without him, she would have no idea any of this was happening. Forcing in a calming breath that had little effect, she said, 'You're right.'

He blinked. 'What?'

A muscle twitched in her cheek. 'I said, you're right. There's nothing we can do. We don't know where he is.'

Joe's eyes narrowed fractionally. 'I feel like that's not what you're really thinking.'

'You're right about that, too,' she sighed, holding her forehead against the heels of her palms. Already her mind was flipping through all the information she had regarding Blaise and the demon hunters, what he'd told her of himself and his home and what the hunters would likely also know. She started walking in the only direction she could think to go: towards the park by the river where she'd first seen both Blaise and the hunter named Carl. The likelihood that they were there was slim, but maybe she would run into some inspiration on the way.