Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

FLAME

Bran’s looking at me with a dumbstruck expression, and I’m not sure what to make of it. I’m not sure what to make of any of this, except that now I don’t need to worry so much about being arrested for arson. Bran will vouch for me.

That’s not the only good thing about it all, though. Cody’s right; we need more awareness if we stand any hope of winning this fight. The issue Aqua and River uncovered when they met was resolved only when we were able to prove—with River’s research—that the manufacturing plant was causing ecological damage that might have international implications. Even then, I think if it had been an expensive issue to fix, the company might have dragged things out in the courts.

But that’s part of the problem. It was such a small thing, causing a huge amount of damage, and the executive responsible for that area preferred to hire someone to “stop” River’s research and cover it all up rather than admit it existed and take the ding to his professional reputation. The cost of rectifying the problem was, for a company of that size, not all that substantial, but it was still a loss of profit that he didn’t deem necessary. How many more problems like that exist? It’s hard enough for us to fight the big ones we already know about—we’re on a sinking ship with a million slow leaks we can’t even find. Despite what Aqua might say, that’s not a good thing.

Having more help, and better still, the kind of help that knows how to raise awareness on a broad scale, can only be a good thing.

Bran being part of that… well, I’m starting to wonder if it’s not heartburn I’ve got after all. My chest is still doing that weird thing, but the thought of Bran hanging around here all the time, knowing who and what I am, not thinking I’m a criminal… That seems to have been the green light my cock needed to let its attraction to him—my attraction to him—take over. He was always off-limits before, what with the whole firefighter-who-thinks-I’m-an-arsonist thing. Now, though, that ban has been lifted.

Is there any chance Bran could find me as attractive as I find him?

And… the last time this happened, when Aqua met River, Aether said he was meant to join us and be Aqua’s. Could I have been so strongly compelled by Bran’s presence all these years because he’s meant to be mine?

I can’t deny that the idea of having somebody is… wonderful. We’re not human, and I guess we technically don’t have human feelings, but when you live in a body for long enough, it influences you. Throughout all my lives, that’s happened. It’s why we’ve had sexual encounters with natives—but always casual, no commitment wanted. After all, how do you have a relationship when you can never disclose who you really are?

I didn’t think it mattered. I had my brothers for company when I needed it. But after all these lifetimes seeing Aether and Perry, the connection they have, sometimes I’ve wondered what that might be like. When Aqua met River… Well, it doesn’t seem fair that he should get someone of his own and the rest of us don’t.

Of course, it also doesn’t seem fair that entire species become extinct, so really, I don’t have a lot to complain about. Humans are going to die out, and millions of other dominant species will come and go before this planet ends and takes me with it.

So I pushed aside the niggle of jealousy—me! Jealous of water —and got on with the job.

Now, though… I can’t stifle the little flame of hope within me.

Fuck, unless Bran’s meant to be someone else’s?

My horror at the thought must show on my face, because Bran flushes red and looks away. Dammit. I don’t know what to say to get his attention back and reassure him that I’m not horrified by him . The opposite, in fact.

“Uh,” Bran stammers. “I-I don’t know about me being meant to be here. But if I can help, I’m happy to.” He pulls a face. “I guess I can start by telling the guys I work with that Flame’s not an arsonist.”

“That would be helpful,” I manage. Does he not want to be here? “Let’s go back to this arsonist you mentioned that’s definitely not me. Can you tell me more?”

He nods, his expression settling into lines of determination. “We thought it was you—well, mostly I did—because I’ve seen you at so many of the wildfires that were started by arson. But if it’s not you, there are no suspects. Someone’s been setting fires up and down California, and even into Oregon and Washington, for years.”

Rage burns inside me. I understand the attraction of fire. Nobody can understand that better than me. But how dare some asshole make my job here harder? It hurts every time I need to curtail a blaze and see it snuffed, and this jackass is deliberately prolonging my agony? Not to mention the damage being done to our overall efforts.

Whoever it is will burn.

“You can’t set fire to them,” Perry says, reading my mind. “Aether, tell him he can’t burn the arsonist.”

Aether nods solemnly. “What Perry said. We have to try to live by human rules. Mostly.”

Bran looks from them to me and back. “Wait, you’re not serious, right? I want this arsonist in prison for a long time, not murdered.”

“Hmm.” George taps a finger against his mouth. “Is it murder if he sets a fire and it accidentally burns him to death?”

That right there is why George and I get along, even though his dirt does nasty things to my fire. I point at him for emphasis. “What he said. Anyway, what I might or might not do doesn’t matter, since we don’t know who the arsonist is.” I’ll find out, though. The next time he lights a fire, the flames will give me clues. For the first time ever, I regret that fire can’t be a little more like water, which is a single entity. Every drop of water in the world is recycled over and over again, and because of that, it shares a universal consciousness. The water in a river in South America knows the same things that the snow in the Arctic Circle does, because at one point, one was the other and vice versa.

Fire’s not like that. Each one is unique and has a beginning and an end. The only eternal flame is the core of the planet, and that’s not so much pure fire as it is molten rock. It’s why I get along better with George than Aqua—we have that commonality. Aqua and I are complete opposites.

Zephyr and I have a commonality, too, but he’s so busy listening to the air that it’s hard to have a conversation with him most of the time.

The bottom line is, I can’t connect with fires that have already been extinguished to learn details about who set them. Once a new fire is born, though, I’ll be able to get some details. A description, at the very least. I give Bran a determined smile. “Next time this person sets a fire, I’ll be able to describe them to you. Will that be enough to get started?”

I could get used to having him look at me with that kind of gratitude. “Yes! That would be amazing—we can use a description to keep an eye on the onlookers. Lots of arsonists like to hang around to admire their handiwork. It’s more than we have now.”

There’s a good chance the fire will see a car as well, which will have more identifying features. Or maybe luck will be shining on us and the arsonist will be wearing a nametag from their job—weirder things have happened.

Regardless, my goals for the immediate future have changed a little. Top of the list: Find the arsonist. But connected to that, and in close second place: Make Bran happy with me all the time.

To that end, I smile regretfully and say, “I’m sorry there isn’t a faster way to do this.”

He looks surprised, but it quickly changes to gratitude. “That’s okay. Any help is welcome. Although…” He winces. “We might need to come up with a way to tell the investigators how we know. I’m not sure ‘the fire told me’ is something they’d accept.”

I laugh.