The Wrong Girl(68)

I wasn't sure I cared either, but that wasn't the point. Would Jack abandon the task if it proved hopeless? Or would he try until he could try no more?

"I won't burn," I said, my voice high, desperate. "Let me help him."

"No," Tommy said. "You may not burn, but the smoke'll get you." He coughed to emphasize the point.

"But it'll get Jack too," I said on a whimper. "He can't die in there. He can't!" It wasn't until I tasted salt on my lip that I realized I was crying.

Sylvia held me tightly and Tommy hovered nearby, ordering the firemen to spray directly through the door. Moments ticked by. I was soaked. We all were, our clothes plastered to our bodies, our hair bedraggled. I didn't care. I just wanted to see him again. He had to be all right. Had to be.

I needed him.

Finally he staggered out carrying an unconscious Tate across his shoulders as if he were a log. Two firemen took him and Jack stumbled forward, coughing over and over. Tommy helped him to the side of the house, out of the way, and set him on the ground. Sylvia and I knelt beside him. His lower lip had begun to swell and blood dripped from a cut above his eye. His face was blackened from the soot, as was Tommy's. Mine must have been too, but I didn't care about my appearance. I gently pushed Jack's hair off his forehead, and my fingers immediately began to glow.

He caught my hand anyway and pressed the palm to his lips. He suppressed a cough and gently kissed the skin at my wrist. Heat rushed through my limbs and I pulled away just in time. A large spark shot from my fingertips and sizzled in the damp earth. I sat back on my haunches, breathing heavily.

Jack smiled ruefully. "I couldn't help myself. I'm so relieved you're all right."

"I'm rather glad you're alive too," I said and grinned. If I threw my arms around him, would we combust? I wanted to, so much, that I was almost prepared to try it.

"What about us?" Tommy said. "Aren't you glad your cousin and I are alive?"

"Would you like a kiss too?" Jack asked him.

Tommy sniffed. "Don't think that'll get you off. I'm bloody angry at you for going back in there for that monster."

Monster. Tate was indeed one, in every sense. It was also the word he'd used to describe me.

I sat near Jack and pulled my knees up to my chest. It was a very unladylike pose, but I didn't care. "I'm sorry," I said. "I'm so sorry. I couldn't... I was too scared..."

"Don't," Jack said. "It's not your fault."

"But I should have been able to do something. Something like what you did with that fireball."

"You haven't learned to access the fire at will yet."

Would I ever?

"Jack's right," Sylvia said, circling her arm around me. "You did everything you could. You freed Tommy on your own." She hugged me and I hugged her back.

"You did save me in there," Tommy said quietly. I looked up to see his warm eyes blinking at me. They were filled with tears that didn't spill. "Thank you, Miss Smith."

"Perhaps you can call me Hannah now," I said.

"Right then, Miss Hannah." He suddenly grinned. "May I make a request?"

"Of course."

"Can you please not leave the rescue 'til the last moment next time?"

"I don't plan on there being a next time."

"With you and Jack around?" Sylvia said. "I think you're being overly optimistic."

The man I'd seen enter the factory behind Jack, Inspector Ruxton, came up to us. He too was wet and he wore no hat, having lost it in the factory. A few strands of brown hair clung to his otherwise bald head. "That was quite a scene in there. How'd you get that flame ball so quick then, eh, Mr. Langley? It seemed to come from nowhere. You some sort of magician?"

"It's a device," Jack said. "I keep it in my pocket for emergencies."

"Really? Can I see it?"

"I lost it in the fire."

"Shame. I've got an interest in new inventions." He seemed to believe Jack's explanation, thank goodness. "So, that one-armed man...is he the fellow you told me about? The one you accuse of stealing your uncle's papers?"

"Yes," Jack said, standing. "His name is Reuben Tate."

"I, uh, I'm sorry I didn't believe you when you first came to the station, sir. It's just that I, uh, thought it better to leave it to your local constabulary."

"I'm glad I was able to convince you in the end."

"Not sure I'm so glad." The inspector gingerly touched the back of his head.

"Did you search the house?"

"My men are doing it now. So far, no luck. You'd better give me the name of your witness after all. There's no avoiding it now, I'm afraid."