Wind tore across the water to make the flames flicker. Hunter shivered. There’d been clean jeans and a T-shirt in the bag Bill had provided, but nothing warmer than that. His fleece pullover was soaked with her blood, rolled up by the fire.
“Cold?” Kate pulled the edge of the sleeping bag back. “There’s plenty of room.”
If she’d said it in a dirty way, he wouldn’t have taken her up on it. But because he was cold and her voice was casual, Hunter scooted until his legs were under the top blanket and he was sitting up beside her.
Now that they were close, however, he didn’t know what to say.
Kate’s hand found his under the blanket. “Thanks,” she said. “For saving me.”
He turned his hand and laced his fingers through hers. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
“Silver pointing a gun at us.” She paused. “I didn’t expect to wake up.” Another pause, a longer one. Her voice was heavy. “Your dog . . .”
Hunter whistled. Casper came tearing up the beach from whatever he’d been investigating.
Kate’s face broke into a smile. “He’s okay!”
Hunter rubbed the dog behind his ears until he started the rawr-rawr-rawr. “He’s tough.” He stroked a finger down the line of Casper’s muzzle. “He’s the one you should be thanking. He attacked Silver.”
Kate took him up on that and started scratching Casper behind the ears herself.
The dog flopped over in the sand, looking for a belly rub. Kate obliged him.
Then she said, “So what’s the plan?”
“Staying alive? I don’t know.” Hunter pressed his fingers into his eyes. “I don’t have anywhere for us to go.”
“What do we know?”
“Not much.”
“Let’s lay it out and make a plan.”
Hunter looked at her in surprise.
“What?” she said with a spark of irritation in her eyes. “You think you’re going to figure all this out on your own?”
“No—I didn’t—” He stopped to figure out his words before he sounded like a moron. “I just . . . I’ve been on my own for a long time.”
“Me, too.” She stared at him, and he loved the way the fire cast shadows across her features. “We’re together right now.”
“Okay.” He nodded. “Okay.”
“Lay it out. What do we know?”
“Silver killed my phone, and I dropped the files when he shot you. I have half a tank of gas in the jeep and maybe twenty bucks in cash. I don’t remember all the names of the kids who were involved with Calla, and I don’t know where she’s hiding. All I know is what Noah told me: that she’s alive, and they’re planning something for Monday.”
Kate took all that in and nodded. “Do you know where she might be hiding?”
“Noah said something about tunnels. But I don’t know if that means she’s hiding in a tunnel somewhere, or if she’s planning something to do with tunnels . . . I don’t know. She’s a Fire Elemental. Why start a fire in a tunnel? But if that’s just where she’s hiding, I don’t get that, either. The only tunnels around here are sewer tunnels—also not conducive to fire. Gabriel spent the night in the water a few weeks ago, and he said he’d never felt more drained.”
“Does Silver know any of that?” said Kate.
“Not from me.” He scowled. “But he probably has my files now, so all those other kids are at risk.”
“At risk? They’re the ones trying to hurt people.”
“Not all of them. Some of them can’t be older than ten or eleven. They probably have no clue what they’re getting into. And they’re just trying to protect themselves.” He paused. “I still don’t know which is the right side, here. I could never be like Silver. But I can’t sit back and watch pure Elementals hurt innocent people, either.”
“Silver sees harming innocent people as a means to an end. Did your dad?”
Hunter thought back. “I don’t think so.” He paused. “Bill told me that my dad made sacrifices to keep me a secret. Silver said I’m living proof of what my dad did wrong. Do you know what that means?”
Kate sighed. “Maybe.”
Hunter waited. More wind blew off the water to trace through his hair. The air had a definite bite to it now, and Kate rubbed at her arms.
She shifted to slide back under the blankets, then propped herself up on one shoulder, scooting back to give him room. “Get under the blankets. I’ll tell you what I know.”
He hesitated, then slid under, too, mirroring her position.