Ignite Me - Tahereh Mafi Page 0,74
nodding at Alia. “They follow a pattern—an almost mathematical precision. If you cannot injure yourself while breaking through a concrete wall, it does not then follow that you should be able to injure yourself by breaking the ground, only to remain uninjured after breaking the ground a second time.” He looks at me. “Your injuries have to do with your hold on your ability. If you ever slip out of electricum—if you dial it back for even a moment—you will be vulnerable. Remember to be on, at all times. If you do, you cannot be defeated.”
“I hate you so hard right now,” Kenji mutters under his breath. “Functionally invincible my ass.”
“Jealous?” I grin at him.
“I can’t even look at you.”
“You shouldn’t be surprised.” Warner has just walked in. I spin around to find he’s heading toward our group, smiling a brittle smile at no one in particular. He sits down across from me. Meets my eyes as he says, “I always knew your powers, once harnessed, would be unmatched.”
I try to breathe.
Warner finally breaks eye contact with me to glance around the room. “Good evening, everyone,” he says. He nods at Castle. A special sort of acknowledgment.
Adam has a special sort of acknowledgment of his own.
He’s staring at Warner with an intense, unmasked hatred, looking as though he truly wants to murder Warner, and I’m suddenly more anxious than I’ve been all day. I’m looking from Adam to Warner and back again and I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if something is about to happen and I’m so desperate for things to be civil that I—
“Hi,” James says, so loudly it startles all of us. He’s looking at Warner. “What are you doing here?”
Warner raises an eyebrow. “I live here.”
“This is your house?” James asks.
Strange. I wonder what Adam and Kenji told him about where they were going.
Warner nods. “In some capacity, yes,” he says. “It serves as my home. I live upstairs.”
“That’s so cool,” James says, grinning. “This whole place is so cool.” He frowns. “Hey I thought we were supposed to hate you, though.”
“James,” Adam says, shooting his brother a warning glance.
“What?” James asks.
“You are free to hate me,” Warner says. “If you want to. I don’t mind.”
“Well you should mind,” James says, surprised. “I’d be really upset if someone hated me.”
“You are young.”
“I’m almost twelve,” James says to him.
“I was told you were ten.”
“I said almost twelve.” James rolls his eyes. “How old are you?”
Everyone is watching. Listening. Too fascinated to look away.
Warner studies James. Takes his time answering. “I’m nineteen years old.”
James’s eyes go wide. “You’re only a year older than Adam,” he says. “How do you have so many nice things if you’re only a year older than Adam? I don’t know anyone your age who has nice things.”
Warner looks over at me. Looks back at James. Looks at me again. “Is there nothing you want to add to this conversation, love?”
I shake my head. Smiling.
“Why do you call her ‘love’?” James asks. “I’ve heard you say that before, too. A lot. Are you in love with her? I think Adam’s in love with her. Kenji’s not in love with her, though. I already asked him.”
Warner blinks at him.
“Well?” James asks.
“Well what?”
“Are you in love with her?”
“Are you in love with her?”
“What?” James blushes. “No. She’s like a million years older than me.”
“Would anyone like to take over this conversation?” Warner asks, looking around the group.
“You never answered my question,” James says. “About why you have so many things. I’m not trying to be rude,” he says. “Really. I’m just wondering. I’ve never taken a shower with hot water before. And you have so much food. It must be really nice to have so much food all the time.”
Warner flinches, unexpectedly. He looks more carefully at James. “No,” he says slowly. “It is not a terrible thing to have food and hot water all the time.”
“So then are you going to answer my question? About where you got all this stuff?”
Warner sighs.
“I am the commander and regent of Sector 45,” he says. “We are currently on an army base, where it is my job to oversee our soldiers and all the civilians who live on the accompanying compounds. I am paid to live here.”
“Oh.” James goes pale in an instant; he suddenly looks inhumanly terrified. “You work for The Reestablishment?”
“Hey, it’s okay, buddy,” Kenji says to James. “You’re safe here. Okay? No one’s going to hurt you.”
“This is the kind of guy