Burn by Sarah Fine and Walter Jury Read Free Book Online

opens and Christina steps out. “Christina! Your mom called me yesterday—” He pauses as her expression crumples.
    â€œI need your help,” I say to him.
    He arches an inky black eyebrow. “Are you about to get me in trouble?”
    â€œPossibly.”
    He grins, white teeth contrasting with his dark skin. “Cool.”
    It never did take much to get Will to go along with my pranks. I grab my supplies from the trunk, introduce Leo as my cousin, and lead Christina by the hand as we enter Will’s building. I keep my head down until we’re in his apartment. He tosses his keys into a little basket on the counter and turns to us. “You seriously need to tell me what’s up.”
    I concocted my lie on the way here, and Christina’s prepared to back me up. As much as I hate to keep the truth from Will, it’ll be better and safer for him if he doesn’t know everything. I offer my explanation as I pull out his mom’s huge soup pot and empty potassium nitrate and sugar into it, then switch the heat to low. I want to do this quickly, but there are some things you just can’t rush.
    â€œMy dad made some important scientific discoveries, and he’s being framed by people who are desperate to get ahold of them. It’s like a corporate espionage thing, but they’ve got some corrupt cops on their side. Now they’re at Christina’s apartment. They want me in exchange for her parents, because they know I can get into my dad’s lab.”
    â€œFuckers,” he says.
    â€œMy thoughts exactly,” Leo replies, peeking into the pot. He’s been quiet for the most part, but when he saw me picking up stump remover and sugar at the store, he couldn’t wipe the smile from his face.
    As the sugar melts, and the mixture in the pot begins to look like caramel, we start to cut up a bunch of water bottles to use for casings. I explain my plan as Christina watches from the doorway. I’d pay a lot to know what she’s thinking, but it’s almost eight, and we have no time for a heart-to-heart. All of that will have to wait until her family is safe. I was hoping my mom would have been in touch by now, but she hasn’t been. I even tried calling her again, but it went straight to voicemail. And, seeing as I have no idea if she’s still in control of that phone, I didn’t leave a message.
    We create eight mounds of the caramel mixture and load them into the plastic casings. It’s kind of like working with larger versions of those plastic Easter eggs. Christina makes sure they stay closed with rubber bands. Will has the fuses—he’s been the guardian of my contraband for years. As Will and Leo pack up and get ready to head out, already joking like old friends, I slide my arm around Christina’s waist.
    â€œHow are you?” I ask.
    â€œEverybody I love is in danger right now. I’ve been better.”
    I brush her hair away from her face. “I know the feeling.”
    â€œThen you know how much I need you to make it through this okay,” she whispers, leaning into me, her fingers curling into my shirt.
    Her eyes meet mine, gorgeous and stormy blue. I’m caught in that gaze, unable to look away. “If it’s anywhere near as much as I need you to be safe and have your family back, then I guess I do.” I pull my dad’s phone from my pocket. “Keep this for me? I don’t want them to have it.”
    She takes it, cradles it in her hands. “And I’ll be giving this back to you . . .”
    I kiss her forehead. “In an hour.”
    A few minutes later, I’m climbing the steps to Christina’s building. My heart is beating a furious rhythm in my chest. There were a bunch of agents searching my apartment, so I don’t know how many will be in the Scolinas’ condo. As much as I hate going in there without knowing exactly what I’m facing, at least I know