Firebug by Lish McBride Read Free Book Online

didn’t want to go, but he’d get suspicious if I passed on it. That movie marathon had my name all over it.
    â€œWell, you had me at blood, guts, and gore, but I have to check with Cade. What’s our timeline look like?”
    Ryan’s face lit up in his trademark grin, the one that had most of the teenage girls in Currant swooning. I couldn’t say no to someone so swoonworthy, right? Based on all the literature I’d consumed, girls swoon. Usually because of too-tight corsets or the sight of Elvis’s gyrating hips, but it did happen.
    â€œI’ll pick you up, say, six on Friday? Bring you home Saturday morning?” I raised an eyebrow at that and received an overly innocent expression from Ryan in return. “The marathon runs late, so we can either stay the night in Boston and drive home in the morning, or, if that raises old Cadey’s hackles, I can bring you home straightaway. But it will still be in the early hours of Saturday morning.”
    I hated it when Ryan called him Cadey. “I’ll ask and let you know, okay?”
    Ryan nodded and ate the last chip on his plate. He cast a hopeful glance at mine. “You going to eat that?” He pulled the rest of my sandwich toward him while I scowled.
    He grabbed my hand and gave my fingertips a quick kiss. “You’re cute when you do the mock-pissed thing.” Then he started devouring my sandwich. I wasn’t doing mock anything, of course. My hand twitched for my fork, and the corner of the paper napkin in mylap burst into flames. I knocked it to the floor and stomped it out with my boot.
    â€œDo you smell something burning?” Ryan asked, taking a brief break from destroying my sandwich.
    â€œNope.” I smiled tightly at him and shoved my hands into my warded pockets.

3
    E SCAPADES IN F OWLNESS
    AFTER MY LUNCH with Ryan, Lock and Ezra picked me up for another Coterie mission, at Venus’s command. The boys showed me their wards automatically, knowing I wouldn’t get into the car unless they had them on. It only took Ezra forgetting his once before that became standard practice. He’d had to go to a Coterie witch to get her to grow back his eyebrows for him, which had cost him a pretty penny—meaning Ezra had to go out and steal more to get the cash back. He loves stealing, but hates extra work, and when he has to do it, suddenly it’s work, and repugnant to him in every way. Ezra’s mind is complicated.
    So now Ezra and Lock hold out their chains and I make sure I see the rune for fire etched into the silver ward around their necks before we go anywhere. Though Ezra’s only looked silver. Were-foxes weren’t exempt from the silver sensitivity that plagued most of the were community. So his was made out of platinum.
    We drove for forty-five minutes before we reached our target.
    â€œWhat is it?” Ezra asked, his head tilted to the side. The implied follow-up being: “… and can I steal it?”
    â€œNo,” Lock said.
    â€œIt’s a Baba Yaga house.” I couldn’t keep the surprise out of my voice. I’d read about them, but I’d never actually seen one. A Baba Yaga house is a cabinlike structure situated on some big-ass chicken legs. It’s like the architectural version of a mermaid, but instead of a woman/fish combo, it’s a house/chicken combo.
    Ezra scoffed. “As safe houses go, that’s not the best choice. It looks like an avant-garde nightmare.” He stepped forward. “Let’s get this over with. What a waste of perfectly good nap time.” He reached for the gate, and Lock and I both jumped forward at the same time, but we were too late. When Ezra opened the gate, it creaked. Loudly.
    The house shuddered, its feathers ruffling as it lifted up from the ground. Dust and the occasional feather floated on the breeze as the house raised itself to its full height, revealing some really orange, somewhat