house in place. Since the rest of my team was occupied, that left me to do the fun part. Venus didnât want a crispy fried-chicken house, so I couldnât burn it down, and Mr. Monticello was clearly not coming out. I buried my exasperationâbefore I accidentally started a forest fireâand got ready to climb. Lock took my jacket and handed me my warded gloves. I slipped them on and began my ascent.
Mr. Monticello decided to take the express elevator down before I made it to the top. I canât say I blame him. The wet sound he made when he landed will show up in my nightmares for a long time.
I had to burn the clothes when we were done. The smell of charcoal and the eye-watering, acrid reek of chicken poop was never going to come out. I kept the warded gloves. They were too expensive to toss. Lock called Venus, and we had to wait until a recovery team came for the house. It was a long hike back to the car and a longer drive to the fence where Ez had left his clothes. Since he was the least exhausted, Ezra drove while Lock curled up in the back and I napped in the passenger seat. I was really looking forward to a hot shower.
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THE BOYS dropped me off at home, and I took the longest shower in the history of long showers. Once I was clean and dressed, I sat down for dinner and asked Cade about Ryanâs proposed road trip. Cade was less than enthused. Not for the reasons that most people raising a teenage girl would haveâCade trusted me and had no delusions in that arena. Weâd always been honest with each other. Lock and Ezra stayed over all the time, and though Cade knew we were just friends, a lot of other parents would have said no. Iâd brought that up once, and heâd laughed.
âMy parents had that rule, and Iâve always thought that was funny,â heâd said. âLike teenagers can only have sex at night in someoneâs house. If you were really dead set on it, I couldnât stop you. It certainly didnât stop me.â
âEw.â I pretended to gag.
âYour face could freeze like that, you know.â
âTotally worth it.â
He rested his chin in his hand, an amused twist to his lips. âDespite current evidence to the contrary, I prefer to believe that Iâve raised you right and know where you are at night.â Heâd earned a hug for that.
So it wasnât illicit behavior that Cade was worried about. And he certainly wasnât worried about Ryan doing anything harmful toward my person. When your little princess can scorch an entire city block with her mind, you just donât have those kinds of fears. No, Cade had the same worries Iâd had.
âIsnât that tempting fate?â he asked. âMight as well strap pork chops to your body and run into the lionâs den.â We were eating dinner at home. Cade had cooked, so my steak was tender and well-marinated and sitting next to some tasty roasted root veggies.
I can cook, since Iâd been on my own with my mom for years and it wasnât a skill I could live without, but unlike Cade I tended to cook in a very utilitarian fashion. I eat so I donât die, and I canât seem to get beyond that. I created fuel. Cade created a meal. I went for quantity, while he stressed quality. No one would starve in my presence, but Iâm not a chef. Cade, though, was a foodie. He liked smelly cheeses and fresh herbs and shuddered at my idea of cooking.
Firebugs have to be careful about two things: calories and potassium levels. We burn through both like mad when we light fires. Both are easy to maintainâeat a lot of bananas and make sure to keep electrolyte supplements handy. But I was seriously getting tired of bananas. Thereâs really only so much you can do with them. When Cadeâs not around, I eat them plain and bitch a lot . When he is around, he bakes them into things, slices them into oatmeal, and sneaks them into desserts. I