Read Ablaze (Indestructible Trilogy Book 2) for Free Online Page B

Nolan’s giving me suggests we’re running out of time to make a decision. Hide out for the night? I don’t need to sleep, but he probably does, and in any case, the fiends will be swarming everywhere soon. The closer we get to the divide, the more likely it is that they’ll find us.
    “Leah,” says Nolan, as we pass by a stretch of trees. “I know you’re Transcendent, but I’m not. I’m not going to be in any shape to fight anything if we keep going at this pace. Let’s head for the woods.”
    I remember the last time I was in a forest with vivid clarity, and shake my head. “No way. We’d be closed in.”
    “It’s not normal of them to come into forests,” he says. “Honest. It’s better than being exposed out here.”
    He’s right, of course. So we veer off the path and into the woods. Trees drape a blanket of leaves over our heads, and the rustling noises of small creatures in the bushes startles me more than once. It never fails to amaze me that life goes on somehow, in places like this, even with the outside world falling apart.
    “Leah.” Nolan points to a clearing ahead. The stars are just visible through gaps in the canopy above. “We could build a fire here. No one would see.”
    “Fire.” I almost laugh. “We don’t actually need to build one, do we?” If we can shoot fire from our hands, surely making a campfire can’t be impossible.
    Nolan shakes his head at me. “You’ve never tried to light a fire using your powers, have you?”
    “What? Of course not. I haven’t had chance. I survived two years out here without knowing about it, anyway.”
    “Of course you did,” says Nolan. “But I… you know what, try it.” Strangely, his mouth’s quirked up in a smile.
    “Try what?”
    “Lighting a fire.” He starts collecting branches and throws them in a heap in the middle of the clearing.
    I approach the heap, frowning. He’s bluffing. I can blow fiends up, for crying out loud—why should lighting a fire be any different?
    Still, trying to access my powers without the imminent attack of a fiend proves difficult. I can’t get in the mindset. I pull out my dagger, like that’d help, and picture flames running across the edge of the blaze. Doesn’t happen. I try again. Again.
    A couple of minutes later, I’m rewarded by a sudden burst of flame, as the entire heap of brambles lights up in a flare. I drop the branches I’m holding and scoot backwards, looking up at Nolan in triumph—only to see him smirking at me. I turn my gaze back to the fire to find it’s burned itself out, and the branches are nothing more than little piles of ashes.
    So much for that idea.
    “Sorry. Had to see your face.”
    “Quit that,” I say. Why’s he being nice to me now? Does he have to make it so difficult for me to hate him?
    I head over to another tree at the other end of the clearing and sit down. I’m not particularly bothered about not having a fire. I’d rather not do anything that might draw the fiends to us. Sighing, I lean back against the tree trunk, peering up through the branches at the stars winking in the tainted sky.
    “Sorry,” says Nolan, who’s come over to join me. “Guess that wasn’t the right time to make fun of you, right? I thought it’d distract you.”
    “Never mind.” It was an honest effort, I guess. Plus it stopped me thinking about Cas for about five minutes, which is something.
    “I started a real fire,” he adds.
    The smallest flicker of flames dances in the centre of the clearing.
    “Thanks.”
    “And I set up some traps. We could catch a bird or two. I know you Transcendents probably don’t need to eat, but…”
    “Thanks,” I say, again. You Transcendents?
    “Unless you have any tips? You survived out here for two years after all.” His expression is open. Not quite a smile, but curious.
    “Yeah,” I say, slowly. He’s right, of course. I’m out of practise, but I get to my feet anyway. Maybe my extra-sensitive sight could be an