Free TORCH by Yvonne Collins, Sandy Rideout Page A

lot of surreptitious looks, and is finally warming up to inquire.
    “The last time that happened, you’d just rescued Kai,” she says.
    “Yeah,” I say. “It’s sort of the same thing.”
    She looks at me quizzically. “What happened?”
    “I ran into him on Friday night, we chatted for awhile and then... he kissed me.”
    Regan drops her sandwich on the pavement and the tuna spills out. I offer her mine, but she shakes her head. “You hooked up with Kai Seaver?” she asks.
    “No! How could you think that? We’re not even friends.”
    “But you kissed him.”
    “He kissed me . Once. And it wasn’t like, romantic or anything. It was sort of hostile.”
    She looks skeptical. “A hostile kiss?”
    “I know it sounds strange, but yeah. He’s an odd guy. Very cold.”
    Regan snorts. “And hot at the same time. Very hot, actually.”
    “Well, he’s not my type,” I say. “I’m going to avoid him.”
    “Huh.” Regan roots around in her bag while she processes this information, and comes up with an apple. “So tell me how this hostile kiss happened?”
    I’ve worked out a story—a few truths laced together with fiction—but I don’t get to deliver it, because Matt Huxley comes up behind us, pushing a red racing bike. “Can I talk to you, Phoenix? In my office.”He turns to Regan and adds, “Sorry, we won’t be long.”
    I wait while Hux removes his purple helmet, which features a silver tidal wave, and locks it up with his bike. Trailing after him into the pool, I speculate that he’s going to try to woo me onto the swim team. From what I heard, their first meet was abysmal.
    Unlocking the door to the pool area, Hux swaggers along the deck like the captain of a ship. Half way to the office, he turns and walks backwards. “So...” he says, winding up for his pitch. “You made out with a Flood.”
    I stop in my tracks. “What?”
    He keeps walking backwards. “You heard me.”
    “What’s a Flood?”
    He pauses and cocks his head, trying to figure out what I know. “A Flood is the opposite of you.”
    If he’s going to play games, I’ll play along. “A swimmer, you mean? Now that I’ve given up chlorine?”
    “A swimmer, for sure,” he says, laughing. “A walking pool. A soaker, a douser, a deluge, a cascade. But most people call them Floods. That’s what Kai Seaver is, and why—” he comes back to peer at my mouth—“you look like that. But if that’s the worst you got, you did okay.”
    “If Kai’s a Flood, what am I?”
    He shrugs. “You tell me.”
    “You seem to know more about me than I do,” I say, anger prickling. “Fill me in.”
    “That’s your dad’s job,” he says.
    His perpetual grin hasn’t faltered. I want to slap it off his face. “My dad’s a busy guy.”
    “I bet he found a minute to warn you about Kai Seaver.” My face must give me away, because Hux continues. “That dude is trouble.”
    “You helped me save his life.”
    “Didn’t say he deserved to die. That’s why we’re in Rosewood, right?”
    I shake my head. “I’m lost. Can you drop the games and communicate like a regular person?”
    “Your dad’s the information highway, not me.”
    “But he’s not saying much. He warned me about Kai, and he said he’d tell me more, but he hasn’t.” I set my bag down on the deck. “My dad’s not himself, lately. People are saying bad things about him. Kai thinks my dad’s trying to kill his dad.”
    Hux nods thoughtfully. “That’s entirely possible. Although I hope not.”
    This isn’t the answer I expected from someone who’s practically a teacher. “But why? Why would my dad try to kill someone?”
    “Not just anyone. Brett Seaver. Brett’s a Flood, and he was working the night your brother died. Ray probably figures Brett had something to do with it.”
    “Why would one firefighter kill another?”
    Hux sighs. “You’re asking all the wrong questions, Phoenix. The simple answer is that Floods kill Torches, and vice versa.