Hunter was watching him with a disgusted expression. They were the only two people at the table. “I don’t know how you can eat that crap.”

“I’m hungry.”

Hunter sliced into the piece of grilled chicken in front of him. He was the only guy Gabriel had ever seen use a plastic knife in the cafeteria. “And you can slow down. I promise I’m not going to steal it from you.”

“Are you going to bitch at me for talking with my mouth full next?”

“I just don’t get what the big rush is.” Hunter speared a piece of broccoli. Gabriel hadn’t even known the cafeteria sold broccoli.

“I promised Layne I’d meet her after this period.” Theoretically, so they could go to the library and work on today’s math assignment. Really, so she could walk through the halls without getting hassled. Gabriel had found her hiding in the back corner of the library this morning, her face pale. Even then, he hadn’t realized how bad it was, until trig, when Taylor started in on her.

Gabriel had put a stop to it, real quick.

“That Ryan Stacey guy is in my first period chem class,” said Hunter. “I didn’t know who he was until he showed up looking like he’d gotten hit in the face by a pickup truck.”

Gabriel stabbed at the congealed mass of noodles. “If he lays a hand on her again, that might happen.”

Hunter was quiet for a moment. “Does she know?” he asked quietly. “About you?”

“No.” Gabriel watched Hunter push at the chicken on his tray and wondered if he was really that transparent. “Did you ever tell anyone?”

“Just Becca, but she already knew.” A shrug. “Someone said Layne was caught in a fire when she was young, that she’s got scars—”

“She does.” Gabriel glared at him. “So what?”

“You don’t think there’s something . . . interesting about a girl with burn scars getting involved with a guy who can control—”

“Control.” What a joke. Gabriel snorted and shoveled more food into his mouth. “I’m not sure we can call it control yet.”

“We’re getting better.” Hunter paused. “Do you feel it?”

“Not good enough.” They’d almost gotten caught Saturday night. Four homes in a row, fully engulfed. Gabriel was in and out of fire so many times that he’d started to lose track of which house he was in, of how many people were left to save.

By the time he got to the last woman, they’d been there for hours. He’d been exhausted, disoriented from inhaling so much smoke. She’d been unconscious, and he’d nearly dropped her in the middle of her flaming living room.