Gabriel was staring at it in her hand, that same inscrutable expression on his face. Tousled hair, rumpled T-shirt. Somewhat lost, but defiant at the same time. Those typical defenses were falling into place.

For an instant she wondered if his big secret was that he was a smoker. But she couldn’t work that out in her head. She’d never seen him smoke a cigarette, had never smelled cigarettes or pot or anything on him or his clothes—and god knew they’d spent enough time together over the last few days.

But why would he be carrying around a lighter if he wasn’t a smoker?

He still hadn’t said anything.

The horse snorted, lifting his head to look at the barn, his ears pricked. He’d moved down the hill a ways, but not far enough for her to worry.

She looked back at Gabriel. “A lighter?” she said again, bewildered. Intuitively, she knew that the time for easy answers had come and gone. It’s my brother’s, or I found it in the woods. Maybe something like, It’s dead, but it used to belong to my father.

Gabriel sighed and pushed the hair back from his face. “That,” he said, “is part of my secret.”

The horse snorted again, pawing at the grass. He was probably ready to spook at nothing.

Layne sighed and rolled to her feet, zipping up her jacket as she moved. She caught the horse’s lead rope and kept her voice even, trying to figure out the mystery before Gabriel laid it on the line. But she had no idea. “Your secret has to do with a lighter?”

He reached out to take it from her hand. “No. My secret has to do with fire.”

And at that precise moment, the roof of the barn burst into flame.

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 31

Gabriel stared at the flames shooting through the barn roof, blazing flares of orange and red. Smoke poured into the sky. There was plenty of fuel here—hay and wood and probably dozens of things he couldn’t even imagine. This fire didn’t rage—it celebrated. The entire building would be consumed in minutes.

Something was banging inside the barn. He heard screams, inhuman cries that made him want to clamp his hands over his ears.

Horses.

He could feel his heart in his throat. He’d been pulling power from the sunlight, his emotions riding high.

Had he done this?

This made his mistake in the woods look like a campfire.

Layne was all action, shoving at his chest. Her horse was dancing at the end of his rope, but Layne held fast. She was yelling, her voice hoarse.

He realized she’d been yelling at him for some time.

“Take him, damn it! Get him in the field!” She punched him in the chest again, shoving the rope at him.