Before Emma could even react to what was happening Mark released Jason, dropping his right hand and following through with an elbow to Jason’s face. In the same movement he spun, scooping Emma up and carrying her into the kitchen away from Jason. Dropping her in the corner of the room Mark turned to face Jason, ready to fight if he attacked. Jason shook his head, the fire slowly disappearing from his hands as he rubbed his jaw.
“Look at me.” Mark commanded when the fire was gone.
Jason looked up, his eyes a clear blue again.
“You good?” Mark asked.
Jason nodded.
For a second everyone in the room stood perfectly still. Mark and Jason still stood staring at each other, neither one of them wanting to be the first person to move. Finally it was Emma who inched her way around Mark so she wasn’t trapped in the corner anymore.
“Are you okay?” She asked softly, looking down at the holes burned into the sleeves of his shirt where Jason’s hands had been.
Mark nodded once, his eyes never leaving Jason’s.
“How bad is he burned?” Jason asked, staying where he was.
“I’m not sure.” Emma said. She looked up at Jason, who had the shuttered look of a man who knew he had done something wrong but didn’t want to admit to his mistake. “Do you have scissors and anything for burn injuries?”
Jason nodded. “I’ll go get them.” He said, disappearing down the hallway.
Mark relaxed a little bit when Jason was out of sight, finally looking down at Emma.
“Are you okay?” He asked, capturing the hand that she had used to pull at Jason and inspecting it for burns.
“I’m fine.” Emma said, tugging her hand out of his grasp. “You need to sit down so I can take care of those burns.”
Mark shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. They will heal.”
“Humor me.” Emma said dryly. “Now sit down.”
Mark gave in to Emma’s urgings and sat down at the table just as Jason walked back into the room.
“Here are the scissors.” Jason said, handing them to her. “And this is the burn ointment and some gauze to wrap around the burns.”
“Thanks.” Emma said, setting each of the items on the table next to Mark.
“What are the scissors for?” Mark asked, looking at the scissors suspiciously.
“I need a clear look at your burns and your shirt is ruined. I figured it would be least painful if I just cut the sleeves of your shirt off just above the burns.” Emma replied briskly, picking up the scissors.
Mark frowned. “I really liked this shirt.” He said. Mark looked over Emma’s head at Jason. “You’re buying me a new shirt.” Mark told him as Emma began gently cutting the sleeves just above the burn marks.
“Oh hush,” Emma chided him. “You have a million shirts like this one, and to be fair you did attack him first.”
“Maybe next time he’ll remember not to bring you back with a black eye.” Mark said. He frowned at her. “How exactly did you manage to get a black eye?”
“Maybe next time you’ll ask questions like that first before you attack me.” Jason retorted.
Emma shot a glare at him before turning back to Mark and cutting the sleeve off of his other arm. “Before school started Jason pulled me into a side hallway to lecture me about how important it is that I keep everything I know about the two of you a secret. Morgan saw us and wasn’t too happy about it. Apparently someone else saw us too, by lunchtime everyone was talking about how Jason and I had been making out in the side hallway.”
Emma quickly recounted the whole fight scene to Mark, keeping her eyes focused on applying the ointment to his arms, ending with. “So I announced a few of her secrets out loud for everyone to hear and now I’m pretty sure she has no friends because of me.”
Emma slowly looked up, not sure what Mark’s reaction was going to be. Mark was grinning from ear to ear, looking prouder than a parent whose child just took their first steps. When Emma was finished applying the ointment he slapped her on the back. “Finally!” He exclaimed. “I’ve been waiting for you to stand up to Morgan for years! I’m glad she finally got what she deserves.”
Emma shook her head as she wound the gauze around Mark’s arms. “I’m not proud of what I did.” She said. “No one deserves to be publicly humiliated like that. I just lost my temper when she said my parents didn’t want me. Not that it’s much of an excuse.”
“Hey,” Jason spoke up, “You stood up for yourself and that is something to be proud of. Morgan has been bullying you for years, you don’t need to feel bad for her.”
“That’s right.” Mark said. “Morgan needed to learn that she can’t keep treating you like her own personal punching bag.”
Emma put the gauze down on the table and leaned back in her chair, looking back and forth between Mark and Jason.
“So will one of you explain to me why Jason attacked me?” She said matter of factly, changing the subject.
Jason shifted uncomfortably and looked away, his expression ashamed. Mark was the one who answered Emma.
“Elemental powers like Jason’s can be very difficult to control.” Mark told her, leaning back in his chair too, careful not to brace his sensitive arms against the armrests. “They tap into the primitive side of the user, so sometimes when they are being attacked they begin to react by instinct instead of thought. When you grabbed Jason’s arm his instincts registered it as another attack and so he reacted.”
Emma’s mouth formed an O as she processed what Mark was saying. She looked up at Jason. “Does that always happen?” She asked.
Jason was leaning against the wall a few feet away, his arms and legs crossed. He shook his head. “No, not always. Usually I can keep control of it but sometimes if I’m surprised or my emotions get too strong it will.”
“What I can’t figure out is how you weren’t burned.” Mark said. He grabbed Emma’s arm again as if the burn might have showed up while she was bandaging his.
“Wait, was she burned?” Jason asked, jolting upright. His face was horrified as he stared at her. “Emma, I am so sorry!”
Emma shook her head. “No, I wasn’t burned.” She said. “Don’t feel bad, I’m fine.”
“That’s what I mean.” Mark said, talking to Jason. “I saw her hand engulfed by the flame. She should be burnt.”
Jason looked confused as well. “I’ve never known anyone to be immune to my fire.” He said. “Did you feel anything Emma?”
Emma shook her head slowly. “No, not really.” She said. “I was too busy concentrating on trying to get you two apart.”
“You were so busy concentrating that you didn’t notice your hand going up in flame?” Jason asked skeptically.
Emma glared at him. “Mark reacted so fast I didn’t even know. He had me halfway across the room before I even realized you had tried to burn me.”
“This wasn’t the first time your flames haven’t hurt her either.” Mark told Jason. “When we were fighting Loraine, she deflected a string of your fireballs at Emma. I tried to shield her but the flames didn’t even hit me, something blocked them.”
Jason looked at Mark curiously. “You mean, that wasn’t you?” He asked. “I assumed you were the one throwing up the shield.”
Mark shook his head. “Shielding isn’t one of my powers.”
Emma pushed her hair back out of her face. This conversation was going nowhere. Suddenly Mark grabbed her hand, staring at her bracelet.
“Emma, where did you get this?” He asked quietly. Jason leaned over her shoulder, trying to get a look at what Mark was staring at.
“I found it when I was cleaning out the attic a few weeks ago.” Emma told him.
“Before Chris Miller’s party?” Mark pressed. He was staring intently at the symbols on the bracelet, tracing them with one of his fingers.
“Yeah.” Emma said.
“Can you take it off?” Mark asked her. “I want to have a closer l
ook at it.”
“Uhhhh, not exactly.” She hedged.
“What do you mean, not exactly?” Mark stared at her suspiciously.
Emma shrugged and pulled her arm out of Mark’s grasp. Propping her elbows on the table she played with the bracelet, rubbing her thumb on one of the metal disks. “It’s kind of a crazy story.” She said.
“Start from the beginning.” Mark directed, leaning forward. Jason circled the table and sat in the chair across from Emma, bracing his elbows on the table and leaning forward as well.
Emma looked back and forth between them, suddenly feeling like she was in the middle of an inquisition. “I mean I don’t really know how to explain it.” She said.
“Try.” Mark said firmly.
Emma blew her breath out in exasperation. “Okay fine. When I cleaned the attic I found a box of my parent’s belongings. There were only a few things in the box, the bracelet being one of them.” Jason and Mark exchanged a look when she told them that but they didn’t say anything so she continued. “I didn’t want anyone to know I had found the box though so I hid it in my closet and I didn’t tell anyone that it was there.”
Emma paused, not sure how to tell Jason and Mark the next part.
“So what happened next?” Jason asked.
Emma looked at him. “Remember that crazy guy that came into the coffee shop a few weeks ago?”
Jason nodded. “Yeah, I saw you wander off after him and Mark.”
“Well…he kind of attacked me.” Emma said. “Mark and I were talking to him and he just jumped at me, slamming a metal disk onto the back of my neck.”
Jason scowled at Mark. “So much for keeping her safe.” He muttered.
Mark scowled back at him.
“I noticed that the bracelet had a missing space when I found it.” Emma said quickly, hoping the boys weren’t about to start fighting again. “It looked around the same size so I tried to see if the metal disk I had gotten from Tyler would fit. A flash went off when I put the two together and I dropped the bracelet under the desk. When I reached under to grab it the bracelet sort of…” Emma motioned vaguely with her hands, blushing in embarrassment.
“Sort of what?” Jason asked.
“Attached itself to me.” Emma finished lamely.
“Can you get it off?” Mark asked.
Emma shook her head. “No. I tried everything, nothing can break it!”
Mark nodded, his expression thoughtful. “And all this happened the night before we got into a car accident that the doctors said should have been impossible to survive.” He said musingly.
“Do you think the bracelet caused the accident?” Emma asked, confused as to why he thought there might be a link between the two.
“No,” Mark said, refocusing on her face. “I think the bracelet saved you.”
Emma paused, waiting for Mark to start laughing and tell her he was kidding. But his face was totally serious.
“Seriously?” She said, her voice full of skepticism. “You think a bracelet saved me?”
“How is it that you’re sitting next to a guy who spontaneously combusts and you find it hard to believe that a bracelet can have shielding qualities?” Mark’s lips twisted in a wry smile as he leaned back in his chair.
“It’s not spontaneous!” Jason said defensively. “…anymore.”
“I don’t know.” Emma said. “I could just always tell you guys were different. This is just an old bracelet I found in the attic.”
“Don’t you think the timing is kind of convenient?” Mark asked. “You just happened to find a mysterious bracelet that attaches itself to you and is impossible to get off, right before what should have been a fatal car crash, a mugging attempt, and being fire blasted?”
“If it’s a shielding bracelet then why didn’t it protect me from Morgan?” Emma asked.
Mark hesitated. “I’m not sure.” He said admitted. “Maybe it doesn’t work around humans?”
“Then why were you able to knock me about when those men were attacking me?” Emma asked, pointing out another flaw in his argument.
Jason grabbed Emma’s wrist, inspecting the bracelet. “I’ve heard of objects that bond to their user.” He said quietly. “They react to what the user feels and what they want. Maybe this bracelet raises its defenses only when you feel like you’re in danger. You trust Mark and you know Morgan would never seriously hurt you so it doesn’t shield you from them.”
Mark nodded his head thoughtfully. “That could explain it.” He said. “But have you ever seen one of those objects for yourself?”
“Before now?” Jason asked, dropping Emma’s hand and leaning back in his chair. “No, I don’t know anyone who has. They’re just legends. But if this bracelet is one of them than it must be very powerful.”
Emma heard a hint of awe in Jason’s voice as he talked about the bracelet. She rubbed her wrist where he had touched her, pulling her hands back towards her chest.
“Are bracelets like this not very common then?” She asked.
Jason shook his head and looked at her consideringly. “No. In fact it is so valuable that there are quite a few men who would kill to get their hands on something like this.”
Emma swallowed nervously. “Maybe I shouldn’t be wearing it then.” She said. “I don’t want someone killing me for a bracelet.”
“As long as you don’t trust them no one will be able to touch you.” Jason said. “And I can’t think of anything that will do a better job of protecting you than this.” He pointed at the bracelet.
“Wait, how do we know we can even trust this bracelet to protect me?” Emma asked. “I didn’t exactly get it from a reliable source.”
“It has so far.” Mark commented. He never took his eyes off her face, measuring her expressions for what she was really thinking. “Besides, you said yourself you can’t get it off. I don’t think you have much of a choice until we figure out how to get it to unbind.”
“You don’t know how to get it off me?” Emma’s voice squeaked a little as she said this. In the back of her mind she had assumed Mark would know how to deal with this. If he didn’t then that meant…she really was stuck with it.
Mark shook his head. “I’ll have to do some research and see what I can find out. Until then just be grateful it’s a protective bracelet and not something worse.”
Emma gave him a horrified look. “There are things that are worse?”
Jason snorted in amusement. “Oh yeah.” He said, nodding his head exaggeratedly.
“Where are we at with the whole Tyler situation?” Emma said, changing subjects. She wasn’t sure if she believed that her bracelet had shielding abilities and she definitely wasn’t sure if she wanted to continue wearing it if it did. If it was something people would kill to get she didn’t want to be the one standing in the way of them and what they wanted.
“Jason and I questioned Loraine last night.” Mark replied. “She didn’t tell us much more than what she said when you were with us. There’s a cabin in the mountains where they might be keeping Tyler, besides that she has no idea. It’s our only lead so far though so Jason and I are going to go check it out on Friday and do a little recon.
“What about me?” Emma asked. “Don’t I get to go too?”
“No.” Mark said, shaking his head sharply. “Jason and I have experience in this type of thing. Besides, you are going to be busy.”
“Busy with what?” Emma asked.
“You will find out Friday.” Mark told her.
Emma rolled her eyes. “Are you really not going to tell me?” She asked.
Mark grinned. “I’m really not.”
“You’re annoying.” Emma told him. “So you two kept talking about a journal yesterday but no one has told me why it’s so important yet.”
Jason and Mark exchanged glances before Jason cleared his throat.
“Maybe we should talk about that later.” He murmured, shooting Mark a look.
“Why not n
ow?” Emma asked.
“Just drop it, Em.” Mark told her.
Emma looked back and forth between the two boys but it was clear from their expressions that neither one of them were going to change their mind. Emma huffed in annoyance and slouched in her chair.
Silence fell over the room. Mark stared out the window and Jason stared off at nothing, both men caught up in their thoughts. Emma traced a finger on a pattern in the wood table. Emma looked at Mark out of the corner of her eye.