Jill wrinkled her nose at him and then sighed. “I guess not, but I was going to tell him.”
“Sure you were,” Steve replied while giving her the ‘I call bullshit’ look. “Did you take the pregnancy test?”
Shaking her head, she glanced over at Blaze, then quickly away when their eyes met. “No. Slade said there was no reason to.”
Nodding, Steve turned to look at Blaze. “So, have you been here long enough to tell us why you’re an ex-Warrior?” When Blaze didn’t answer, Steve and Jill shared a look. “Guess not.”
“He isn’t a talker,” Jill added, hiding her eagerness to hear the scoop on Blaze.
Sid set a bowl of rice down in front of her, along with a banana. “Eat slowly.” He sat down at the table with a cup of coffee. “Where’s the doc?”
Jill forked at the rice letting it cool, not really wanting to put it in her mouth. She knew she had to since Sid made it. “He went to the hospital.” She didn’t want to add with her blood, because honestly, she didn’t want to think about what he might find.
“What happened in Sloan’s office?” Sid kept up his interrogation, his eyes going back and forth between Jill and Blaze.
Great, here we go again. “I just got lightheaded.” Jill shrugged, continuing to fork her rice. “No big deal.”
“Don’t make me feed it to you,” Sid warned, watching her play with the food. “You need to eat.”
She scowled at him. “I’m letting it cool, Dad.”
Sid grinned and sipped his coffee, his eyes going to Blaze. “So, what’s your story?”
“I’m here to help Jax,” Blaze answered to Jill’s surprise. “The end.”
Sid cocked an eyebrow over his coffee cup, but didn’t comment further. Jill watched the steam rolling off Sid’s coffee, her eyes going to Blaze. “Can you set things on fire?”
Blaze had been staring off, but his eyes slammed into hers. “Yes.”
“Give me a lighter and so can I.” Steve looked at Blaze, unimpressed. “So is that why you got thrown out of the VC because you’re a fire bug? I knew it had to be something. No one just walks.”
Jill watched a strange emotion cross Blaze’s face, before he turned to stare at Steve. Jill knew that stare. She watched his eyes swirl as they took a dark golden hue. Sitting back in her chair, a half-grin on her face, she watched both Blaze and Steve.
“They have help for people like that,” Steve replied, being his helpful self. “What do they call people who set fires? Dammit, it’s right on the tip of my tongue.”
Jill couldn’t help but smile as Steve shifted uncomfortably in his seat, a bead of sweat sliding down his forehead.
“Pyromaniac,” Blaze replied, his voice even as his eyes swirled crazily.
Steve snapped his fingers. “That’s it, pyromaniac. Damn man, you need to get help for that. Sloan will be pissssed if you...” Steve reached across the table to grab Jill’s napkin. “Shit, it’s hot in here. Are you hot? I’m burning up.”
Jill watched Steve swipe the sweat off his face with the napkin; she tried not to laugh.
“I hope to hell I’m not catching what you have.” Sweat just poured off him. “But that’s impossible since I’m full blood and don’t get sick.”
Glancing at Sid, she saw that he was watching Blaze and Steve closely, a very interested expression on his face as well as a half-grin.
Fanning himself with the napkin, Steve’s face was red. Jill turned to tell Blaze to stop, like he would even listen to her, and saw Blaze’s golden eyes shift to a red glaze. Okay, that was creepy as hell.
“Ah...” Jill started to give Steve a warning, but it was too late. The napkin in Steve’s hand burst into flames.
Steve screamed, throwing the napkin before pushing back so hard from the table he and the chair fell to the floor. As fast as Steve hit the ground, he popped back up, pointing at the smoking ashes that was the napkin, then pointed to Blaze. “Holy shit!” Steve looked at his fingers, wiggling them in front of his face then back to Blaze. “Hence the name.”
Blaze nodded, his eyes back to normal in a flash. “Easier to show, than tell.”
“Maybe for you,” Steve grumbled, wiping the sweat from his face, then fanning his shirt. “Can you make someone burst into flames like you did that napkin?”
“Yes.” Blaze glanced at Sid, then back to Steve. “But it smells, so I usually don’t.”
“Ah...it smells,” Steve mocked, throwing up his hands. “Well, good thing for me.”
“Pretty impressive.” Sid took a drink of his coffee, his stare still intense. “Now I know where I’ve heard that name.”
Tension thickened in the room practically smothering Jill. “You know him?” she asked Sid, but wished she hadn’t when Blaze stood quickly.
“Not personally,” Sid replied, his relaxed posture didn’t reach his eyes. He and Blaze had one hell of a staring contest going on.
“Meaning?” Steve ventured to ask.