Bright Fire (Bright Fire Series Book 1) by M.J. Austin Read Free Book Online Page A

straighten my T-shirt and brush off the non-existent dirt from my knees. I walk towards the car. I want to get away from the feeling his smile gives me and the warmth of his arms around my body.
    "I’m only kidding," he says because the silent treatment bothers to him.
    "I’m not even upset about that." I realize it’s true as I say it. "I’m mostly mad at myself for lying to the only two people I have left that care about me."
    "What am I chopped liver?" He places a hand over his heart as if he is physically wounded.
    "You know what I mean. People who are not bound by some mythological nonsense to protect me."
    "It’s not like that." He scowls.
    "I know, I'm just crabby. I just wish it were still simple like when we were kids, and Lyla would stay the night, and my dad would read us stories. Back then it was so easy and safe. I miss safe."
    "Your dad read to you?"
    "Well sure, didn’t yours?"
    "No." I catch a small glimpse of sadness in his eyes. Before I can question him about it, he deflects. "What did he read to you?"
    "Oh, mostly fairy tales with knights in shining armor and fairy princesses. The usual stuff. Occasionally when it was just him and me and my mom was off at her sister's or something, he would read other stuff. It was like our own little thing that no one else got to share. There is this one about a girl who is a total badass and takes on this monster and saves the day. It was one of my favorites because it wasn’t the same damsel in distress stuff in all the traditional fairy tales like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty." Oh shoot, what was the name? He hasn't read it to me in a long time but how could I forget the name? "Something about a shiny, no, crap there was a girl with a weird name. Bright…. Bright um."
    "Bright Fire," he says softly.
    "Yeah, that’s it!" I jump up. "Oh! Do you think? But no that guy was just a homeless man."
    "At this point, do you honestly believe it is a coincidence?"
    "No, I guess not."
    "Where can we find the book?"
    "I don’t know my house maybe or a library?"
    "I doubt it will be in a library. Something tells me it’s a one of a kind."
    I freeze. "Alec, I'm sorry, but I can't go back there. No way Jose, it's not happening." Panic rises in my throat. How can I go back to the place where my parents ceased to exist? And on a whim hoping for a clue from a book no less. "Sorry, you're going to have to do this one on your own Mr. Guardian. I'm not up for this."
    "I wouldn’t know what I'm looking for, and you need to pack some stuff anyways."
    "Pack stuff?" I look at him with curiosity for a minute before he continues.
    "You have no place to go, and I don't have girly stuff to accommodate you at my house. So, unless you want to sleep in boxers and go without a toothbrush, then we have to go." His grin is annoying me. For a second, I swear he sounds hopeful about the boxers part.
    I shake my head to clear the distraction. "Fine but I need to go at my own pace no rushing me. To you this was a fallen hero; to me this was my life, my childhood, and my happiness torn to shreds. Can you manage to muster enough consideration for that?" I snap. I have no idea where that came from. I don't mean to take it out on him, but he's the only person around.
    "Of course, my lady." He bows asking me to lead the way in some medieval tradition. He's trying to break through my crabbiness.
    I smile a fraction and start walking to the car.
    We talk the whole way to my house, or rather I talk about my childhood. I talk about what my parents were like, anything and everything. He seems like he really wants to know, and it feels good to focus on the positive.
    We pull up in front of my walkway. Was it my walkway anymore? What was going to happen to this place? I take a deep breath, and as I look at Alec, his face is understanding and supportive. I turned the knob and open the door.

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter
    14
     
    The door opens to silence. The kind of eerie silence where you can hear a pin drop.