Cherishing Destiny (A Dangerous Destiny) by Noelle Blakely Read Free Book Online Page A

going to try and get clear of the cloud.  She
stumbled and fell when she caught her bare toe on the edge of the driveway. 
Her legs kept going a few steps, trying to regain her balance before she
finally flew forward face first and landed on her belly at least fifteen feet
beyond the place where she stubbed her toe. 
    She lifted her face from the pavement, spitting loose bits
of dusty cement out of her mouth and cursing.  She might be an elegant lady
when she wanted to be, but she knew the choicest curse words in at least sixteen
languages.
    She rubbed at the smoky tears running from her eyes.  She could
barely see.  It was no wonder that she had tripped.  She blinked her vision
clear and sat up on the ground.  It wasn’t until then that she realized it was
daytime, and she was sitting in sunlight, smoke filtered sunlight but still sunlight. 
She was not feeling any effects, no pain, well, no pain from the sunlight
anyway.  She panicked expecting to burst into flames at any moment. She lunged
to her feet and ran back toward the house, bowling into Alex and Sara in the
thick smoke.  She went flying again, and Alex was frantically back-peddling in
an effort not to drop Sara. He tripped over Aurora, who was face down on the
ground again, only this time she was on the lawn.  At least the grass and dirt
is better than the cement, was the thought that flashed through her head. Her
mind was racing as she desperately tried to think of what to do. She thought
that maybe the smoke was protecting them for the moment, but with the house in
flames and more than half collapsed anyway, she could not think of a place to
run. 
    Alex had to let go of Sara as he rolled off of Aurora’s
legs and tried to stand. Aurora was spitting sod from her mouth and still
urgently trying to think where to go.  Maybe the garage , she thought,
but she couldn’t tell if it was still standing in the murk.  She no more than
finished that thought when the breeze shifted and blew them clear of the smoke.
    Alex recognized the danger immediately, and in a horrified
attempt to save Aurora, he dived back on top of her and tried to shield her
from the light, with his own body. 
    Aurora felt the full weight of Alex come crashing onto her
back, and her face thumped into the turf a second time.   Damn it!  She
turned her face to the side and spit out more dirt. She was so confused!  She
tried to think back to the escape from the house, and she wondered if somehow
she truly was dead.  She didn’t feel dead, but since she had no heartbeat, how
was she actually going to be able to tell. Her thoughts were chaotic and
irrational.  Then suddenly she was fully aware of her own hand close to her
face. She had instinctively put her hands out to try and cushion her fall.  Now
her hand was palm down on the grass in front of her face, not protected by Alex
who was crushing her still.  She could see a golden beam touching the back of
her hand and felt the warmth of the sunlight on her skin.  It had already been
several seconds, and she was not burning.  From the feel of him on top of her,
neither was Alex.
    Alex realized that the sun was shining on his face, and he
tilted his head up and squinted to look at it.  He thought he remembered
something from what seemed like a million years ago about not staring into the
sun.  He turned away and saw a big spot in his vision.  He closed his eyes and
looked at the spot on the back of his eyelids.
    When he opened them again and looked at Aurora, he felt
like he was in some kind of shock, and he knew that he was grinning like an
idiot.  He could see that her face was dirty, and she was trying to turn her
head to look at him, but her neck wouldn’t move that far.
    “Geptth offfth,” she sputtered.
    He realized he was smashing her, and he rolled to the side.
She pushed herself up to her hands and knees, not raising her head, but looking
at the ground, her hair hanging down covering the sides of her face.  He