Flames in the Midst (The Jade Hale Series) by Sarah Reckenwald Read Free Book Online

a turn in the hallway far ahead.  On my left, there were two doors, three on my right.  I remembered a kitchen and living area of sorts around the corner in the hall.
    I placed my hand against the wall.  I no longer felt dizzy from the elixir, but I had to reassure myself this really existed.   Only hours earlier I had been in the middle of a party in a college town, celebrating the end of my first year of school.  Now I had an enemy, and I was in the midst of pursuing a mission for that very man.
    This would be so much easier if Cameron hadn’t suppressed my gift.  If I didn’t have to convince my younger self, I could just light this fire, find my mother, and be done with it.   I concentrated on my breathing and pushed my hair back, trying to decide which door to open first.  The haze of a dozen years and a subconscious repression clouded my memories of this place.  I had never wanted to remember it.  I felt a deep regret at forgetting now that I needed this knowledge.  I knew it would come to me, but it would be slow and fragmented, possibly not enough or in time to do me any good.
    I slid my hand along the wall as I walked quietly forward.  I toed the first door on my right, peeking through the small crack.  Inside, I found a bedroom—simple and comforting.  The same shade of yellow crept through the doorway and bathed this room in its warm glow.  The dimmed lights cast eerie shadows on the walls, and I could hear the television’s low murmur.  Jeffrey lay on top of the neatly made bed.  His eyes were slightly open and concentrated on the television.  He didn’t notice me, and I didn’t feel the need to talk to him.  Quietly, I pulled the door closed.
    I took another deep breath and moved forward.  Immediately, another door loomed on my right and further down the hall stood the first door on my left.  I would search methodically in each room I came across until either my memory kicked in or I found my mother or my child-self.  Something felt familiar as I turned the small round knob of this door.  I inched the it open and peered into a small study.  I couldn’t make out the color of the walls in this room because floor to ceiling bookshelves obscured them.  Bulky, leathery, and over-stuffed furniture filled the room like grazing cattle.  Against the wall to my right lounged a claw legged, polished leather couch.  In the corner closest to the door lay a matching armchair.  A large, oak writing desk stood grandly across from the couch.  A fireplace took up the majority of the wall opposite the door with only room for a skinny bookshelf on either side of the fireplace.  The built-in bookshelves looked as if someone had pressed them into a molding of the wall, and various books on witchcraft and history seeped from the overcrowded shelves.
    At first, it appeared no one occupied this room.  I let the door swing open and stepped inside.  Here were the books Cameron wanted burned, but I couldn’t do it by myself.  My powers were useless, at least for now.  I closed the door behind me and began to run my hand over the various books.  Why did Cameron want these burned?  What did he have against his father that he wanted these books and this place burned?
    I rested my fingers on an older, leather bound book, a spell book like the family book I attempted to study in my youth.  I pulled it gently off the shelf and sifted through the pages.  This wasn’t just like the spell book I studied; it was the very book I studied, but the pages my aunt had added were missing.  She wouldn’t add to this book for a few more years.  My mother must have been keeping it safe in this room.  Well, this book would not be burning tonight.  I would have to get it to my aunt when all this was over. 
    I glanced around the room and found a backpack in the corner by the armchair.  I took three quick strides from the bookshelf to the armchair and set the spell book down.  Average school supplies and