Hot Magic by Holli Bertram Read Free Book Online Page A

when Mom had the fireplace going. “Did he know about you? About the power?”
    “Yes. And he loved me anyway.” Grandma smiled sadly. “He made me feel safe.”
    “Why did you need to feel safe?” Didn’t power give you…power?
    “Many years ago, there was a huge civil war in the Triad. We call it the Great Rift.” Grandma stopped abruptly. Her eyes widened and she looked around the kitchen like a cornered rabbit. Before Tasha could reach her, she slid off her chair to the floor. Grandma placed a trembling hand over her heart.  
    Tasha knelt beside her, grabbing hands suddenly gone cold. Was she having a heart attack? “Grandma!” Tasha stared at the stricken, pale face, desperately wishing for help, for sanity, for Red Cross first aid training.  
    “Shadow Walkers.” Grandma said the words so softly Tasha had to lean forward to hear. “There are Shadow Walkers near.”
    A husky laugh broke the silence that followed her statement. “How astute of you.”
    Tasha’s head swung around at the softly accented voice, and she jumped to her feet. A crowd of people filled the kitchen. She blinked rapidly, but they didn’t disappear. Slightly in front of the rest, two people stood side by side—man and a woman, both beautiful beyond anything Tasha had seen outside of touched-up magazine photographs. Both were tall, the man topping the woman by four inches. Even standing still, they radiated an innate grace. Their faces were long and fine-boned, their hair a slide of silver moonlight that reached the shoulders of the woman and touched the collar of the man. Both had deep blue eyes and dark lashes, striking against their otherwise pale coloring.  
    The group wore modern clothes—cotton slacks, khakis, jeans, and a variety of shirts and tops all in subdued colors—but something about them felt ancient. Tasha stiffened her spine. “What are you doing here? Who are you?”
    The woman took a step forward. “We are the shadows that frighten you at night. We have come for the Dancer.”
     

Chapter Four
     
    “‘S hadows don’t scare me . ’” Tasha tried to squash the quaver in her voice as she stepped in front of her grandmother. “‘There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast . ’”  
    The quote came tumbling out without thought. She threw back her shoulders, going with the theory that if she looked brave she might feel brave. Her heart rate slowed when the lips of the silver man quirked in amusement and his eyes lit with interest. A man with a sense of humor wouldn’t hurt her, right?
    “Dickens,” he murmured. “ The Pickwick Papers .”
    Shadow Walkers read Dickens. And had French accents. They couldn’t be all bad.
    Drama Queen—as Tash had mentally tagged the woman—crossed her arms and sighed heavily. “Let’s gather the chairs in a circle and form a book group, why don’t we?”  
    Silver Man’s grin widened, but the men behind him looked alarmed. One of them cleared his throat. “Uh, I haven’t read that one, Marguerite.”
    She gave the man a blistering look. “I’m astounded, Adrian.” She turned back to Silver Man, her voice clipped. “Are these Dancers? Is this the one I’m looking for?”
    Silver Man shrugged. “There’s Dancer energy here. Difficult to tell if the power is coming from these women or if it is a residue from the one who was here. The one who exploded.”
    Tasha’s legs gave out, just like that. She sank to the floor beside her grandmother. Harrison and her mother were the only other people who’d been here. Harrison hadn’t looked anywhere close to exploding.
    Marguerite frowned. “No matter. The bond has not wavered again. We’ll go to the Balance’s house and wait for him.” With a graceful swipe of her arm, the bizarre entourage disappeared.
    Tasha barely noticed. She turned and buried her head against her grandmother’s shoulder, refusing to believe what she’d just heard. Her mother couldn’t be