Novel & Cerita Play With Fire Book

PROLOGUE – EXTENDED Title: What the Fire Forgot Book Two: Throne of Fire & Favors: Loyalty Is a Loaded Gun Time: 4 Months After Naomi Raines' Death Location: Valeburn City, Southside Block, Navarro-District Border Weather: Overcast with the smell of distant smoke and oil; a light wind rustles charred flyers across blood-washed pavement Soundscape: Buzzing streetlamps, the soft clink of bottles, low whimpers from alley shadows, and sirens like lullabies for broken cities

Her throat works as she swallows and I can see the war playing out on her face, trust versus defiance, curiosity versus self-preservation. Finally, slowly, she holds it out. Relief hits me so hard my breath escapes in a rush. My shoulders drop and I hadn't realized how tense I was. I take the book and our fingers brush. That electric pull between us sparks hot enough to sting. She jerks her hand back and rubs her fingers like I've burned her. I walk to the fireplace and throw the book into the flames without hesitation. "NO!" Aria lunges forward but I catch her around the waist, pulling her back against my chest as the ancient pages curl and blacken and turn to ash.

author pov A few days later, Evelynn and Rose were watching Leo practice his fire-conjuring spell with Gammy. The little boy loved it when Gammy taught his lessons and wanted more than anything to please her. Gammy laughed when one of his fireballs landed in the pot of water on the stove and fizzled out. Leo frowned and tried once more to conjure a fireball and throw it in the fireplace to start a fire. This one bounced off the wall, flew across the room, and set the curtain on fire, hanging at the front window. Rose grabbed the pot of water and threw it on the curtain. The fire was put out, and Gammy was coaching Leo to concentrate and picture what he wanted to happen as he spoke the spell.

I sighed and sat on the bench watching Kia shoot all the jars perfectly andstarted jumping around gushing about how great he was. He ran up to me with sparkling eyes and I just rolled mine. “You can go.” I said in a teasing voice and he bolted out of there, leaving me to chuckle. I look the book and looked at it. Flipping through the pages, one catches my attention. It's a fire related technique. I looked around and no one was there. We moved to a much more descreet location since after what happened last time.

PROLOGUE Stay away from fire, they told her. Play with fire and you will get burned, they said. She was not scared of small fires. How much harm could it do to her? A little burn was like a slap on the wrist. She would cry a little then return back to her distraught life. What she failed to reprimand was that Carter was no ordinary fire but instead a whole Inferno. He could melt her and mold her into anything he desired, if she got too close.

“I couldn’t find any other books that mention anything about the Fire God.” I slid my fingers closer, then stopped. My hand hovered over it. Maybe I should wait for the King to open it. I glanced sideways at him. He wasn’t smiling. Right now, his mouth was set, sharper than his eyes. “So,” I said, because silence was worse. “This book takes us where, exactly?” Jaxon looked at me for a long second before he shook his head and answered. “The Fire God’s territory.” My throat tightened. “Is it another planet?” I asked, pursing my lips.

I may not have much but I'd like to keep a hold on my dignity. I kick a small pebble that skitters into the darkness of the pavement as I walk down, I hear festive sounds coming from the pub at the end of this street but I ignore it. No use hoping to have something you never will. Even though I have magical blood, I'm a fire slifer. I have no clue how to harness my power so it's basically useless. I've only had one or two incidents of nearly burning a house down but other than that I feel basically human.

The goddess must hate me for some reason. Wiping the thought from my mind, my eyes land on the only fictional book in the stack. I am actually a “facts over fiction” kind of girl usually. But, this time, I find myself choosing otherwise. Maybe it’s time for a change. Running my fingers across the cover and staring at the fiery red dragon, I am suddenly reminded of Millie. Goddess, Millie!

I was late morning when Tristan entered the room pulling my head of the book, I looked at him in slight amazement. “We have the conference call in twenty minutes.” He greeted stepping into the room as I looked up. “What?” He asked and I held up the book. “Tristan, this book.” I stated not really knowing how to explain it. “It’s a novel, just a story that I found in the library, but it’s based on a family of werewolves, the two daughters, twins, were born with a special gift, they could produce fire and ice.” I uttered and watched as his brows rose. “They later became joint alphas of the their pack. Do you think this could be the story of the alpha twins that we were looking for?”

Although this graduation painting had not yet been completed, it was far superior to any of my previous works. The moment Willow saw the painting, her expression subtly shifted. I caught the flicker of greed and jealousy in her eyes. I looked around the room. In the next moment, I did something that left everyone completely flabbergasted. I pulled out a lighter and flicked it. Then, I brought the flame close to one corner of the canvas. "Cassidy! What are you doing?" Jess shouted sharply almost immediately. Needless to say, she was the first to react. The flame licked at the edge of the canvas and spread quickly. My masterpiece, the product of my passion and skill, burned down to ash before