Blaze by Kaitlyn Davis Page A

simple,
brush-it-off nightmare.
    Tristan sighed happily and ran his fingers
down the length of her arm. “I never thought the day would come
that I could look at you and know it wasn’t for the last time.
There’s no countdown anymore, Kira. We have all the time in the
world now.”
    Kira wanted to mirror his excitement. She
wanted to believe that forever was just within reach, but for some
reason his words made her feel hollow inside.
    “If we have all the time in the world, I
think I’m going to use some of it for a nap,” Kira said and rolled
over. She nestled her head in the pillow and closed her eyes.
    “We just woke up,” Tristan laughed
quietly.
    “True, but that doesn’t mean we can’t go
right back to sleep.”
    Tristan pushed her hair to the side and
kissed her cheek. “I’m going down to speak with Aldrich. See you in
a little while,” he whispered into her ear before slipping off the
bed.
    Kira stayed curled up in a ball, listening
to the soft shuffling of his feet on the rugs. She kept her breath
even, only releasing a shuddering sigh after the door behind
Tristan had clicked closed.
    And then she felt alone. Completely and
utterly alone in the world.
    Kira clutched her necklace, felt the
comfortable contours of her father’s ring, but then dismissed that
charm for the small little sun next to it. The edges were sharp,
pointed, but still smooth. And most of all, it made her think of
Luke.
    For a moment, Kira could picture him right
there beside her. First, he would look around the room—at the white
tile floor, modern rugs and porcelain mantle—and mutter something
like, “well, this doesn’t scream ax-murderer at all.” Kira would
laugh while he continued on the rant. “Tile, in a bedroom? I guess
it beats a coffin, but seriously.” Maybe he would place one tanned
hand against the white wall and then his eyes would get that
mischievous look Kira was so used to seeing.
    “Luke,” Kira would say sternly, chiding him
for whatever idea was already running through his head.
    “What?” He would pretend to be innocent, but
then the truth would come out. “I was just thinking, wondering
really, what Aldrich would do if we threw a bucket of bright orange
paint on the wall. I’ve never seen a vampire temper-tantrum.” And
Kira would giggle.
    But then she realized she was giggling. Her
vision of Luke evaporated, but her laughter remained for a second
longer, until she remembered yesterday. Luke was pissed at her and
for good reason. She had been horrible to him. She didn’t deserve
his jokes. She didn’t even deserve the mirage of his voice. But she
needed it.
    Kira clutched the charm around her neck and
thought about Luke. She gathered her power, let her hand turn to
flame, and reached out with her mind to search for him. Blindly,
Kira called his name with her head, hoping his subconscious would
hear her plea.
    But there was nothing. Luke was too far away
for Kira to hear and she felt as if she were suffocating again.
Kira ran from the bed and pushed the heavy black curtains to side.
In an instant, her entire room was glowing with sunlight. Kira felt
the heat sink into her skin and let it comfort and warm her. She
gathered two tiny flames on each of her palms, trying to heal
herself, but her fire wasn’t strong enough to heal the wounds of a
lonely heart.
    She opened her eyes and looked up into the
sun, not caring that the bright light stung her pupils. She needed
the sun, it was the only thing she had left to comfort her. And
with that thought, Kira finally understood why she had woken up
feeling so hollow this morning.
    She blinked away the sunspots in her eyes
and looked at the landscape below her window. Her room overlooked
the ruins of the old castle. While they had scared her the night
before, Kira saw the stones clearly this morning.
    They weren’t scary, just sad. The old stones
were once the pillars of a glorious castle, an undefeatable
fortress that people might have feared in the