Read Online Burning in a Memory by Constance Sharper - Free Book Online

sorry. Are you okay?”
                  “What was that?” she asked.
                  He hesitated to answer.
                  “They were shades. They’re kinda like magical monsters… Look, I’m going to take you to our house and you’ll be safe there. We’ll figure this out. I need you to trust me on this,” he said.
                  Heart beating rapidly, she realized then that the shades had been waiting for her. She’d suspected they’d been around, but she was surprised they dared to attack and they attacked in a group. Even if the shades weren’t afraid of the Hawthorns’ temporary protection or didn’t know about it, she thought she could handle them. Now she started to think otherwise.
                  Anxiety she had fought off for months rapidly resurfaced. She was so caught up in the worst case scenario that she didn’t recognize the car stopping. Adam sprung from his seat and the movement stirred her from her daze. He hurried to her side and fought with the door to open it. She’d sealed it shut on the ride, but it would never fit properly again.
                  “Are you okay?” Adam asked.
                  Adelaide looked at him and tried to nod, but she couldn’t keep her face straight.  The more she hurried to gather herself together, the more her heart raced. She felt his arms snake around her and he pulled her into his chest. She let her cheek settle onto his shoulder.
                  She let out a breath and then another, her blood pressure finally dropping. Only after a few long moments did she open her eyes and remember where they were. The sun finally pierced the clouds and beamed down on them, lighting up the neighborhood. Unlike her row in suburbia, the houses here were more spread out. They stood in front of a large brick house. Seeing it, she pulled away from Adam and wiped her flush cheeks.
                  “I’m sorry, I’m okay,” she said. He watched her for a long moment. 
                  “Don’t be sorry, I don’t blame you,” he said and offered her a hand.
                  He helped her out of the car, leaving the broken door halfway open, and led her into the house.
                  “Hey, get down here!” Adam hollered from the hallway. “Trouble!”
                  His single word summoned a raucous stampede. Adelaide shifted behind Adam as the parade of people descended. Tony led the group and came sprinting in.
                  “What happened?” Tony demanded. The man only wore sweat pants and his hair was disarrayed, but he seemed brutally alert. Luckily, his attention stayed on Adam rather than her. She stared behind him. The group was made up of Tony, Angie, and the twins. 
    “We were attacked at Adelaide’s home by a coven.”
    Tony’s brow knotted.
    “What? Did you attract them or were they waiting? Was this an ambush, Adam?”
                  The women behind Tony exploded into incoherent whispers.
                  “I don’t know and didn’t exactly have a chance to find out.”
                  Tony cursed violently and muttered something inaudible. While he did, Adam gestured for the group in the hall to clear out.
                  “I need to let Adelaide sit so move, please.”
                  The crowd shifted from the entrance room into a living room. Adam led her straight to the first seat in a sectional couch. She accepted it and sat. She’d recovered from her panic attack fairly well, but her knees still felt weak.
                  “Are you okay, Adam?” Angie spoke up. Adam nodded.
                  “I could have wiped them out, but I didn’t know how many were coming,” he said. She agreed quietly.
    Tony paced back into the room.
                  “I doubt this was