Read Online Kindling Flames: Flying Sparks (The Ancient Fire Series Book 2) by Julie Wetzel - Free Book Online Page A

connected.
    “Hello?” a slightly sleepy voice answered.
    “Good evening, Mrs. Westernly.” Darien spoke politely into the phone. “I’m sorry for disturbing you so late in the evening, but your daughter would like to speak with you.”
    “Is something wrong with Vicky?” Concern cut through Ann Westernly’s sleep-addled mind, and she jolted awake.
    “She’s fine,” Darien reassured, “but she’d like for you to call her. There was a bit of a fire in her apartment, and she can’t use a cell phone from her hospital room.”
    He heard a gasp over the line before Vicky’s mom plowed into him with a string of questions so quickly it made his head spin. “She’s fine.” Darien tried to calm the frantic woman. “She’s being well taken care of.” He attempted to answer the questions with short responses, but they came at him too fast. “ Mrs. Westernly .” He finally interrupted her. “I think it would be best if you just called her.”
    Darien gave her the phone number and wished Vicky’s mother goodnight before hanging up. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he slipped his phone back into his pocket. He had never had anyone grill him like that before. Now would be a great time to go for a bit of a walk. It would give Vicky some privacy to speak with her mother, and it would give him a chance to shake off the stress of that phone call.
    ***
    The phone on Vicky’s bedside table rang, and she picked it up, knowing that it could only be one person.
    “Hi, Mom,” Vicky answered.
    “Oh, baby!” Ann Westernly cried into the phone. “I just got a call from a man telling me you were in the hospital. Are you all right?”
    “Yes, Mom,” Vicky replied, trying to soothe her mother. “That was my boss. I couldn’t get a line out, so I asked him to call.”
    “That was very nice of him,” Ann said, calming down slightly. “Why are you in the hospital?”
    Vicky knew she was in for twenty questions—or more—with her mom. “There was a fire in my apartment, and I got a few light burns,” Vicky answered.
    Ann rapidly fired questions at her daughter. “What caused the fire? How bad are the burns? How long will you be in the hospital? I can’t find my car keys.”
    Car keys? Vicky freaked. If she didn’t say something fast, her mother would be in the car on her way to the hospital as soon as she got off the phone. “Wait, Mom—” Vicky interrupted her mother’s train of thought. “Calm down. Just relax. I’m fine. Yes, there was a fire in my apartment, but they’re still not sure what caused it. A detective from the arson unit has already been by to ask questions, and they’ll let me know what they find. There is no need for you to come running out here in the middle of the night. I am fine.” She listened to her mother breathing in the phone and waited for a response.
    “Are you sure?” her mother asked. “I could be there in six hours.”
    “Yes, Mother.” Vicky smiled into the phone. “You don’t need to drive that far for this. I just wanted to let you know.” She heard her mother sigh.
    “All right,” Ann agreed begrudgingly. Panic subsiding, she asked, “How are you doing?”
    “Pretty good,” Vicky informed her mom. “Just a few light burns and some minor cuts from where I broke the window, but they’re healing well.” Vicky smiled as she thought about the reason they were healing so quickly.
    “And your apartment?” Ann asked.
    “I really don’t know,” Vicky admitted. “I haven’t had a chance to check it out yet.”
    “What are you going to do about a place to live?”
    Vicky could hear a concerned note trickle back into her mother’s voice. “Don’t worry about that, Mom,” she said with a smile. “I haven’t been over to check it out yet, but it can’t be that bad,” she lied. There was probably no way her apartment was livable at the moment, but that was not something she was going to pass on.
    “And this man that called, your boss,” Ann said,