Read Online Take Me To Your Reader: An Otherworld Anthology by Amy A. Bartol, Tiffany King, Raine Thomas, Tammy Blackwell, Sarah M. Ross, Heather Hildenbrand, Amanda Havard, C.A. Kunz - Free Book Online

billowing. It entwines as it reaches toward the sky, growing and climbing over itself like a winding beanstalk of water and light. It illuminates the night in a fiery blue aurora, connecting with the storm clouds above.
    Deep rumblings of thunder fall down on us; they ripple the water below. My hand weakens in fear and the urn slips from it, hitting the lake with a splash. An instant later, an enormous shaft of white lightning spews downward from the sky. It encompasses the stalk of blue light, turning it bright white and tearing the night in two. I flinch as electricity hits the black water, branching out in a roadmap of fiery veins. I 'm knocked off my feet, blown back from the exploding current.
    We lay on the dock like pearls from a broken necklace. The smell of burnt fish is everywhere; it sticks in my lungs as would tar to a rooftop. Certain that I 'm dead, I close my eyes to wait for everything to fade away and my pain to end.

Chapter 6 – I MIGHT BE CRAZY
     
     
    I open my eyes to find it 's darker again. All but one of the lights has extinguished. My cheek rests against a wooden plank. The lightning and rain have disappeared, but an unearthly crack of thunder shears the air around me, causing me to grimace and scrunch my face up tight. The dock trembles at the sound, threatening to plunge us into the lake. I gather my limbs to me, curling up in pain. My eyes open again just as a man-shaped silhouette of fire rises straight up from the water. I blink hard, and then stare at his flickering flames as he walks forward over the lake towards us.
    The man of fire pauses and bends down, lifting Ellis 's clothing from the water. The fire begins to change to flesh as the flames extinguish. He shrugs on Ellis's dress pants; they hang loosely over his flat stomach and hips. Strolling barefoot on the surface again, he grows nearer.
    " Mattie," I murmur as my heart races. He's bare-chested; my eyes drink in his flawless skin, noticing how it pulls taut against his lean-muscled abdomen, accentuating the perfection of his physique. His black hair is made even more so, wet and slicked back from his handsome face. It's longer, too, than it had been a few months ago when I last saw him alive. Bristles of a beard cover his strong jawline, making him look different because he always maintained a close shave...and his eyes...his eyes glow blue like captured moonbeams.
    When he reaches the dock, Mattie doesn 't hesitate, but comes right to me. I feel him before he even touches me. He's electric and when his skin meets mine the current within him jumps to me. It's painful at first and I grimace, but then the energy subsides. He scoops me up in his arms and I relax against his warm chest. With his finger, he brushes my hair back from my eyes. "Violet," he says my name softly.
    His voice is Mattie 's. It causes my throat to tighten instantly. "Mattie?" I croak again, unable to say anything more.
    Joplin stirs to life near us and climbs to his feet. He looks as surprised to be alive as I am and even more shocked to see Mattie. Mattie 's eyes leave me for a moment and his expression changes in an instant from adoring to vengeful.
    Mattie continues to hold me effortlessly with one arm while he lifts his other. In his palm, a marble-size ball of blue light forms and grows. It 's looks like a perfect sphere of blown glass. As it gets bigger, I see inside the circle. White clouds swirl along with silvery shimmering bursts of energy.
    Joplin sees it, too; he raises his hands out in front of him. "I was ordered to be here. It's not my fault!" The light in Mattie's hand continues to grow bigger and brighter, making Joplin more desperate. Panting, Joplin points at May. "She had you killed! It wasn't me! She wanted your girl dead, but you were hit instead!"
    A snarl rips from Mattie, like something wild abides inside of him. Without a word, he winds his arm back and throws the orb at Joplin. It strikes him in the head, exploding his brains all over