Burning in a Memory

by Constance Sharper

  “I’ve been okay,” Adam said slowly.

  “So I figured if you liked this place so much, you’d show up eventually,” she said.

  He smiled at her comment, but didn’t laugh.

  “It is my favorite place in the city… but honestly, Charlotte called me and told me you came in.”

  The waiter arrived with the pizza and put the hot plate down in front of them. The cheese dripped so much that the slices merged together. It took Adam’s careful hand with the knife to cut them apart and offer her a piece. It smelled delicious, but she reserved tasting it.

  “That was nice of Charlotte.” After the lecture the woman gave her, Adelaide was genuinely taken aback that she even reached out to Adam. She knew, though, that the woman had only called so he would reinforce what had already been said.

  “Um, yea she called me to chew me out about leaving you hanging up to dry. I’m sorry, that was rude and cowardly of me.” He never touched his pizza either. He stared at his cooling plate and avoided her eyes. “I haven’t been completely honest with you. And I feel like I might have led you on too much,” he said.

  “Led me on how?” she prompted. It felt like a break up with a man she wasn’t even dating. But he needed to answer, so she forced him to say something.

  “I’m not saying that in just some romantic way. I’m saying it in the most basic way. I think I presented that we could be friends when we couldn’t be.”

  “Why, because of Charlotte? Tony?” She paused for a moment. “Is it because I’m human? The cat is already out of the bag on your magic and that you live among humans. I don’t buy that argument.”

  He let out a breathy laugh, though clearly he didn’t find anything funny.

  “No, it is really none of that. I’ve known for some time that my coven and I might be leaving soon. And when I met you I knew that was a distinct possibility. We can’t really be friends because I’m leaving here and not coming back.”

  This time her cool did escape her, and her nerves pin-prickled throughout her body. She seized the table for stability.

  “Obviously then, you aren’t just moving to another city.”

  Adam suddenly looked up.

  “Remember when you asked if we thought something was after us? There is and that’s the real reason Tony flipped out on you. We’re not safe in Denver anymore and we’re leaving because of it. We are going to a much more isolated place and nowhere near any humans.”

  Her chest seized up for a number of reasons, but she kept quiet and urged him on with a wave of her hand.

  “This is why I was afraid to tell you. You won’t see me again.”

  She racked her brain but she thought of very little to say. Adam started eating so she followed in suit, but every bite she took tasted like little more than rotten tomatoes. Her entire plan to go through Adam to find Leon threatened to fall into pieces, and she couldn’t think of a single thing to stop it. Panic started to get the best of her, and she trembled. By the time Adam stood up, she blurted the only thing she could.

  “Will you take me home? I got a ride here, but I have none back.”

  Adam agreed. She knew she’d prevented him from using a rehearsed goodbye, and the short car ride would give her another minute to save her plan. Another minute to find a way to make Adam never want to let go.

  Six

  Without the rain the trip back to her house felt like it flew by. She watched the world blur by outside of the Jeep’s windows and struggled with what to say. She needed something profound to say, something mesmerizing and perfect. She should not have relied on Adam to say it.

  “Do you have plans for the Fourth of July weekend?” he asked.

  She did a double take.

  “What?”

  “The Fourth falls on this coming Monday. It is a long weekend,” he expanded.

  “Oh,” she quipped. She never considered it. Her lack of answer caused him to look over.

  “No, no plans,” she specified.

  Adam returned his eyes to the road and gripped the wheel noticeably tighter.

  “Look, this sucks. I wish I had gotten to know you better at a different time in my life,” he said.

  He sounded genuine so she tried to as well.

  “Is this place you are going really that far away? Does it not have phone service?” she asked. He turned onto her street so she sped up her words. “I can’t believe you will never come back.”

  “Even if I came back, I don’t how far in the future that would be. It’s a really bad time, Adelaide. A really bad time,” he said quietly. While she shamelessly stared at him, he refused to meet her eyes. He cruised down the street to her house.

  “Adam…” she whispered. A jumble of potential words lingered on her tongue, but she never got the chance to voice them. He braked hard and the car rocked forward. Seatbelt choking her, she hurried to unfasten it. The Jeep idled in front of her driveway now, but Adam never killed the motor. She opened her mouth to ask about his sudden paleness, but he beat her to speaking.

  “What happened to that car?” he asked.

  She unbuckled the belt and took a look. For all of her neighbor’s complaining, he never moved the bashed up Infiniti from the curb. She couldn’t see her neighbor outside either. Most of the street was blissfully empty.

  “I don’t know,” she said after second, hoping he didn’t hear the lie in her tone. She suspected the shades had been in the area, but never expected for him to really notice. She found the handle and opened the door before he could interject. Right when her shoes hit the puddle, the shade struck her. Her body slammed back into the Jeep. Pain radiated up her spine and her world flashed back. She struggled to her feet. Head on a pivot, she searched for sight of her attacker. She didn’t spot the shade when he initially hit her and she struggled to find it now. Aura magic thick in the air disoriented her senses.

  Adelaide needed to move. Driven by instinct, she pushed herself away from the car and rushed for the house. A hand snatched her before she made it halfway there and she was yanked into Adam’s chest. She thrashed at first until her brain caught up to her actions.

  “Stay with me!” he ordered, dragging her inside. The door might have been locked, but he forced it open with ease. Together they bulldozed into the house, Adam’s guiding hand staying on her elbow.

  “What’s going on?” she yelped.

  “Shades,” Adam said as if it was the final explanation.

  They slid to a stop in the living room and Adam’s head spun.

  “Damn it, I can feel them all over here now. I knew I should have believed my initial feeling.”

  “What are you thinking? We need to go!”

  Contrary to popular belief, drawing shades into a closed environment wasn’t necessarily for the best. They would break through walls if they wanted. Adam held out his hand to still her and she reluctantly stayed put. The shades rushed into the room.

  In a sudden flux of his aura, Adam threw the living room table. The wooden table smacked two of them and threw them from their feet. The third was still standing, but backpedaled. Adam chased him and engaged him directly. He moved startling quick, almost quicker than the shade. He beat him back into the corner, but she redirected her attention on the other two. One bolted for the open door. The other sized her up where she stood alone. Panic raced through her and she raised her hands. If she tapped her aura, her gig would be up. But then she suddenly considered it in lieu of being jumped by the shade.

  She readied herself, but in a flash, Adam blasted that one too. He shriveled into the corner with an earsplitting scream. Adam’s hand found hers again and he tugged. She ran with him blindly and they escaped through the door.

  Her shoes slipped on the slick pavement, and her head whirled on a pivot. There were more shades outside. Adelaide and Adam ran for the car. She slipped by the askew door and slid into her seat. The Jeep had been dented badly from the first attack, and her door wouldn’t shut completely. Adam didn’t care. He slammed the ga
s down and the car peeled out with a screeching start. They flew around the corner and she clung to the seat to stay in place. He kept driving.

  Adam didn’t let off the gas pedal until twenty minutes later on the highway. Much like her, he studied the rearview mirror for any sign of followers. She saw no one following them and only gave up her search after a few minutes.

  “Son of a bitch!” he cursed. “I just put on a show for your whole neighborhood.”

  She focused instead on peeling her fingernails out of the dashboard. Then she clutched her hands together in her lap. Her face likely held no color, but she at least controlled her shaking.

  “Adelaide,” he said and glanced toward her, despite the rapid speeds, “I’m 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 timing was coincidental,” Tony said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “What are the odds that a bunch of shades would attack now? They were waiting for you to be alone,” Tony said.

  Angie sucked in a loud breath.

  “You did say you had a bad vibe there,” Angie said. Adelaide cringed internally. She never considered that the coven would be so suspicious about the shades. Would they wonder why they showed up at Adelaide’s house? It might be a stupid way to be found. Right on time, Adam voiced it.

  “But why Adelaide’s house?” Adam asked.

  “Maybe they’ve been waiting there since the first time we dropped her off,” Angie offered, but she didn’t look overly convinced.

  “You can’t keep going places alone anymore,” Tony interjected.

  Adam made an exaggerated gesture, but Tony didn’t stick around to see it. He disappeared up the stairs.

  “What’s happening?” Adelaide asked Adam when he returned to her side. He perched on the armrest of the couch, between her and the fireplace in the room.

  “We’re going to have to go back there and hunt those shades that attacked us,” he said.

  “Go back?”

  Her face must have gone white because Adam hurried to clarify.

  “I mean, me and the others will go back there and at least chase them out of the neighborhood. Don’t worry. I won’t take you back there until its safe.”

  “Adam, stay here with her. I’ll go with Tony,” Priya offered. He returned to her a smile of thanks. Tony came bounding back down the stairs a few minutes later, fully dressed.

  “Who’s coming?” he asked. Priya and Preeti sprung after him and the three left out the front door. Angie lingered in the living room for a moment.

  “How long do you think they’ll be gone?” Angie asked.

  “No telling. If they do a sweep of the neighborhood, a few hours.” Adam clearly guessed.

  “I’m surprised he didn’t give you more trouble about going back to Adelaide’s house,” she said with a laugh.

  Adam made a face.

  “To be fair, it was Tony’s mother who called me,” he said.

  Angie opened her mouth to add something, but obviously thought better of it. She shut her mouth and looked between the two of them.

  “I’ll leave you two alone for a while,” she finally suggested and went upstairs. The living room was quiet in her absence and Adelaide unwound the last of her nerves.

  Adam turned to face her and kneeled down to be at her level.

  “Before you have any questions, can I see if you are all right?” he asked.

  “I’m fine,” she chirped automatically.

  He shook his head, as if embarrassed.

  “You took quite a hit when you first got out of the car. You could be injured and not even know it. Shock does that to people.”

  She remembered her collision with the car door. It’d been painful, but she hardly believed it’d been crippling. Adam looked on helpfully and she could sense his concern was genuine.

  “Okay,” she agreed.

  Seven

  “It hurts, doesn’t it?”

  Adelaide denied it again. As his fingertips lightly grazed her back to check for broken bones, she squirmed. Her cheeks already burned bright and hot, but she faced the wall to at least hide that aspect of her embarrassment. The last time she’d been on a couch with a guy, the situation had been much different.

  “I guess the glass shattered worse than I thought, because you’re pretty cut up too.” Adam said as he continued his methodical inspection.

  “But I’m not bleeding, so it’s already healing on its own,” she protested. She was ready to push her shirt back down and sit like a normal person.

  “Well, I don’t feel any broken bones and if you swear you’re not in pain then I guess it’s
okay,” he said.

  He pressed down on the last few of her vertebras before the sensation of his hands disappeared from her skin. She let out a shaky breath and remembered how to move. Pulling her shirt down, she straightened out the wet cotton fabric that clung to her skin.

  “Thanks for the diagnosis,” she said once she finally regained her dignity. She turned and sat back down on the couch. He still kneeled on the floor, putting her face to face with him. While she’d been beaten like a rag doll, he didn’t sport a scratch on him.

  “It’s my fault it happened.”

  “It’s the shades fault it happened,” she pointed out and then paused before saying, “they’re called shades, right?”

  A frown crept up on his face.

  “Are you cold?” he asked instead of giving her an answer. In the next moment, he stood and stepped away. When he returned he held out a bundle of clothing to her. When she picked it up, she caught the distinctive scent of Adam mixed with fresh detergent.

  “I would have borrowed one of Angie’s outfits to make you feel more comfortable, but there’s too much of a height difference to make anyone comfortable. I mean, if you want to change,” he said.

  “Thanks,” she said and accepted it.

  “The bathroom is down the hall.”

  She followed his directions and stepped inside. The bathroom had been decorated with beach colors, plastic seashells, and smooth granite counters. She held the new shirt up in the light. It must have been his and that fact made her grin. She slipped into the clothes and wrung out her old ones. Most of it was mud that already set into the fabric, but she could hope nothing was ruined. She kept her necklace on and tucked the cold plastic under her new shirt. When she exited the bathroom, Adam was waiting for her on the other side of the door.

  “Angie might be smaller, but you’re bigger than you look,” she pointed out. His shirt hung too long on her figure and covered the shorts below it. His eyes flickered over her body, too slow to be inconspicuous.

  “It’s not bad,” he said. Clearing his throat, he looked at the floor.