Simmer (Midnight Fire Series Book Two) Read online

  Kira glanced at Luke's face. Sheer determination was visible in his narrowly opened eyes, but the furrow of his eyebrows did read of slight anger. He was annoyed and frustrated. But, why was she feeling that way too?

  Kira traced the emotion back, searching for its source, but it seemed like some sort of cloud in her brain, something not connected to her body... almost like it belonged to someone else. And what if it did? Kira looked back at Luke, letting her instincts fight while her mind wandered. Could she possibly... was it possible? Was she actually reading his mind? Or, were his thoughts somehow invading her head and forcing their way inside?

  Utterly distracted, Kira forgot to fight back and one of Luke's flames hit her smack in the middle of the face. Whiplash ensued as she stumbled backwards, thrown completely off balance as the fire forced its way inside of her skin. Normally, she enjoyed taking in Luke's power. It was friendly and refreshing, but she had been completely unprepared for the blow. And, as it were, she was standing so close to the edge of the platform, that the stumble sent her flying over the side. With a thud, she landed on her back on a patch of not-so-soft grass.

  Luke's face appeared above her as he leaned over the edge.

  "You okay?" He asked with lips full of barely contained laughter.

  "Yeah, yeah," Kira sighed and stood up, rubbing her bum free of grass. Of course, she had to careen over the edge of the platform with a massive crowd watching. She hadn't noticed until that moment that half of the town had arrived in the square to watch her practice. She looked around at smiling faces and muffled laughter. Great, she thought, and placed her hands on the platform to push herself back up.

  "Up until a minute ago, you were performing admirably," her grandfather spoke when she was standing again. "I look forward to the trial tomorrow."

  With a nod, he turned around and walked away. The clicking of his cane against the wood reminded Kira that he was an old man, but definitely one with spunk. She hoped he would someday let her into his heart or at least over for dinner. Looking through old photographs of her mother would be more precious to her than he even understood.

  "Ready to head home?" Luke asked. His voice called her realization back into prime focus.

  "Luke!" She shouted practically into his ear. Startled, he jerked backwards.

  "Jeez, you need to learn some volume control. What's up?"

  "Luke! I think something really crazy is going on, but you need to hear me out first, okay?"

  He nodded and walked over to their bags. "Is this a 'let's go talk in private' conversation or an 'I'm so excited I need to spill my guts right now' sort of thing?"

  "The latter, so just sit down," Kira said and placed a hand on his shoulder to force him into a seated position. She remained standing but took the water he offered. The thud of her sneakers against the wood as she paced was helping her think. How to phrase this? She asked herself. Not one for finesse, Kira figured the blurting it all out approach would be simplest.

  "So... I think I can read your mind."

  "Ha! Very funny. Can we go home now? I'm beat." Luke started to stand.

  "No, I'm serious. I think I've been hearing your thoughts inside my head."

  "Kira, come on. That's ridiculous!" Luke laughed, but Kira thought he looked slightly worried behind his calm exterior. Something about the smile in his eyes wasn't quite like it normally was. The laugh lines weren't deep enough.

  "No more ridiculous than being a human flame thrower." She shrugged and watched as he sat fully down, settling in to hear what she had to say. He shrugged back, signaling to Kira that he was prepared to listen, even if she sounded like a mental person. "I'm not sure when it started, but there have been times when I've felt overcome by foreign emotions, ones that suddenly seem to appear out of nowhere and take over my thoughts. Until five minutes ago, I never realized that it only happened when I was around you."

  Kira thought back to the truth in those words. Yesterday in Luke's room something had happened, the day before during the fight and when he had walked into her room before the party. Even earlier, Kira thought, when I first woke from my coma, something was different, but I just didn't realized it. When he came to visit, the few times Tristan wasn't there, Kira sensed his emotions. She knew exactly when he was upset or angry or hurting. Before she thought it was just because they were such amazing friends, but it must have been this, some crazy psychic connection.

  "Luke, you can speak to my brain — this is so bizarre," she said, still slightly in shock. After plopping down next to him, Kira finally met his eyes and waited for him to speak. Even though they were best friends, she would never want him to be able to know her thoughts, something so private and so intimate. Kira was perfectly happy being on the receiving end rather than having all her secrets spilled.

  "Okay," Luke said slowly, twisting around so their bodies faced each other, knee-to-knee in an Indian style position. "Let's test it. I'll think of a number and you concentrate on trying to figure out what it is."

  "I don't think it works like that," Kira said skeptically. Something so superficial wouldn't work.

  "Just try it, okay?" Kira nodded and started to concentrate.

  Focusing on Luke's forehead, she tried to see inside of it. All she ended up doing was noticing that his hair had gotten even blonder since they had come to Sonnyville and his tan was darker too. Concentrate, she told herself and switched her tactic. She looked into his eyes instead. Number, what number are you thinking? Kira questioned over and over again.

  After a few minutes both of them gave up at the same time, breaking their contact almost perfectly in sync.

  "Nothing?"

  "Nothing!" Kira sighed and blew a stray curl away from her forehead in exasperation.

  "I was thinking of the number three, by the way. In case that helps," Luke shrugged.

  "It's not exactly mind reading if you give me the answer," Kira joked and starting thinking of another approach. "I think we need to try something with more meaning. I seem to only pick things up when there are strong emotional investments involved. Can you think of something you really want or a moment when you were really happy? Maybe I'll get something from that."

  "Not completely sure that is something I want to test," Luke said and leaned back on his hands.

  "Come on, Luke. We need to know if I'm having a moment of temporary insanity or if I can actually read your thoughts. Wouldn't you rather know?"

  His brows came together as he squinted his eyes and worry lines appeared across his forehead. He closed his lids and brought his fingers to the spot on his nose right in between them, clearly in deep and difficult thought.

  "Okay," he finally said, opening his eyes and looking at her again. "Okay, let's try it out. I'll think of something from when I was a kid and you concentrate on me. We'll see what happens."

  After a deep breath, Luke's face turned very focused and Kira in turn concentrated on him, on looking behind his features and into his thoughts. She met his eyes again. After all, they were the gateway to the soul, right? That was how the saying went, and what better way to read Luke's mind than peering into his heart.

  In the back of her own mind, a switch flicked on. Slowly, she felt laughter tickling her senses, giving her goose bumps. It was pure joy. Kira wished she knew what past memory he was thinking of, what could have made him this happy. But, she tried to stay focused and kept contact with his eyes.

  The more the happiness spread, the more Kira could tell it reflected in her own features. A smile gradually spread across her face and, though she didn't see it, her eyes began to sparkle, like twinkling stars almost too bright to look at. But Luke never shifted his gaze. His thoughts, however, were a different animal.

  Kira sensed it, connected as she was to his mind in that moment. Pure joy was still there, but it was now rimmed with slight agony and something different, something Kira couldn't place. Not nerves, but some sort of excitement that still contained joy, just not one so pure and innocent. This emotion wa
s strung through with complications. Still though, it lifted her up and made her feel light, like a floating bundle of happiness.

  Kira began to feel almost drunk on the emotion. She was getting lost in Luke's mind. The distinction between what feelings were hers and which emotions belonged to him was slowly escaping her. Was that her fear or his? Her hesitation or his excitement? Slowly, like a whisper almost blown away in the wind, two words streaked across her mind:

  "Kiss me."

  Her words or his?

  Kira's eyes focused again on Luke as he sat in front of her. His pupils expanded. They were deeper, more thoughtful than she had ever seen them. He was leaning in now, his eyelids slowly shutting, cutting her off from his soul and trying to let her in a different way. Kira couldn't move, couldn't separate her thoughts enough to know what she wanted to do. Those two heartfelt words were still drifting in her head. He was coming closer. Her life was in slow motion. He was only a few centimeters away now. Her brain wasn't working. Did she want this? Did he want her to want this? Were his thoughts keeping her from pulling away or were her own?

  Trumpets.

  Trumpets? Kira thought, her mind completely freed now. Trumpets were playing.

  Her eyes shot widely open and she jerked to the side, fleeing from Luke's encroaching lips and jumping for his phone. Trumpets were his ring tone. She forgot that he had changed it.

  She dug through his bag, pulled out the vibrating phone and said, "Uh, do you want to answer this?" in a really lame attempt to change the subject.

  Luke still leaned forward, completely immobile from the change of events. It took him a moment to even register what she had said.

  "Sure, sure," he reached his hand out and sat back down. Kira wasn't sure where to look.

  "Hello?" She heard Luke ask. "Tristan?"

  Her eyes focused on the phone.

  Chapter Six

  "Tristan?" She mouthed at Luke, asking if she had heard correctly. He nodded and waved her away so he could concentrate on the phone conversation. Kira tried to pull at his thoughts, but they were suddenly ironclad and barred shut.

  "He said he's called you like six times," Luke whispered while his hand covered the receiver. Kira dove for her phone — it was on silent. Dang, she thought when she saw half a dozen missed calls from an unknown number. What happened to his cell phone?

  "Okay. Uh-huh. On their way here. Today. I'll notify the Council. Yup. Okay, here's Kira." Luke passed her the phone. She raised her eyebrows, questioning the conversation.

  "Good news or bad news first?" Tristan asked after they said hello.

  "Um, bad." Kira sighed. It's always better to have something good to look forward to than something bad to be afraid to hear, she supposed. Although Kira didn't think she would ever understand why bad news always seemed to be lurking behind every good moment in her life.

  "Vampires are gathering in Orlando. I'm not sure why, but it can't be good and it can't be coincidence that this is happening a few days after you arrived."

  Kira fell back against the wooden platform. Some news was just better lying down.

  "Do you think they're going to attack Sonnyville?"

  Luke laughed behind her. "No, that would be idiotic. The town has defenses like you've never seen," he said, loudly enough that Tristan heard on the other end of the line.

  "Agreed. I think they want to draw you out into the open."

  "Simple then, I don't leave and they go away."

  "Maybe, but I know you and you don't let other people fight your battles for you. What would you do if they started killing people to force you to meet them?" Tristan said, already anticipating her answer.

  "Yeah, I would destroy them, vigilante-style." Luke smiled in appreciation while Tristan sighed like he was hoping she would have said something else. "So, what was the good news? I'm sure Luke won't let me do anything without talking to the Council first..." She looked over at Luke, who nodded, and Kira rolled her eyes. He had completely lost his sense of adventure since they moved to Sonnyville. He was the rule abiding, town golden-boy again.

  "Well, if all the vampires are going to Florida..." Tristan said, letting the idea linger.

  Kira jumped up in realization.

  "You're coming to visit!" She practically shrieked. He was grinning on the other end of the phone, she just knew he was. "When will you get here?"

  "Tomorrow afternoon, so I'll be eagerly waiting by the phone for your call. This is a new cell phone, by the way."

  Luke reached out to grab the phone from her hands. She slapped him away. "Kira, we have to go get the Council. This is serious. It's not some lover's rendezvous."

  He's mean when he's jealous, Kira thought bitterly. But, she understood his feelings, more now than ever before. Nothing would ever be the same between them, would it, now that she knew exactly how he felt?

  "I'll see you soon," Tristan sighed through the phone, pulling Kira from thoughts about Luke. "I love you."

  "Love you too," Kira responded happily. Tristan was coming, and right now that was all the mattered.

  Kira couldn't help the silly smile that spread across her face. She missed him. She wanted Tristan around so all of this confusion with Luke would be over. She needed the distraction from Luke's thoughts.

  Luke stretched his hand out and Kira dropped his cell phone. He stood up, grabbed his bag and walked off the platform. Kira had no other choice but to follow him or continue to sit there going crazy with curiosity. She ran after him.

  "Where are we going?"

  "I need to alert the Council. And, the only way to do that is to talk with the head Council member."

  "Let me guess, Councilman Peters?"

  "Bingo," he said and continued walking. Kira let herself drop slightly behind. She had wanted to wait for her grandparents to officially invite her to their home before barging in. As per usual, things were not working out as planned.

  Kira followed Luke around the bend. They continued walking along the sidewalk until they reached a small, almost cottage-like home at the next corner. There were overflowing flower boxes and gray-blue shutters on all of the windows. The front door was painted to match and the sidewalk was almost invisible due to the garden. Flowers, mostly bold reds and vivacious oranges, leaned over the worn brick and drooping bushes covered the rest.

  Taking a deep breath, Kira stepped past Luke. She wanted to be the one to knock on the door and say hello. Letting Luke do the work would feel like hiding.

  With slight hesitation, Kira banged her knuckles against the door. One. Two. Three. Instantly, she heard feet shuffle on the other side. A fleeting sense of nerves hit her stomach when she saw the knob turn, but when the smiling face of her grandmother greeted her, Kira just felt relief.

  "Kira! What a surprise. Please, come in."

  She had a sweet voice, like a flute, both energetic and relaxing at the same time.

  "Luke's here too," Kira said and pulled him into view. Her grandmother said hello and stepped aside to let both of them in.

  The furniture seemed elderly somehow. The sofas were flowery with droopy cushions, clearly worse for their age. Surprisingly, there weren't many objects aside from furniture. A few books, a few photographs of her grandparents and a few paintings on the walls: nothing very personal and nothing of her mother's.

  Kira tried to hide her suddenly deflated mood. She had been hoping for a few answers and a few memories. Maybe a few pictures to stuff into her bag for later...

  "Who's there, Lana?" Her grandfather walked cane first around the corner and then stopped in his tracks. Kira was still stuck on the name he had used: Lana. Her mother's name, and she guessed her grandmother's too. Instantly, Kira felt a pang of sadness at not sharing the family name, but, she thought, at least she had learned something about her history she had not known before. It was something, even if a small something.

  "Miss Dawson, Mr. Bowrey," he nodded. "What brings you here?" He sat down on the sofa, pushing the flattened cushion deep into t
he springs. Luke stepped forward. It was his turn to do the talking.

  "We got some news from a...trusted source that vampires are on their way to Orlando. They're congregating in a way we've never seen, and we think there is probably some plan to capture Kira."

  The Councilman held up his hand to signal Luke to stop talking. "How trusted?" He asked.

  "Someone who's saved both of our lives more than once. Someone who cares a lot for Kira and would never let anyone hurt her." Kira nodded along, silently so thankful that Luke hadn't said Tristan's name. Or more importantly, let slip what he was. Being here made Kira acutely aware of one thing, no one in this town would have any tolerance for her relationship.

  Luke continued describing what he and Tristan had spoken of, but there wasn't much to say. Vampires were on their way, the end of the world was imminent — just another day in the life, Kira ruefully mused.

  "I will call an emergency Council meeting to discuss this. Luke, take Kira home. Tomorrow morning at ten o'clock we will announce our decision in the town square. Start spreading the word, please." He got up and walked away, just as quickly as he had appeared, leaving no time for Kira to bring up her mother or father. Lana, her grandmother, showed them out. Luke left first, but before Kira could leave, a soft wrinkled hand grabbed her forearm.

  "Kira?" She turned around to look into the caring eyes that greeted her. "Please, give him some time. Just have patience."

  "I will," Kira said softly. Her grandmother squeezed, putting an extra ounce of love into that touch and smiled that secretive smile Kira had seen before.

  "You are just like my daughter: strong and willful. It scares him, because he cares so much. He always has."

  Kira put her own hand over her grandmother's and held it there for a moment. "I understand." She turned to leave, but stopped in the middle when she noticed the glistening in her grandmother's eyes. This is killing her, Kira thought, maybe she needs me just as much as I need her. They had no family, the Peters'. They had had a daughter who died and a granddaughter who was taken from them. They had no one but each other. But now all three of them have the chance at family, Kira thought.