Burning in a Memory Read Free Page B

sip while she formulated her thoughts. This conversation wasn’t going as easily as she’d hoped. She could see the tension in the muscle ticks of his neck and shoulders. If she could have found a way to make him feel more comfortable, she would have jumped on it. When she found no way out, she just dove in the only questions she could ask.
    “How did you do it? How did you save us?”
    “I used magic to shelter us, the same as Angie used to stop the boulder from crushing her.”
    “So you’re both the same,” she gasped. Putting a hand to her forehead, she focused on the ground. “How come I’ve never heard of this before?”
    “It’s not exactly something that’s common knowledge. My kind has been hunted and killed all throughout history. But unless we have that label affixed to us, it’s impossible to tell us apart from other people. We are normal with normal lives and only other mages can see through that.”
    She looked up at him.
    “So you’re a witch?”
    He laughed dryly.
    “No,” he said.
    “A telepath?”
    “No. No way. I am a mage. Angie is a mage. It’s a bit different, but please don’t picture the green woman over the smoking cauldron. I’m also not on the X-men team or anything of the sort.”
    She smiled at him shyly. She was certain she saw a hint of pink in his cheeks now.
    “Sorry. I’m still learning. What else can you do?”
    Adam frowned momentarily, as if he reconsidered teaching her anything. If he had reservations, he finally gave them up.
    “It’s hard to show really. We work within the power of our auras upon the world around us. I’ll spare you the long explanations though.”
    Right when he finished speaking, she heard the fridge door open. Glasses rattled overhead. The candles in the corner flickered and reached all the way up to the ceiling. The potted plant in the corner sprouted flowers and died within the same second. Her head was whirling to keep up with it all. She let her jaw hit the floor.
    “You’re a superhero,” she said.
    This time she was certain his face lit up. He focused on his Coke now.
    “I ’m not. It’s useful but surprisingly less useful than you think it would be. Those are just parlor tricks. The hard things come with work and exercising your aura is like exercising any other muscle. Some are better athletes than others.”
    “Well, I’m sure you’re one of the best,” she exclaimed.
    Adam denied it with a shake of his head.
    “You saved my life , Adam. I can never thank you enough for that.”
    This clearly affected him.
    “I’m glad I did, Adelaide. But I do have one thing to ask you for now. Angie babbled to my coven about what happened at the rock wall and now they’re concerned. They want to meet you and see that you are harmless.”
    Before she could answer, a resounding knock came at the door and she could smell the pizza before she opened it. The sixteen-year-old driver did little more than pocket a twenty and thrust a hot box at her face before he was out in the driveway again. She swiveled and found Adam back in the dining room, but his attention wasn’t on her. He faced the back window and the weedy yard beyond it. His fingertips drifted out and brushed the thin curtains. Her heart skipped a beat.
    “Is something wrong?” She cued.
    “No,” he said, sounding uncertain. He strode across the room, his footsteps silent on the wooden floor, as he drifted back into the hall.
    “What’s wrong?” she asked again. She was rapidly becoming desperate for an answer.
    “Nothing,” he insisted.
    As if in a rush to dismiss the weird behavior, he hurried to take the pizza from her. She followed him back into the kitchen where he already opened the box.
    “Pepperoni lover?”
    He plopped it down into the counter, and opened the nearest cabinets. She didn’t have many plates but he found them, setting them out on the counter.
    “You said you didn’t care!”
    He smiled again.
    “I love everything. I eat pizza all the time.