Lucifer (Brimstone Heat Book 1) Read Free Page A

story some time?” asked Teri.
    “Maybe some day.” Angie chewed on her bottom lip. She knew the girl was curious, but Teri would just have to remain curious. She was not in the mood to share her story with anyone.
    Teri tucked several strands of brown hair behind her ear. “I hate waiting. I could go inside and check.”
    Angie shook her head. “You are not going in there. Do not even suggest it again.” Angie gave Teri a quick smile. “I know you can protect yourself, but I would rather have the guys with the guns go in and search.” Angie crossed her arms over her chest. “Besides, that’s their job. We might as well have them earn their paychecks.”
    “Fine, I won’t go in there.” Teri rolled her eyes.
    “I’m glad that’s settled,” said Angie. She almost expected Teri to stomp her foot and protest a little more.
    Teri shrugged her shoulders. “But for the record, it’s not because you don’t want me going into the library. I’m not going in because the police are here.” She gestured to the street running parallel to the library parking lot.
    “That was quick.” Angie watched a police cruiser stop not too far from them. The officer exited the car and walk over to them. From the silvery brown swirls in his aura, she knew he was a wolf shifter, like Teri and the majority of the people in Briary Creek.
    “Angie Gunner?” asked the officer.
    “Yes, I’m Angie Gunner, the librarian.” She stepped forward. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”
    “Deputy Wade Martinez.” He held out his hand to Angie. “Dispatch said something about a possible break in and robbery. What exactly is the problem?”
    Angie shook the deputy’s hand. Even though, he was smaller than most of the wolf shifters she had met, from the strength in his handshake, the deputy was not a weakling. “I’m not sure if anything was taken. After I discovered the alarm was disabled, Teri and I immediately left the building.”
    Deputy Martinez pulled a pen and notepad out of a pocket and jotted down the information. “Is it possible you just forgot to set the alarm?” He looked up at her as he asked the question.
    Angie raised her eyebrows in disbelief. “I armed the system just before I left last night, and I locked the back door before I left. This is something I do every day. So that would be a no to your question.”
    “Sorry. I had to ask, because a lot of times people forget to set the alarm and then the next day they think someone has broken in because the alarm is off.” He gave Angie a small lopsided grin.
    “It wasn’t just disabled or not set. It was dead. That’s why I didn’t touch it to key in the code to disarm it this morning.”
    Deputy Martinez looked up from his notes. “It was dead? As in no electricity dead or just turned off?”
    “Dead. Dead. As in no electricity going to it kind of dead. The electricity is on in the building. There’s no power outage, but the alarm keypad is completely dead. Plus, I didn’t close the door when we left the building. If the alarm was active, it would have already gone off by now. That’s why I called the police,” said Angie. She shook her head. She knew he had to ask the questions, but where people really that stupid?
    Before the deputy could say anything else, a white SUV with Briary Creek Sheriff’s Department blazed across the side, pulled into the parking lot and stopped next to the police cruiser. The driver’s door opened and a large man stepped out of the vehicle.
    Angie’s jaw dropped as she stared at the man. His aura was strange. It was a mixture of gold, silver, white, and black swirls. She had never seen four colors combined like that. He wasn’t a shifter, but neither was he human. She knew it should have frightened her, but for some strange reason, it didn’t.
    The police uniform he wore did nothing to hide his muscular body. The way he stared at her as he walked toward them, made Angie think of a Viking coming to take what was his. She