Free 03 Solar Flare - Spark Series by Autumn Dawn Page A

just—Oh!”
    Azor stilled. He raised slightly, his gaze
unreadable. It was the look he wore during a crisis.
    Brandy closed her eyes in acute
embarrassment. Her family had the worst timing.
     

CHAPTER 6
     
    Brandy’s skin burned with the fire of
embarrassment as they rose from the carpet to face Gem and Blue.
Blue actually looked amused. Gem was horrified. “What’s…I mean, you
can’t be serious.”
    Azor cleared his throat. “It was my
fault.”
    “No, I hit you,” Brandy said apologetically.
“He was defending himself.”
    “Interesting technique,” Blue commented.
    Gem threw an elbow into his side. Like Azor,
he was from off-world, and considered the mating customs of Polaris
rather stifling, but Gem had been raised here. “Stop! This is
serious.”
    Azor opened his mouth and Brandy started
talking fast. If she didn’t do something she’d find herself engaged
to a chilly cop. Her face heated. Well, he was normally chilly. The
goose bumps on her arms now weren’t due to the cold.
    “Look, I was upset. You know how I get. I
think Azor thought I was going to do something crazy. He was trying
to sidetrack me.” Nothing like a little distraction to derail her
traditional sister. She hoped to exchange one form of
protectiveness for another.
    Gem looked suspicious. “How crazy?” It seemed
she was suspending her wrath until she had more details.
    Brandy sucked in her cheeks, stalling. She’d
started this, though. “I was about to go to a strip club.”
    Gem looked stricken. “Why? With so much at
stake, why would you do that? Do you want to be infamous?”
    She looked so hurt that Brandy felt a little
sorry, but only a little. After all, she was a grown woman. “Maybe
it’s in the blood, sis. Dad was always talking about all the wild
adventures he had before he settled down to be a tavern master.
That’s what we are, you know—just jumped up barkeeper’s
daughters.”
    “Don’t talk like that! You know we’ve become
a lot more than that.”
    “But we’ve forgotten who we are—or you have.
I feel like a pretender. I feel…just…crushed under all this
propriety! It was easier when we were barely scraping by. We didn’t
have to be so good.”
    “Brandy, I don’t want to hurt you, but you
feel crushed because you’ve had to work so hard to rebuild your
reputation. You’ve had to be good. You’ve just stewed in it so
long, it’s probably got you…I don’t know, stressed.”
    Brandy looked at the ceiling and laughed.
“Stressed? You think?” She focused on Gem, willing her to
understand. This had been building so long. “Well, I’m sick of it!
I want to breathe again. I need…” She blew out a breath,
frustrated. “I don’t know what I need.”
    “I do,” Gem said grimly. “I know what we all
need. You need to go, Brandy. See Xera. Get away from this mess.
Your family can’t take another go of you fighting scandal. I mean,
I can’t. I know you’re strong enough, but I don’t know if I am. I’m
bleeding for you, and that’s not what you need. You need…oh, I
don’t even know.” Gem threw herself down in a chair, an unusual air
of defeat about her.
    Blue sent Brandy a warning look as he rested
his hand on Gem’s head. It was the same quelling stare he often
used on his sons. “Remember the babies, love. Let me get you some
of that calming tea.” He glanced casually at Azor. “Azor? Get you
something?” was what he said, but his look said, “you’re staying
awhile.”
    “I’m fine, thanks.” Azor reclaimed the seat
he’d abandoned earlier. It was clear from his unruffled manner that
he was there because he felt he should be, not because Blue had
intimidated him.
    Gem sighed. “Maybe I should stop getting
pregnant. It really does get in the way of a good rant.”
    Since everyone seemed to be calming, Brandy
took a step toward the door. She was ready to flee the scene.
    “Don’t even think about it,” Gem warned her.
“It’s past time we talked.”
    Brandy