Free Never Let You Fall (The Prophecy of Tyalbrook) by Michele G Miller

my shoulder and saw the glow from the fire lighting up the lawn. I could feel the heat warming my face, even from across the yard.
    I looked to the boy again. “I will never let you fall, remember?” he pleaded, and I shook my head as tears ran down my face. “Run!” he shouted one last time as he ran towards the house.
    He turned at the door, looking for me, and for a moment the flames lit up his face. But all I could see were his bright blue eyes staring at me…
     
    “Gah!”
    I shrieked as I jumped into a sitting position and gasped for breath. Beside me, Xander scrambled out of the bed and grabbed a dagger from the table next to him, all in one fluid motion.
    “What is it?! What?” he snarled, as he moved to the door with remarkable speed for someone who had just been woken up.
    “It’s nothing, I…I was just dreaming,” I cried, as I covered my face and tears rolled down my cheeks. “I’m sorry.”
    I felt the bed sag from Xander’s weight, and I sunk back down to my pillow and retreated underneath the blankets.
    I turned away from him and tried to cover the sounds of my sobs with a fist.
    “Hey, hey,” he soothed as he stroked my hair. “Don’t turn away from me, Skye. Please don’t cry…”
    I bawled louder, which caused me to hiccup as I tried to calm down. The dream, or rather nightmare, had seemed so real . The house, the fire and the shadow of a boy were so lifelike I could touch them. The images felt like a feather tickling the back of my brain, almost as if it were trying to wake up long-buried memories.
    Xander’s hand running through my hair felt so comforting, and he babbled on softly about how everything was going to be alright and for me not to worry.
    After a few minutes I began to feel more composed, and my sobs turned into sniffles and silent tears.
    “Come here,” he begged, and lifted the blanket from my shoulders slightly as I turned to face him.
    He pulled me towards him halfway and then slid himself the rest of the way. After a moment, I found that I was wrapped in his strong arms with my face pressed against his T-shirt-clad chest.
    His breath stirred my hair as he shushed me, which made my pulse race. His soft shirt smelled spicy, like ginger and cloves, and I rubbed my cheek against it and inhaled deeply. I could feel the hard muscles of his stomach under my hand as it rested on his abdomen.
    “You know how I told you my parents died right before my eighth birthday?” I blurted quietly, and I felt the slight tightening of his muscles.
    “It was never solved - the murders, that is - but apparently it was pretty gruesome. There was a fire.”
    “Skye, you don’t have to talk about that,” he interrupted, and squeezed me tighter to his chest.
    “I know, but like I told you earlier, I’ve never really had any memory of the event. I’ve always wondered if it was an ordinary car wreck that killed them, or if it were something more sinister, magical, you know?” I asked, although I wasn’t looking for an answer.
    “Well, I’m pretty sure that I just dreamed about the night they died.” My voice was barely audible, and I began to recognize the truth in what I was saying.
    I could hear Xander’s heart speed up under my ear and his hand stilled in my hair as he replied, “What did you see?”
    I closed my eyes and let my mind go back over the nightmare. I described the screams, the heat of the fire and the shadow of a boy who yelled for me to run. As I recalled the scene, I could feel that something else was missing. I searched the cobwebs in my brain for what I was leaving out.
    The voice, the promise he made to me…it was so familiar to me, yet I was unable to put my finger on it and sighed in frustration.
    Xander tipped my head back with a light tug of my hair and his blue eyes were able to penetrate my cloudy senses; pulling me back to the present.
    “It’ll be okay, we’ll figure it all out together, tomorrow,” he promised, and he leaned down to press a