Free Firebrand by P. K. Eden Page A

outer office looked at her with furrowed brows as she leaned against the wall, her hand rubbing her forehead.
    Once back in her own office, she dropped into her chair, crossed her arms and rubbed her forearms with her palms to try and get the feeling back. “This is all wrong,” she said, shaking her head.
    She pressed her hand to her heart, a rapid throbbing met her palm. Slipping a thumb under the gold chain of the amulet, she raised the necklace, lifting the adornment to her eyes. No longer gilded, the charm was now totally black with tiny sparkles of light flashing inside the bottom third.
    “I don’t care what Serina said, there’s something alive inside this thing and it’s coming off now.” She twirled the chain around but could find no clasp. Grabbing it with both hands, she tried to pull it from her neck but each tug only seemed to encourage the links to thicken.
    With an anxious sigh she dropped her hand onto the desk. Light coming in through the glass wall of windows caught the shiny flecks on her skin, each one looking like a tiny rainbow. She held her hand up to her eyes and stretched out her fingers.
    “And what’s with all this glitter?”
    * * * * *
    In his office, Eric dropped to one knee and ran his hand over the rich carpeting. He gathered a handful of shiny sparkles and stood. Slowly opening his hand, he looked at the small mound in his palm. He’d seen it before. Fairy dust. Amber was the one, but he was sure she didn’t know it and what’s more, she was evolving and she didn’t know that either. Time was running short.
    She didn’t appear to know who he was but he could not take a chance with that assumption. He’d come to learn that fairies were more clever than they allowed some to believe and the blood of one ran in Amber’s veins.
    If he had it his way, he would simply take her to the Obelisk and destroy her and the key. But the prophecy warned that the key taken by force before the rite began would invalidate the power it held. He could not take that chance.
    Besides, these foolish humans were so protective of each other. If he simply snatched Amber away, someone would surely start looking for her, raising suspicion and possibly impeding him from carrying out his plan.
    No, she had to go willingly to her fate. At the proper time he would seize the power key and become invincible. There would be one world, one king.
    Gorash.
    * * * * *
    “They know! We can’t stay here. We have to find her.” David paced the living room floor of Amber’s townhouse.
    Serina stepped in front of him. “Jolinax said that Gorash suspects. The troll king has spies everywhere and Eric Sinclair may be one of them but drawing attention to Amber will put her in even more danger. The trolls know that human reaction to the unexplained is unpredictable. They will not do anything to call attention to themselves here in the upworld.”
    “Strange things happen in New York all the time,” David countered.
    “And so do heroic things.” Teezal’s dark curls danced around her face as she shook her head. “Trolls are bulky but small and they do not move quickly. They will not risk trying to snatch her until they are sure she is completely alone.”
    “Then when she gets home, she’ll never be alone again,” David assured her, his gaze riveted on the front door. “She should be here by now.”
    “She’ll be here,” Serina reassured. “If she was in impending danger, I would know it.”
    “Why don’t you just use your fairy powers and tell her to get back here.”
    “I can’t. She’s evolved beyond the point of me being able to plant a suggestion in her mind that she would follow.”
    David frowned and averted his eyes so Serina could not delve into his mind and see what he was planning.
    She didn’t have to see his eyes.
Don’t do it, David. Don’t go storm-trooping her office. If Gorash gets a positive ID, he’ll come for her himself. He’s a pureblood, very powerful. He has been shrouded in