Free Burned (Keeper of the Flame) by Ivy Simone

hand in
his while we walk down the hallway. He points out other bedrooms
but doesn’t spend much time upstairs. When we reach the main level,
I’m surprised at how comfortable the house is. It looks lived in
but old, with antiques expertly placed, the wood of the flooring
and the doors rich and solid.
    “This is your house?” I ask, unbelieving.
    “My family’s house, yes. But it’s just me
here now. It’s‒”
    He breaks off and walks me across the
entryway to a room with a closed door. We pass the front door and I
pretend I don’t even notice, though I’m well aware this might be
one way to escape his house. I have no idea where my bag is, or my
cell phone. But maybe if I can get him to believe I plan on
staying, I’ll have time to find it before tomorrow night.
    “It’s what?” I ask, turning to him.
    He props his shoulder on the wood paneling
outside the closed door. “It’s nothing.”
    I urge myself to step closer, to force
compassion into my eyes. “Family stuff?”
    He nods. “Family stuff.” He reaches to cup my
chin. “You’re really beautiful, you know that?”
    He doesn’t wait for an answer before sliding
his lips across mine. I can’t help the spark of need, that desire
for physical contact I haven’t had in a while. It’s been too long
since I’ve been able to open myself up to someone else.
    For some reason, the flames don’t seem to get
too out of control with Logan. At least not yet. How can I still be
so attracted to him knowing what he is? And after what he’s
done?
    Logan eases back. “You’ll come around. There
are a lot of great things we can do if we work together.”
    Somehow I get the impression his idea of
great things and mine are very different.
    “What’s inside?” I ask, pointing to the
door.
    “Ahh…” He opens it and lets me go in before
him. “The library.”
    I stop a few feet in and gape. There are
books everywhere, lined shelf after shelf higher than my head.
There’s even a second story with a winding staircase that leads to
a balcony.
    Logan smiles. “I thought an avid researcher
like yourself would appreciate this.” He points to one shelf.
“Classics, of course. And some of my favorites. But a lot of the
rest of these are history and geography. Family journals,
notebooks, and all about our bloodline.”
    A vampire bloodline?
    “Are your parents…or the rest of your family
like you?” I ask.
    “You mean devastatingly handsome and
charming?”
    “You know what I mean.”
    He walks to the window and puts his hands in
his pockets. “We are the oldest family in Shadow Hill. Our
bloodline stretches back for over a century.” When he turns, his
lips are pressed together tightly, fire flashing in his eyes. “It
stretches back almost as long as the curse.”
    “What curse?”
    He strolls toward me. “The one you’re here to
break.”
    I shake my head. “I don’t know what you’re
talking about. I can’t break a curse‒”
    “You can and you will.” Suddenly he’s in
front of me, fingers gripping my jaw. “I brought your mother’s Book
of Shadows and I’ll bring you whatever else you need. But, Willow,
you’re not leaving until you break that curse.”
     

Chapter 10
     
    I drop my head into my heads. Logan left me
with my mother’s book, another journal he said I might need, and
closed the library door.
    He doesn’t even care that I know nothing
about magic or spells or curses. I barely know about my family
history. Before the last few months, I didn’t know how I could make
fire appear, but I didn’t for one second believe it was because I
had magical powers.
    I stand from the table near the window and
peer outside. The grounds are immaculate and welcoming. If I wasn’t
being held captive here, I might actually enjoy touring the
place.
    It’s already early evening, with the sun
sinking closer to the horizon. I have to figure out how to get out
of here soon.
    My eyes stray to the library door. I didn’t
hear a lock or