Free Fire And Ash by Nia Davenport Page B

truth, considering what Derek told me about her parents, she probably wouldn’t want to be anymore.  
    Derek snorts, sinking everything I just thought into the dismissive gesture. “Whatever Cass.”  
    Cassie is about to retort back but then her shoulders start to shake a little. When she notices it she forces them rigidly still and awkwardly tells me she will be right back.  
    “Is she okay?” I ask Derek as I watch her retreating form disappear into their house.
    “Not that it is any of your business, but yes she is. She just needs a minute to compose herself. When she gets upset or excited or experiences any emotion too intensely her eyes turn gold like she’s a full phoenix. And when she’s really pissed off she might accidentally do other things. She’s trying to keep either of those things from happening around you.”
    “Wouldn’t it just be easier to tell her I know? And to tell her about me?” I’ve wondered over the last couple of weeks why he insists that she be kept in the dark.
    Derek crosses his arms over his chest like it is supposed to make me afraid of him and pointedly tells me “No.” It makes the part of me that isn’t always on her best behavior rear its head.
    “Why?”
    “Because I said so.”
    Ha! Not good enough. “Yeah and apparently somebody died without telling me and made you king of the world. I don’t care what you say. I’m telling her.”
    “No you’re not.” He takes a menacing step towards me. The cool water of the pool ripples around his torso as he moves. My gaze dips down, notices how the water licks at his smooth skin, and then abruptly jerks back up.  
    “And I suppose you think you can stop me?” I keep my eyes trained on his face.
    He takes another step towards me. “I don’t have to try. The blood vow you took will.”
    “It would if I had actually sworn not to tell her about me which I didn’t. I only said I wouldn’t tell my family about yours.”  
    My triumphant grin doesn’t last long. It sputters away when Derek narrows his eyes at me and his hands shoot out quick as lightning yanking me against him. My breath catches in my chest when his fingers touch the exposed skin at my side. Something like a zip of electricity shoots from his finger tips to the skin he touches. My body goes rigid even as my heart beats erratically in my chest when his fingers touch the band of my swimsuit’s waistline resting low on my hip. I think the electrical shock must have short circuited my brain because I should definitely either be jerking away from him or shoving him back from me. But that same brain registers that I am standing as intimately close to a boy my age as I’ve ever stood with a lot of exposed flesh and very little clothing between us. What the hell? He’s not a boy, he is a phoenix and I should definitely be pulling away.
    After a beat Derek’s body goes as tense as mine then it relaxes casually. His warm fingers tug upwards at the waist of my swimsuit. “You might want to keep that covered. And if you care about Cassie you won’t tell her. She wants to be normal. Knowing about you or knowing that you know about her won’t help her with that.”  
    Derek smoothly steps away from me as Cassie comes walking through the sliding glass door.  
    “Sorry Ash. I just…um…had to go to the bathroom really bad.”  
    Derek shoots a meaningful look at me then looks to Cassie. I see the desperation in her eyes to be normal behind the lie that she tells me for needing to leave.  
    I don’t have any right to take that from her. So I don’t tell her about me or that I know about her.  

CHAPTER EIGHT
Chicken Noodle Soup

      I hear heavy footsteps, I hear a voice, I hear shouting. I bury my head beneath the blanket. The shouting is coming from the same source that it usually does. My parents. They are fighting again. The footsteps thud down the stairs. A door slams and tires screech out of the driveway. Lighter footsteps pad down the stairs