Free Eternal Hope (The Hope Series) by Frankie Rose Page B

of Kayden over Daniel’s shoulder and froze.
    For a second she thought he was on fire, the same way her mother had been on fire in every vision she’d ever had of her. But Kayden wasn’t on fire, he was fire. Pure white and burning, he seared at her retinas. Seeing him like that was enough to stun and scare her all over again. She somehow managed to regain her bodily functions and scrambled against Daniel, trying to pull herself away from Kayden and drag him along with her. It didn’t work. She only succeeded in making him grasp hold of her tighter, and when she overcame her panic enough to look up, Kayden wasn’t burning anymore. He was just Kayden. There was a troubled expression on his face when he gave her a worried smile.
    Daniel held her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. “What the hell just happened? You weren’t breathing, Farley. That’s not supposed to happen.”
    She frowned at him. There was a green Fruit Loop stuck to his forearm and others crushed into his damp jeans. The bowl must have landed on him when she’d tried to stand up in the kitchen. “I don’t know,” she told him softly. “But I wasn’t safe. I wasn’t safe .” The last word cracked as her throat closed up and tears threatened to come. She wouldn’t let them, though. There was still something horrible lurking inside her, like a part of that bitter tomb had found its way back with her. And until that feeling was gone, she knew she couldn’t fall apart. It would sense her weakness.
     
     
     
     

Twelve
 
After
     
     
    The sunset turned the sky bloody, a violent end to the day. It felt appropriate, somehow. Farley traced her fingertips along the rough grain of the wooden deck listening to Daniel pace around amongst the tall grass. The half light, not bright enough to see by but not dark enough to totally rob the senses, turned the world into flat browns and greys. The dusky air smelled sweet, like crushed pine needles and musk. It was balmy and warm, but Farley was still wrapped in the blanket Daniel had found for her earlier. Her bones were carved ice.
    Daniel wandered in and out of the tree line, swallowed for long minutes before emerging again. She had no idea what he was doing but he seemed tense and on edge, like sitting would be an impossible task. His unease was contagious. It was a degree darker when he reappeared and made his way over to the deck. His movements were leonine and fluid, pure animal. The burning miasma of the sky backed him as he paused in front of her, twisting lengths of dry, brittle grass around his fingers.
    He scuffed the step of the deck with the toe of his Converse before slowly climbing it and sinking to the floor at her feet. Tentatively reaching up, he brushed a strand of hair from her face. “Hey, beautiful.”
    “Hey.” She gave him a muted smile. She still felt like all of her limbs had been pulled in opposing directions.
    “I just spoke to Cassie,” he whispered. “She wants to talk to you.”
    Farley lifted her head from where it rested against the back of her wicker chair and frowned at him. He’d been out there in the forest talking to Cassie? In the dark? He really didn’t have any idea how to handle this situation. The look on her face must have told him she was upset.
    “Don’t worry. She called me.” He showed her the cell phone he held in his hand. “She heard about what happened today. I think she wanted to ask you about the person you saw.”
    “Well, I don’t want to talk about it.”
    “I know. I told her to leave it a couple of days. I just thought you should know she’ll be approaching you at some point.”
    “Fine. I hope she catches me in a good mood.”
    Daniel gifted her with a bemused look before staring down at his phone. “Do you want to tell me any more about it?”
    She shook her head. Being with Daniel was the only time she felt safe, but there was someone else she would rather discuss her visions with. Probably because the small woman