Page 16 of The Mating Fire
She checked the internet connection. Nothing wrong there, nor with the cloud server…
“Tis my fault. I caused your electronic device to malfunction. I need your undivided attention.”
The deep, masculine voice startled her. She turned in the chair. The lab was empty except for a tall, silver-haired manwho looked as if he’d escaped from Comic Con. Exceptionally handsome, he had penetrating eyes, long hair tied back with a leather thong, and looked menacing in his outfit of leather trousers, soft boots. Bare-chested but for two leather straps crossing his chest, he was handsome and otherworldly. The hilts of two swords showed above his thickly muscled shoulders.
Harper struggled for her lost composure. “This is a private lab. If you’re looking for Professor Datum, he’s teaching.”
“I am looking for you, Harper Ashley.” As he crossed the room, she felt the air thunder before him, though his step remained light.
A rill of fear rippled down her spine. This was a man who could slay those displeased him as easily as squashing an insect. Yet his expression looked kind, almost paternal.
“Do not fear me, Harper. I am here merely as a… what did Xavier call me? A messenger boy.”
He snorted, as if the description annoyed him and she relaxed a little, for the gesture made him seem more human.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“I am called Caderyn, the Shadow Wizard, who rules over witches and several paranormal Others. I have correspondence for you from your parents.”
Blinking she tried to assess the situation. “My parents are divorced. I haven’t seen them in at least four years. Certainly, they don’t send me letters anymore.”
Not that she cared. Harper had saved all her money from working odd jobs, as well as attaining scholarships, to put herself through school. Her last correspondence to her mother had been tucked into her mailbox with big red letters, RETURN TO SENDER, ADDRESS UNKNOWN.
They probably thought she was after them for money to pursue her studies.
“What’s in the letter?
“You need to read this. Your 25thbirthday is not until later next year, but the way things have sped up, it is time. Read this before deciding your course of action for the future.”
The man handed her a letter stamped with an odd red seal with a blue flame. His gaze flashed to an odd mercury color, then he looked sympathetic.
“I knew them well. They were good people, and did not deserve the fate they met.”
“What fate?”
But her attention diverted to the letter instead of the man carrying it.
She touched the letter, feeling the parchment with the pads of her fingers. Old paper, formal, the inked writing on the envelope elegant and somehow old-fashioned. People these days were too much in a hurry to handwrite letters.
Whoever sent this took their time, and wanted to convey a message of great importance.
Perhaps this answer would provide answers as to why her dreams these past few months had been murky and filled with visions of lava and fire. Her pragmatic scientific brain reasoned it was all the research she’d conducted. Yet deep inside, she sensed otherwise.
Harper tore open the letter and read, her hands shaking.
My dear Harper,
I hopeyour 25thbirthday finds you well and accepting of your true calling. I know it must have come as a shock to find out, and that the parents who raised you are not your birth parents. Please understand that we surrendered you for adoption to keep you safe and grow up as normal as possible, which is challenging for our kind. Living among humans you could grow to achieveyour full potential, before your soul mate claimed you. You needed the opportunity to discover yourself before binding with another.
We hope you make the time to visit Kawah Ijenif you have not by now. The rare blue flames will show you the extent of your powers and what your destiny is. As a coldfire pyrokinetic, you have the potential for both good and destruction. Never forget this.
Your loving parents,Sarah and Darren
The letter fellto the floor from her trembling fingers. Her heart slammed against her ribcage. Not only were her parents not her parents, but her birth parents gave her up when she was a baby?
The burning question was, what was a coldfire pyrokinetic?
Harper looked around the lab. No sign of the mysterious, silver-haired man who called himself a wizard. Not even a colleague in sight. She was alone.
