Read Burning in a Memory for Free Online

after he’d set himself up.
                  “No, a lot would be an over-exaggeration,” he said, clearly flustered more by Adelaide than he had been by Charlotte. He continued quickly. “But Charlotte never keeps her opinion to herself. She thinks inserting herself in the middle of everything would have some effect, but she’s just scaring everyone away.”
                  “I’m kidding and it’s okay. She seems nice,” Adelaide said. By nice, she really meant unproblematic.
                  Adelaide turned her attention to the counter. If Charlotte was a mage, Adelaide would be willing to bet that most of her staff was too. Mages always held normal jobs like everyone else, and were normally employed by their families. None of them had raised an eyebrow to Adelaide’s presence yet, and that was a good sign.
                  It wasn’t much longer until Adam said, “Here they are.”
                  Adelaide plastered a smile on her face and sat up straight. The first to arrive at the table was a male. He was shorter than Adam but with a much broader chest and distinctive abdominal muscles. She barely memorized the distinctive square shape of his face, the color of his eyes, or the trim short haircut before he assaulted her.
                  It happened in a flash. He grabbed her by the shoulders and hoisted her weight free from the booth. He spun her against the wall and snatched her wrist in a vice-like hold. She gasped in pain but he ignored it and stared her down.
                  “Mages always have an aura even if they’re weak…”
                  “Tony!” Adam’s voice was lost in the background, mixed with the sounds of people nearby. No help came for Adelaide and she found herself in his mercy.
                  “No aura.” He grabbed her shoulders instead. His own magical aura now pulsed, causing an invisible, but potent, distortion in the air around them. “Shades always have a tattoo to identify their clan on the back of their neck. Move your hair!”
    He spun her and this time she didn’t fight. She pulled her fluffy hair aside so he could spy the back of her neck. It was bare and untainted.
                  “You’re a spy then, a human spy.” He flipped her back to face him and studied her face.
                  “Stop!” This time Adam’s voice sounded loudly and he hit Tony’s shoulder. The other mage shifted from the force of the blow, and although it couldn’t have done much damage, it snapped him from his attack.
                  “What are you doing? Are you kidding me?” Adam roared.
                  “You don’t know who she is!” Tony hollered back. Their voices must have spread throughout the entire parlor. Adam obviously realized that too, because the next thing he said came out as an urgent whisper.
                  “Neither do you! You didn’t even let me get out her name before you tore into her. Like Charlotte didn’t just do the exact same evaluation?”
                  Tony ended his assault with a sour look Adam’s way. He stepped back into a crowd and Adelaide noticed his companions for the first time. There were two women that clung to either side of him, but they appeared unremarkable. Adelaide didn’t have long to size them up. Adam’s hand came down on her shoulder.
    “Come on, we’re leaving,” he commanded. Before he could lead her away, Charlotte rounded the corner. The short , older woman pushed through the others and stood in front of Adam.
                  “Sit, please, and we’ll talk. You all are attracting too much attention, here of all places,” the woman urged.
                  “I’m sorry Charlotte but I don’t have a choice. It’s not like we could sit and eat in peace after that. I brought Adelaide here on my good word that