Read Fire for Free Online Page B

not violent enough to be a seizure."
    Shawn's legs kicked out, slamming into the coffee table, knocking the open beer onto the carpet.
    Susan raised an eyebrow. "You were saying?"
    "Goddamn it!" Micah bent to catch the bottles. "He's cleaning that!"
    "Shawn!" Alex yelled, now standing over the slumped form. "Wake up!" He reared back his open palm and slapped Shawn hard on the face.
    There was no response.
    Micah tried next, taking Shawn by the shoulders and shaking him. "Shawn!"
    "Look out, boys!" Susan warned. As Alex and Micah stepped back, she sloshed what was left in the beer bottles onto Shawn's face. He still jerked, and the beer dripped down onto the armchair.
    "Not the furniture, too!" Micah exclaimed.
    Susan rolled her eyes.
    The three froze at the sound of sizzling accompanied by the smell of burning flesh.
    Susan wrinkled her nose. "Look!"
    Burn marks blossomed across Shawn's arm. "Is this hurting Kaitlyn, too, do you think?" Micah asked, panicked, furniture forgotten.
    "I don't know," Alex said. "This never happened with Kaitlyn."
    "Shit. Shit. Shit." Susan paced. "Think. What do we do?" Moving back toward Shawn, she slapped him hard across the cheek. "Wake up you bastard!"
    The knife still in his hand, he jerked again. Micah pushed his sister out of the way of the flailing blade. "Stand clear! He must be fighting the Shades. Let him ride it out."
    A large part of Micah hoped Shawn wouldn't make it, but then, a smaller part argued, he'd be left without any advantage in finding Kaitlyn.
    Just then, as if to spite Micah, Shawn sat forward, eyes springing open. He gasped for a breath that he didn't need. With hands still cuffed together, he waived his knife wildly in front of him, warding off an invisible enemy.
    "Shawn! Stop! It's us!" Susan took a step forward.
    Alex stopped her. "Wait. It might not be Shawn."
    The three watched as Shawn's eyes adjusted, taking in the room, then the burns on his arms. He looked up, sniffing. "Why do I smell like beer?"
    "It's Shawn, alright." Susan sounded disappointed.
    "Well, what happened? What did you find out?" Micah asked.
    "Uncuff me first."
    "Tell me!" Micah clenched his fists, wanting to rip the words out of Shawn's mouth.
    Shawn's voice grew quiet and he narrowed his eyes, "Uncuff. Me."
    Micah crossed his arms, debating internally. But the need to know superseded his ego. He nodded at Alex. Alex threw the key to Shawn.
    "Well?" Micah prodded.
    Shawn took his time with the handcuffs. "Those Shades do not play nicely." He rubbed at the red marks on his wrists. His eyes traveled up his arm to the burn marks, then flicked to Susan. "I could use some ointment, sweetheart."
    She stiffened, but Shawn had the advantage for now. They needed to know what had happened. She left the room in search of the first aid kit.
    "Everyone who had been touched by the knife is there," Shawn continued.
    Alex snorted. "I could've told you that."
    "Which means Kaitlyn's Shade is there, as well."
    Alex clamped his mouth shut. He hadn't thought of that – not even Kaitlyn had thought of that.
    Shawn continued, "Shades possess knowledge of the power they once held, but also memories of what once was their life. Kaitlyn's Shade might lead us to Kaitlyn."
    "Did you see it there? I mean Kaitlyn's Shade?" Micah asked, tensing. It was part of Kaitlyn, of who she was, and he shuddered to think it was at Shawn's mercy.
    "I searched, but I think she’s being protected."
    "By whom?" Susan asked, tossing the blue compact first aid kit at Shawn.
    "By Sarah," Shawn grumbled.
    Humor lit the faces of the other three in the room. Sarah, a former Gaia and Shawn’s former girlfriend, was executed once Kaitlyn was found to be her successor.
    "They need some time to settle down; maybe a few days. Then I'll go back and try to speak to the one that seems to be in charge." Shawn did not look too happy. When Sarah's Shade took over Kaitlyn's body during the battle on Heard and McDonald Islands, she found out what Shawn