Read The Tempting Touch Of Fire (Elemental Awakening, Book 1) for Free Online Page B

pain. And without an answer, it shouldn't have hurt as much as it did. But I couldn't be sure Theo hadn't done this. I couldn't rule out the possibility, even though his words of protection kept repeating in my mind. Faced with a threat similar to what he had given last night, I didn't have enough faith to believe.
    Belief is tangible, measurable. To truly believe is to encompass that which trusts. To truly believe you become one with the belief itself. Nothing short of irrefutable proof can break that promise.
    I stared at the mud plastered wall, at the letters of the words written, as a warning, in my lounge. Was this evidence that Theo was not the promise I had thought him once? Did this break that trust, shatter it beyond belief?
    "And still I want to protect you."
    It was probably the betrayal of trust that stirred something new inside of me. Where was this coming from? The old Casey would have run a mile from this, but some instinct suddenly bursting to life within me was saying - no demanding - I meet this challenge head on. I face down my enemy and make him pay.
    What if Theo had shattered his promise this night, broken my trust?
    I had to know the truth.
    I'm not a commando. I haven't even taken Karate lessons or any other self defence class. I wouldn't know how to throw a punch or pull the trigger on a gun. I bake bread. I make sandwiches. And I have a green thumb. But I am not entirely stupid. I may not know what the hell is going on with me, but I saw how those Rimus down the driveway acted on just a simple, nonsensical thought.
    I'd wanted them to intimidate Theo, so I'd made them tinkle in a non-existent wind. He'd hardly been intimidated, simply amused. But the trees had acted on my command. Could I get them to do more?
    I quickly changed out of my work clothes, noticing my wardrobe had not been missed in the mud-messenger's pursuit to threaten. All I had left to wear was my gym gear, in a bag hidden at the back of my closet; black yoga pants, black zip-up hoodie and black running shoes. If I'd had black camouflage paint, I would have used it. As it was, I had to force myself not to smear the dirt off the floor on my cheeks. I was going in by stealth, but I wasn't going to be stereotypical about it.
    I contemplated grabbing a knife from the chopping board, but one thing my grandfather had always told me growing up; whatever weapon you use to defend yourself, be prepared for it to be used against you. I didn't fancy being stabbed in the gut. So I walked unarmed out of the flat.
    When I came out onto the driveway I heard the trees sigh out a hello. It had been easy to ignore it at first. To pretend I was hearing things. To pretend my world had the same parameters as before. But it didn't, and I knew this now. So when they whispered, the coast is clear, welcome to the night, I listened. I heard. I stood still and acknowledged what they said.
    But it sure as hell freaked me out.
    A trembling started up in my arms and soon engulfed my entire body. It took everything in me not to turn around and go back through the door to my home. But how safe would I be in there? Someone had already demolished it. He could come back and finish the job off once and for all. I didn't want to do this. I wasn't sure I had it in me to confront Theo. But I knew a corner when I'd been backed into it. And I damn well was not going to leave town because some bastard smeared the demand in mud on my walls.
    I needed answers. I needed to know the truth. Theo could provide both.
    Sucking in a deep breath, I approached the closest Rimu Tree. I wasn't sure how to talk to it. Say the words aloud? When I heard the plants whisper, it was on the air, but also in my mind. As though they could speak directly to me.
    I shrugged my shoulders, took a deep breath, and thought, can you help me?
    Nothing.
    I moved closer and laid my hand on the Rimu's roughened trunk. The sense of peace and harmony I felt at that simple motion almost brought me to my knees. I