Read Within the Flames for Free Online

friend of Long Nu’s. He and his human wife had died in a fire. Their daughter, Lyssa, had never been found.
    Eddie sipped his coffee. It had gone cold. He concentrated, and the paper cup warmed beneath his hand. A little too warm, maybe. When he tried his coffee again, it burned his tongue.
    He returned the photo to his pocket and glanced around. Even with the cold breeze, the sun had brought out the crowds. He watched faces, pretending he was thirteen again, living on the street, looking for a mark.
    He found three in seconds. Easy targets. Easy cash. New York City was full of people, crammed together, crowded. During those bad years, he would have lived more easily here than in Los Angeles.
    Eddie wondered what the girl in the photograph had done to survive.
    His gaze roved across the street to the Time Warner Center. The curved sidewalk was crowded. Kids perched on the stone guards, talking and listening to music, while cops sat in the cars parked alongside the cabs—watching the kids, and all the men and women coming and going, past the mall, from the mall, talking on cell phones, or not—gazes on the ground, or stubbornly straight ahead, focused on anything but everyone.
    Cabs parked in front of the Time Warner Center. An enormous man got out of one, nearly crawling from the backseat.
    His shoulders were broad, his legs long, chest thick with muscle beneath a button-up denim shirt. Like Eddie, he didn’t seem affected by the cold. His dark hair was tousled around his craggy face, and his demeanor, his height—his entire presence—was utterly imposing. Women gave him appreciative looks. Men got out of his way.
    If only they realized Lannes isn’t human, thought Eddie, amused.
    Not that anyone could tell. As Lannes crossed the street, Eddie marveled at the strength of the illusion: even up close, the man appeared completely human. No sign of wings. No silver skin. Not a glimpse of horns. The illusion perfectly hid the impossible truth: that the man walking in broad daylight was actually a gargoyle, from a race of wingtherace ofed creatures capable of magic.
    And an expert on magic was exactly what Eddie needed.
    He walked forward to meet him, extending his hand. Lannes engulfed him in an immense grip that felt different than it looked: Instead of human fingertips, Eddie felt claws scrape his skin—and the carefully restrained strength in that touch was more than human.
    “I’m sorry for being late,” Lannes said, glancing at the people around them and lowering his voice. “I had to make certain Lethe was safe with her family.”
    “Safe?”
    Lannes grimaced. “We’re still not sure we can trust her parents. Lethe hasn’t even told them about me. ”
    “You’re married.”
    “They don’t know it. Every time she goes over there, they try to get her back together with an old boyfriend.” His grimace turned into a scowl. “He looks like a Ken doll.”
    Eddie ducked his head, trying to hide his smile. “Your illusion wouldn’t fool them?”
    Lannes growled. “Stop laughing. And no, even Lethe can sense it, just with the training I’ve given her. Her family would certainly know me for what I am. We can’t take the risk.”
    Hearing him say it like that wiped the smile off Eddie’s face. “I didn’t think all witches were a threat. When your brother told me that your wife’s family was full of . . . of magic-users . . . I just assumed . . .”
    He didn’t finish, watching as a cold, humorless, smile touched Lannes’s mouth. “Lethe’s own grandmother tried to sacrifice her to demons. And Lethe was her favorite grandchild.”
    Eddie held silent. Lannes said, “So, you understand.”
    “I wouldn’t have asked for your help if I’d known,” he replied quietly.
    “We want to help. And Lethe doesn’t think the rest of her family means her harm. Her grandmother was an anomaly.”
    Eddie raised his brow. Lannes said, “Yeah, I know.”
    “Someone should have told me.”
    “Why? Your job