Alight The Peril Read Online Free Page A

been on for a few hours. When my fingers reached his wrist, he grasped my hand in his and wove his fingers through mine. His hand was so warm, I started to sweat a little.
    He rolled to his side, still gripping my hand, and faced me. His lips hovered inches from mine, and my heart thumped.
    Hold still, he said.
    I waited, wondering what new trick he could possibly have. He drew a slow breath in through his nose, and then his lips parted and he began to exhale. His breath washed over my nose, mouth, and cheeks, and a million tiny sparks burst against my skin. Everywhere the sparks touched, my skin tingled.
    He sent no words through our link, but I could sense how badly he wanted to close the space between us. His longing stirred like a heavy, hot wind through my mind, and for a moment, I couldn’t distinguish his feelings from my own.
    He ran out of breath and leaned a fraction of an inch closer to me. I closed my eyes, anticipating the pressure of his mouth. When his lips touched mine, our emotions and thoughts seemed to twirl and twine around each other in a rush, like strands of seaweed caught in crashing waves.
    Too soon, Mason pulled back and the tide of our jumbled thoughts receded. I think I’d better go , he said.
    My eyelids popped open, and I strained to read his expression in the dark. I knew he wanted to stay. His feelings reverberated back and forth through our link. Plus, duh, he was a guy . But he didn’t want to push anything to happen too quickly between us.
    After a few seconds, he dropped my hand, pushed himself up from the bed, and exited the basement as quietly as he’d arrived.
    I rolled over to my back and brushed my index finger across my lips, which still tingled from the warmth of Mason’s kiss.
    Just before I drifted to sleep, I heard music. It was a melody I didn’t recognize, and yet it felt familiar. As it danced through my mind like a swirling breeze, I caught a whiff of something fresh and organic, dew on just-cut grass. The melody faded, and its absence seemed to leave a hollowed-out place in my heart. But I was too exhausted to explore this new sensation, and sleep claimed me.
    * * *
    At lunch the next day, Angeline and I parked ourselves on the bottom row of the bleachers in the volleyball gym, and I devoured half of my PB & J. I’d told her about summer solstice and Aunt Dorothy’s warning, and Ang was totally freaked out. I tried to calm her down, reminding her she couldn’t do anything until we had our other Guardian.
    We’d come to watch our friend Kaitlin rehearse with the dance team, and try to feel like normal high school students for an hour. I scanned the room while I chewed. Sophie hadn’t shown yet. She was dance team co-captain—almost unheard of for a sophomore—and I’d bet my oatmeal cookie that she was waiting until everyone had gathered so she could make a grand entrance. I imagined her in an empty classroom somewhere making out with my brother, and I grimaced.
    Dance team members and various assorted friends hung out in small groups near the bleachers. Ang and I spotted Kaitlin and waved, and she blew us kisses.
    “You have any gum?” Ang asked.
    “Is Toby coming or something?” I grinned and dug around in my bag.
    She giggled and jabbed me in the ribs. “No, I don’t think so.”
    I offered her a stick of gum. “So tell me about last weekend. You know, you and Toby.”
    She gave me a surprising amount of detail in just a few minutes, almost as if she’d been rehashing it over and over in her mind. She remembered their conversations almost word for word.
    “He’s just so sweet,” she sighed. “Oh, and his aunt is getting married this summer in Danton, and he wants me to go with him to the wedding.”
    “Wow, that’s a pretty big deal, Ang. You’ll probably be meeting his entire extended family.”
    “Yeah,” she said happily.
    “So, do you love him?” I asked. My heart flipped like a coin tossed into the air, and my smile faltered for a split