Watch Me Burn: The December People, Book Two Read Online Free Page A

this.
    “Jesus, Dad. I’m just saying. I didn’t claw off her skin.”

    David’s discussion with Emmy made the humming of the spell grow louder. David excelled at reading people, and not only in the Mundane sense. He couldn’t read minds, but one of his magical skills was understanding people’s intentions and whether people told him the truth. And Emmy had told the truth. About all of it. She knew Julie. She hated Julie. But learning Julie had gone missing surprised her, and upset her. He doubted she knew anything else—at least he didn’t suspect she was hiding anything. And as suspected, Evangeline had no more than a detached curiosity about Julie. She had lived outside of society for the first twelve years of her life, and aside from attending a small progressive, private school the second half of last school year, she still hadn’t joined society in any meaningful way.
    So, David didn’t know why the spell had intensified. The girls didn’t know anything useful. But the magic pushed at his knees and coursed through his body like extra adrenaline. The spell seemed…excited?
    He could ask the boys, but they probably wouldn’t have any useful information. Xavier was more detached from the world than his sister. Through years of trauma he had found a way to use magic to numb himself into a state of near non-existence. He barely seemed to recognize his own family, let alone strangers. Patrick had never been social, and had become even less so lately. He had stopped going out to visit the few friends he had. The only time he left the house was for his summer job as a lifeguard at the neighborhood pool.
    Therefore, David doubted that either of his sons would know Julie. But David appreciated any excuse to engage his sons in conversation. His daughters bickered and cast frivolous spells on each other, but he could handle that. In fact, he had trouble stopping himself from smiling when he saw them fighting. They may not have gotten along, but they acted like sisters, and that made his heart swell.
    The boys got along fine, but he’d rather they fight. If they fought, he could see the life in them. At least shouting was communication. David wanted Xavier to feel something, anything—a selfish wish perhaps, because he knew Xavier needed a way to protect himself. If he started to feel things, some of it would be painful. But David feared what would happen if he kept fading. Could he fade away completely? Snuff out his soul altogether? Would David one day wake up to find nothing behind his eyes?
    The boys had left the door open, so David walked in. They played Grand Theft Auto with glazed eyes. They hadn’t known each other for most of their lives, but they still looked right as brothers. In looks at least, as they reminded David of himself and his own brother, James. Xavier looked like David…almost exactly like David. They both had hair and eyes a bland color of brown, and eyebrows that made them look serious all the time. Patrick looked similar, but warmer in every way. In the right light, his brown eyes had hints of red and gold.
    “Can you pause?” David asked.
    The game paused, but they didn’t stop looking at the screen.
    “And can you also turn around, and look at me while I’m talking to you?” David added.
    They did…slowly.
    “This will just take a second.” David held the photo of the girl out for them to see. “I don’t know if you’ve seen on the news…”
    David stopped. He felt a deep chill that made his skull tingle. Patrick’s eyes sparked to life, all sign of boredom or apathy squelched. He stared at the photo. He didn’t appear to breathe or blink. His face paled, as if David had shown him a picture of a demon or rotting corpse, and not a sweet, happy girl in a volleyball uniform.
    Xavier glanced at the photo, but then turned his attention toward Patrick, a rare flicker of life in his eyes. But David could tell he was just reacting to Patrick. He didn’t look twice at the picture