Wild Flame Read Online Free Page B

her father and her seven-year-old brother.”
    “Ah, damn,” Lincoln murmured.
    Ava looked up from the screen. “Both were killed.”
    “That left Ivy and her mother,” Olivia said.
    Ava lowered her gaze to the computer again. “Yep. Their life was relatively quiet until five years later when Ivy got sick. Very sick.”
    Christian’s gut clenched at the news.
    “She was in and out of the hospital for the next six years. The doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her. Several times, she nearly died.”  
    Vincent ran a hand across his jaw. “Is she still sick?”
    “No,” Davena said. “She’s healthy as a horse.”
    “Then what cured her?” Beau asked.  
    Ava shrugged. “It doesn’t say. The medical records just stop.”
    Olivia nodded. “Ava’s right. The next thing that shows up in any public record is Ivy on the debate team in high school.”
    Now Christian knew where she got her argumentative talents. He looked over to see Davena mumbling with her eyes closed. She was doing a spell, but he didn’t know what for. Before he had a chance to ask, Beau was talking.
    “We need to know what was wrong with Ivy all those years, as well as how she was cured,” Beau said.
    Christian sat back in the chair and glared at his brother. “You think she made a deal with a demon to get better.”
    “She was a kid!” Beau shouted. “She was dying. Yes, I think a demon might have found her and offered her a way out.”
    “Don’t you think she would’ve remembered that?” Vincent asked.
    Beau shrugged. “You’d think.”
    “Perhaps she hasn’t put two and two together,” Lincoln offered.
    Christian shoved the chair away from the desk so hard it rolled back against the wall behind him. He stood and walked out of the room.
    He didn’t understand why everyone was assuming that Ivy was lying. Why couldn’t they see that she might very well be telling the truth?
    His name was called, but he was done with the family for the moment. He needed some time alone, some time to collect his thoughts and go over everything that had happened.
    Christian walked into his room, closing the door behind him. He fell face first on the bed before he turned his head to the side and closed his eyes.
    All he saw was light brown curls and hazel eyes. He heard Ivy’s laughter, felt her fear. He had looked into her clear eyes on the porch and accepted her answer as truth.
    Was he wrong? He hadn’t been before. Then again, he hadn’t felt such desire for a woman either. Though that wasn’t what was driving him.
    It was the unshakable knowledge that he had to help Ivy. He hadn’t told his brothers that, nor would he. It wasn’t that he was afraid to tell them. It was because they would think he was interested in her.
    Boy was he interested, but only for a night of rousing sex. Other than that, there was nothing.
    A flash of her face lined with fear as she pointed her gun at him filled his mind.
    She was a handful. She didn’t hide her panic, instead, she worked through it. Showed strength in spite of it. What else could she do after losing her father and brother at such a young age? She probably didn’t remember them, but she certainly remembered all the hospital visits. That alone explained so much about her.  
    Christian cleared his mind and let sleep claim him.

    ~ ~ ~

    Ivy showered and put her clothes from the previous day back on before she stepped out of the bedroom she had been given for the night. Oddly enough, she had slept like the dead once she’d fallen asleep.
    The house was quiet, but a delicious smell was wafting up from the kitchen. She made her way down the stairs and followed her nose to the source.
    She saw Beau with his chin-length black hair cooking. He had his back to her, so she took a step back to leave when she ran into someone.
    Startled, Ivy whirled around to find another man with the same intense blue eyes and black hair as Christian and Beau.
    The man smiled, his long black hair hanging