Fire Kissed Read Online Free Page A

session was completed, when she was already on her way out the door. Getting away was the hardest part. Worse every time.
    She wanted her bed. She wanted numb, black sleep.
    His gaze grew steely, while his voice stayed soft. “One million for a year in my employ. An apartment, car—”
    Uh-huh. Basically a nice cage.
    Kaye shook her head. No, thank you. Not going to happen. The Las Vegas Wake Hotel was cage enough, but at least she could fly the coop whenever she wanted. Soon, probably.
    Hobbs looked irritated. “Please hear me out.”
    She shook her head again. “Let’s not argue.” It would hurt her head. “I’ve had lots of offers to buy me. You could promise the moon, and I’d still say no.”
    “I could keep you safe,” he said. “And comfortable.”
    “Not likely,” she answered.
    His gaze did a narrow-lidded once-over. “A woman like you ...”
    Kaye slapped the table to shut him up before he finished. He didn’t know a thing about her. Prick.
    His mouth thinned as he swallowed his offer. He didn’t seem like the sort to give up that easy, so she took advantage of the empty moment. In Sin City, everyone took advantage.
    “Ten seconds of Shadowfire for fifty thousand dollars,” she said. “You’ll see something in the flame—what that’ll be, I have no idea. I can’t interpret it for you either, so don’t ask. If it’s the future, it’s only one version of the future, so don’t worry too much either.” Or get excited. Or demand something she had no power to give.
    She breathed through a sudden roll of nausea. Wouldn’t do to throw up on her meal ticket. What the hell was in that drink?
    Hobbs rallied. “With your ability and my backing—”
    “I said no.” Kaye stood, leaned across the table—looked like he was going to get an eyeful of her cleavage anyway—and placed a timer before him, preset by the hotel’s owner for ten seconds. She braced herself with her left arm and turned her right hand palm up in front of her client’s face. “Here we go.”
    She concentrated inward, searching for the dark of her umbra, the source of her power, in the myriad sparks that sizzled in her blood. She focused on its draw and rush in her veins, stoking the magic deep within. Better than any booze anywhere. With a splay of her fingers, the heat flowered gorgeously in her hand. The flame, a rose rich in orange, reds, velvety black, danced seductively, and she writhed a little in her skin, responding to the flush of Shadow. It always felt so damn good.
    Her client had reared back, protecting his eyes.
    “You have one shot,” Kaye warned and hit the timer’s start button. If he wasted it cringing, that was his problem.
    The man’s expression went avid, and then he sat forward, staring into the flame, greedy for the vision.
    Kaye looked into the wavering heat herself and almost lost the fire when she spotted Hobbs in a blurry struggle with an unseen adversary. A reach. A grab. A miss. He flailed into the air, falling off the roof of a city building. Didn’t look like Vegas. No, it was somewhere the sky was as gray as the concrete. The vision followed her client down, his horror, and the abrupt, uneven strike of his body on the hood of a taxi.
    That hurt her head too.
    Kaye glanced over at the timer, which was beeping. The display read fourteen seconds. He could have no complaints.
    She fisted her hand and the flame was doused. She spoke by rote. “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you.”
    Mr. Hobbs flicked up his gaze, the force a smack of anger. The cast of his skin had gone sallow green, revealing an age spot or two. He was panting like a pig. “I’ll pay you double for ten more seconds. A million to work for me. Five to keep me alive.”
    “Doesn’t work like that.” Kaye skirted the table. Time to get out of there. “And it’s only one possible future. Just make sure you change it.” If you can.
    She was opening the door when Hobbs grabbed her shoulder. She startled with an