Burning in a Memory by Constance Sharper Page A

problem treating you like one.”
                  He pulled into her community the same moment he made the last vehement clarification. She shut her mouth reluctantly, and, despite racking her brain, found no way to budge him from his decision. He pulled into her driveway and threw the car in park.
                  “If it makes you feel better, Adam agrees. Have a nice life.”
                  The atmosphere in the cab turned sour quickly and left little room for questions. She found the handle on her own and stepped onto the road. Tony drove off before the Toyota’s door shut all the way. She stood immobilized for a few moments. Panic took a minute to work its way into her system and then she felt fear hit her like a brick wall. She wouldn’t find the Colton coven for a second time. She would never have the same opportunity again.
                  Her hands shook and feet felt like lead. She struggled the short distance up her pathway and fought with the door’s lock. When she got inside the house, she smelled the faint smoke that lingered in the air. She managed to close the door before losing any of the composure she had left.
    Adelaide backed against the wall and slid down onto the cold tile. Feeling numb, she wasn’t sure how long she sat there. Her phone pressed against the side of her hip and she fingered it numbly. Bradley had said that Leon was in a hospital. Assuming she could force the details out of her brother, there was little reason to believe that Leon would still be there or that she could reach him. More than anything else , though, she knew that if she approached Leon Colton alone, he may kill her without a second thought.
                  She dug her phone free and pulled up Google Chrome. Flights out of the country couldn’t cost that much. Maybe this whole thing was a sign for her to leave town and start over in Europe. The shades over there wouldn’t be able to figure her out, she thought. The Hawthorns wouldn’t waste the time or expense to come after her. But then she wasn’t sure how she expected to survive over there as a human. She didn’t even have a passport or much money to her name. She had to hope the Hawthorns didn’t have friends willing to follow her either.
                  Who was she kidding, Adelaide asked herself. She needed a miracle. If she couldn’t find Leon, she had no other options and she would run for her life.
                  The sound of a guttural engine snapped her from her search. Her phone fell to the ground when she stood. The engine died and a distinctive slam of a door sounded. She glanced out of the peephole and spotted a red Jeep. Her heart sprung to her throat and she threw the door open once she saw him. Adam jogged up her entranceway and slid to a stop before her.
                  “Hi,” she said feeling stupid.
                  He said nothing at first. Adelaide remembered how to step back and allow him room to walk inside. He did and shut the door behind him. They stood only feet apart in her living room now.
                  “I’m glad I found you,” Adam finally blurted. “I didn’t know where Tony would have brought you except for here.”
                  Her lips twitched and she acted on the spur of the moment. Closing the distance between them, she gave him a fleeting hug. He accepted it, drawing her only momentarily into his firm chest.
                  “I thought it was insane that you wouldn’t say goodbye. But he said you wouldn’t want to.” She sounded too breathy. She dropped back a step and reoriented herself.
                  Adam’s face hardened.
                  “I don’t even want to start on my opinion of Tony,” he growled. “He has no right to speak for me. And he’s not in charge of the coven.”
                  Adam whirled and paced the