Chapter One

*BEEP *BEEP* BEEP* BEEP* "Ugh", I say in a sigh. Monday morning already. The warm summer air clings to my skin as I lay in my bed dreading what the day will bring. I hear a bang come from the kitchen. I immediately reach for my gun hidden under my mattress. "Nana?"…..Nothing. I dive to the floor. I steadily open the door. "Hello!" I let out a scream and point the gun to his head. "Whoa" he says. It's John. I point my gun down and apologize to my cousin. "What are you doing here?" I ask as I put away my weapon. "Hello to you too." He replies. It's this kind of banter I don't miss when he leave for the summer. He runs to the kitchen to ransack my fridge. I grab a comb to flatten this mocha brown mess I call hair. I'm on call at the fire station so I don't worry about makeup. Technically I'm underage for a good 2 ½ years but who really gives a care. I didn't hurt that my father pulled a few strings. Now he and my mother live in eastern Germany and are part of the Secret Service. I am their poor 18 year old daughter who is tough as a nail. I live in an apartment in New York with my Nana to check up on 'd think I would find life appealing right? Wrong. "My God Mia…You have no food in this place!" I hear John cry. I ignore him. "How was Arkansas?" I don't care really. "Hot and humid. It reminds me why I moved here." He reaches for the keys to my black mustang, my baby. I smack his hand and he drops the keys. "What?" he questions." "I'm out of gas." As usual. 'Can you give me a ride?" "Do I have a choice?" I look out at the sunrise and a piece of me feels like this day has something to behold… but what?

Chapter Two

I make John drag me to the nearest Starbucks before I head to work. I want to marry the inventor of this delicious drink. "So, how is Emma?" I say while licking my whip cream covered lips. "She's fine." I can tell he doesn't want to talk about his non committed girlfriend back home. "Oh…did you see Matthew?" A part of me hopes he didn't see the cause of my shattered heart. But another part of me hopes did and he wants me back and is sorry, but that will never happen. "Ya, he is with Lucy Chan now." "Oh really!" I say more perky than I anticipated. I clearly remember her saying he was a low life scum but things change I guess. The awkward silence make the trip feel even longer. "Whoa", I hear John whisper. There in the middle of the street is Meghan Baker. The so called sexy women of your dream as people say (Generally people like John). She has on a mini skirt and a tank top 3 size too small. Of course. She looks different, her senses dulled. She is probably a stoner like a few of the seniors at Paramount Heights. We pass her and John's mouth start to open. I smack him and try to hide my smile of satisfaction as he rubs his cheek. When finally reach the fire station or 'The Hub' as many call it. I get out and as I close the door John grabs my wrist. "What?" I say nicely. "Just…be careful" he says with a sober stare. "Okay… I will" I say with cautious grin. This day gets weirder and weirder. "Hello?" I yell into the Hub. "Mark? Joe?" "In here, darlin" I hear Joe call from the kitchen. 'What are you doing?" I ask as I enter the room. It smells like paprika and onions. "Making chili" we say in unison. I let out a small giggle. It feels good. Joe is like my father, a better one anyway. I see the gun we keep around poking out from above the cabinets and slowly push it back. I am very acquainted with the devilish things. I have the scar to prove it. I flashback to that day unwillingly. I was 13 my parents were at work and I was home alone. We lived in Germany at the time. I heard a noise from the living room. I went in and no one was there when I turned around he put a gun to my head and started asking my questions I tried to break his grip but he tied me up and gaged me. After a few hours of ransacking the house he came up to me, shouted at me in German, I screamed and he shot me in the head. Everything stopped as the world I knew then and now fades into nothing.

Chapter Three

I run into the bathroom just before I leave the Hub. I pull back my hair into a pony tail and I see the scar from the bullet. I shot just above my ear. The doctors say it was a miracle I survived. I give a small wave to Joe before I head out. John text me and said he would be late so I walk across the street to an old antique shop. I've been here a few times, but I never found anything interesting. As I scan the shelves for trinkets , and I fumble over a floor board slightly protruding. I look at it with curiosity. I open it with my pink pocket knife (Thank you Nana). Inside is a necklace. It is a small tree with four gems. One is lime green, one as blue as the Mediterranean, one as white as snow, and one that's red. This is the most flame like red I've ever come across. I look into it and I see something. It's….a boy taller than me and very handsome like the offspring of an angelic God. He is with a girl. It's…me? "May I help you?" A sweet old lady asks. She's probably the owner. "No, I just found this under a floor board. Can you tell me about it?" I ask with curiosity. "Ah, I knew this day would come. This necklace belonged to my Grandmother. She told me it had special properties." "It's beautiful" I say mesmerized by it. She grabs my hands. "I want you to keep this. If you found it, it is a sign." Her eyes swell with tears. "Okay. Please don't cry." I say in the nicest way possible. "Thank you very much" I warm here with by bright smile. "Good bye" she says, as she softly fades to nothing. I stand frozen as a man asks if he can help me. I ask him "Did you see that old women?" "No" he replies with a blank expression. "Thanks" I reply After that I run right outside still mesmerized by what just happened.

Chapter Four

I'm too freaked out to wait for John so I ask Joe to give me a ride home. We don't say anything as his rusty Ford pulls to the curb of my building. "Thanks for the ride Joe." As I open the door he grabs my arm. "Be careful, darlin." "Why? What's up?" I ask intrigued by this deja vous. "Nothing, just be careful." I smile hiding my worried expression. "Okay". I head up to my apartment as my neighbor Ethan passes me. "Hey!" He calls. "Is John back yet?" "Ya". I reply "He's probably with some friends". "Okay. Thanks Mia." Ethan is 21. He could pass for 25 though. The fact he's cute doesn't hurt anything either. I go up to my apartment and I unlock the door. It's dark inside, John must have turn off the lights. I go into the kitchen and turn on the lights. As I turn around I think I see a shadow. "John?...Nana?" This again! This has happened two too many times. I walk into my bedroom, but no one's there. As I turn around I feel someone grab my arm as he slides the blade of his knife next to my throat. He whispers "You let out one peep and I swear I'll decapitate you right here bitch." Crap. That's my one thought. He leads me into the living room and ties me up and puts me face down on the ground. He sits on my back as he glides the knife all down my neck. I shiver with fear even though I know not too. He keeps saying something about a bracelet. After an hour he gets up and walks into the bathroom, while whistling like he was walking in the park. It's my chance! I sprint for my bedroom and grab my gun. At this point he's chasing after me. As he runs in the room with a gun of his own I cock it and stare him with my look of 'You messed with the wrong girl'. Before he even knows what it him I feel his chest with lead.

Chapter Five

The man who tried to kill me died at the hospital. A bullet hit one of his major arteries and he went into cardiac arrest. John is home with me as two detectives question me. "Did you know this man?" a female detective asks, "No" The same answer to my previous questions. It's been an hour since they started. "Okay Ms. Richards, we'll contact you if we need to ask you more questions." Detective Barnes says as he and Detective Jones rise and head for the door. I feel dizzy. I stumble into a table and as the vase occupying it crashes to the ground. 'Mia!" John screams as he runs to my side. The paramedics that remain have me sit down. They check my blood pressure and start to yell things I can't comprehend. They turn fuzzy. "Holy Crap!" One shouts as he pulls something small out of my neck. "It looks like a poison tip needle" I say matter-a-factly, as though my life weren't on the line. They put a monitor on me as we get into the ambulance. John is there I can see his face. What I didn't know was that his face was the last thing I saw before the monitor goes silent.

Chapter Six

My eyes fly open. I look around and see I'm by a lake. The sky is dark and three people appear in front of me. "Holy crap! You scared me!" I say with my hands on my chest. I don't feel anything. "Oh my God…am I dead?" Tears swell in my eyes. I haven't even thought about it. "I'm afraid so my dear, but only temporarily." An older man that reminds me of Joe claims. I fall to my knees in sobs. A woman in the middle who seems to be the leader stands up. "Mialanda, we have called you..." I cut her off before she can finish. "My name is Mia, and why did you call me? Are you Angels?" I stand up and wipe my tears. "No, my dear. We are the guardians of the amulet of Spiritus." "The amulet of what?" I'm so confused. "The necklace you found dear." Joe's look alike says. Everything is happening so fast I get dizzy. "You are an Incendia. A goddess of fire." She says dramatically. I want to leave, but I listen intently in case I'm not dead and I'm really hallucinating. "Your purpose is great Mialanda! Evil is coming for you and you must be prepared. He is coming to help you." "Who is coming? If he already came he's dead!" I say hating to burst her bubble. When I look at her she seems familiar. "His name is Lucius! He is like you, my love. Go now any discover your journey." She starts to fade. "Wait! Who are you?" She gives a guilty grin. "I, my dear, am your mother." Then they disappear as quick as they came.

Chapter Seven

I wake up in the ambulance with a sheet over my face. I can hear people comforting John. His quiet sobs. The heart monitor still hasn't come to life. I wonder if I'm dead,but I can see, hear, and feel so I must not be. I try to speak but I see a tube in my throat. I'm in shock at my condition. I must not have been gone very long if we're still in the ambulance. There is no way that was my mother. My mother is in Germany with my dad. *BEEP*BEEP*BEEP*BEEP*BEEP*BEEP "Oh my God." I hear John cry he lifts the sheet and I see his green cobalt eyes. I feel tears in mine as we exchange heart felt looks. "Don't ever do that again!" John says while rivers of water run down his face. I nod my head in agreement. The doctors let me go home two days later and now I feel fine. Joe won't let me come to work and John won't leave my side. The detectives still don't know who did this to me and what their motive was. As the weeks pass by life begins to return to its normal state. I go back to work. John gets a place and a new girlfriend, thank goodness! I get back from work around 2:30 that morning. I strip to my bra and underwear and climb in bed. I listen to my breathing and feel something metal graze the back of my head. I turn over and see a figure with a gun pointed at me. "Get up" I comply. Before I can reach my gun someone lets out a grunt from my living room. The man yells stay there . As he leaves I reach for my gun but it's not there. Crap! I remembered they took it for evidence. I grab some cloths and put them on as a man runs in and grabs my hand in an aggressive way. I sweep his feet out from under him and kick him in the groin as he falls. He moans out a wait. "I'm a friend. Please, I'm trying to help!" Something inside me gives and I help him to his feet he grabs my hand in a soft yet urgent way. We run out the fire escape as bullets wiz pass us. In a panic I grab my purse which contains my keys, my phone, my wallet, a pocket knife, and some pepper spray along with some cosmetics and the Amulet. We slide down the ladder and head to the parking lot. I'm already exhausted. "Stop I can't go any further." I say in out of breath. You'd think I'd be in better shape hauling people out of burning houses all day but I just gave in. He picks me up and runs at the same speed equally. I'm shocked by his strength. The bullets never stop coming. I hear a pop too close and he yelp out in pain we fall to the ground. I see my car and something inside me lights up. I drag him off the ground and help him too my car we hop in and I speed away. But not before I see my apartment go up in flames.

Chapter Eight

I pull of at the nearest rest stop and look at his wound. Just a graze thanks God. As I tend to his wound I ask him "So, how did you find me?" He sighs "They led me to you." "Who? The guardians?" "Yes" "Oh" I haven't had time to study him yet. He is remarkably handsome. A crown of black surrounds his head. He has red eyes like the crystal on the amulet. "Oh my God! It's you! You're the boy from the amulet!" He looks confused. I start to explain and he seems to understand. "Why did you come? Did you know I was in danger?" He moans from the pain as I clean his wound. "I had a feeling." "There all done. I scoot next to him as he sits up. "I'm Mia by the way." He nods "Luke" Oh my God it's him. He's Lucius! "So you're an Incendia?" "Yes. Just like you." He looks at me. His eyes look like an inferno ready to devour me. We move closer as his lips softly touch mine. I pull back in shock of my actions. "Sorry." He says "It's okay." I mean that's totally normal right? To kiss someone who saved your life, even though he could be some serial killer. "I won't hurt you I promise." He says with a solemn gaze." I look into his eyes and I know I can trust him. I was told that by my mother no less. At least I think she's my mother, never mind. "I need my gun if this is going to be a routine." I promote. "In the morning." Luke says like a promise as I fall asleep under his watchful eye.

Chapter Nine

I wake to the smell of coffee. I look to my left and Luke behind the wheel drinking a cup of coffee the size of my forearm. "That should be illegal." I say groggily. 'Good morning, beautiful." He turns to me with a luminescent smile. He is even more gorgeous than I remember. "Where are we?" I see corn fields so I know we are out of state. "Ohio" "What! " I nearly spit my coffee. "How?" "Well I've been driving since 6 and it's almost 1." I never sleep this late. Well I never sleep in women's restrooms at rest stops either but anyway. "You know what? I don't know a single thing about you." "Well I'm not a serial killer." He says with a grin. I stare at him wide eyed. "How did you know?" "Well, when you are an Incendia you have specific powers. One of them is reading." "Like we can read minds?" "Not the same thing, but yes like that. Only it's what people's hearts say." "Oh, cool. What else can you I mean we do?" He starts to tell me the multitude of our capabilities. Like, speed, strength, hearing, and we are impenetrable to fire. "I don't believe that." "Why?" He asked unbelievable. "Look at me! I'm covered in burn marks." "Well your powers haven't been activated yet." He says it like there is a switch to do it. "And if your string enough you can create fire." "Sweet!" I'm feeling pumped. 'But the guardians decide if your worthy of the title. Not many are." I have an odd feeling my I-claim-to-be-your-mother-even-though-I-can-turn-to-mist-mom is going to intercept my acceptance. But after all what are ghost moms for?

Chapter Ten

I can feel his grip tighten around my arm. He shouts something in German. "She doesn't know anything! Let her go!" It's my father. The man laugh. I suddenly feel a searing pain in the back of my neck. A loud shrill escapes my lungs. "Mia! Wake up!" I open my eyes to see myself covered in sweat, with Luke standing over me. "It's okay. It was just a nightmare." He says soothingly. He rubs my back as he cradles me. I let out quiet sobs. "What is it? What did you see?" "I didn't see anything. He hurt me and was torturing my dad." Luke runs his hands through my hair. He pulls back to look me in the eye. He meets my lips with a soft kiss that warms my whole being. We sit like this for many minutes as the early morning hours welcome us. This is how I fall asleep and want to every night. With Luke there to warm me with a sea of kisses. It is strange how much I've longed for. He starts to gift my neck with a sea of warm kisses, and I let a small giggle escape me. This is all he will offer me though. I can't help but let the worries of my life escape my mind. He lays me down on the bed still exploring my teeth with his tongue, and I start to have a pang of guilt. When he comes up for air I tell him I'm fine and he should get some rest. He slide down onto the hotel floor and crawls to his makeshift bed. I still worry if I can trust him, and at that moment the room goes black.

Chapter Eleven

"Mia, wake up my love." My ghost mother sings. I arouse to the sound of water, but I'm not by the lake. I'm in a house; I'm hoping is her's. She is humming a tune a faintly recognize. "Wake up!" I jump up from the couch. "Where am I? What happened to Luke?" I giggle as I remember his inviting kisses that left me craving more. "You are in my home on Renora, and yes Lucius is fine." I sigh. What is it with you people and names. "We always call one by their true name. I named you Mialanda , and that's what you'll be called." "How did you do that?" "Do what?" She asks confused. "How did you know what I thought?" 'I read your heart dear. I'll teach you." She puts her hands on my heart and I start to shake. She is hurting me. Then her hands make a flame and she touches me with it to my heart. I feel like my whole person is on fire. "Help! Luke!" I cry out. Then everything stops. I look at my shirt. No a single burn. "What did you do?" I ask as my heart tries to return to a normal state. "I initiated your will of fire." She says it like she does it every day and it's no big deal. 'It hurt like Hell!" 'Language, young lady." This one is wild. "I heard you say that!" I shout with glee. "Good. Lucius will help you for now. Ta-Ta!" She says with a smile before I disappear.

Chapter Twelve

Luke wakes me with a passionate kiss. "Hello, beautiful." He says while warming my neck with his lips. "Hello there." He looks to be about 19 or 20. I never realized how handsome he was. His chiseled jaw, straight nose, rugged woodsy cologne. I feel a longing in his heart even though we just met two days ago. "How's your leg?" He lifts his pant leg to show nothing. "No scar?' I ask intrigued. As Incendia we heal fast. "Oh. Right, totally knew that." I say with a bored expression. " I saw my mom last night." "He looks shocked. "How?" He asks with a worried expression as he wraps his hands around my waist. I kiss him before I answer. He lets me explore his mouth this time. I feel his teeth that are a straight as a ruler. He pushes us back into the wall. He begins to run his hand along my thigh as a hard knock hits the door. We both stop and stare like we can see through the wall. Luke goes to the door and turns around with a horrid expression. Then the bullets start shooting through the door like it's butter. I dive behind the dresser and he jump beside the bed. He motions for me as the hell-fire ceases. I tuck-and-roll like Joe taught me. He hands me a gun and grabs one for himself. We grab our things which is a backpack and my purse and run for the window with our shoes at hand. Luke gingerly opens the window and slide out since we were just on the second floor. I jump into his waiting arms and as he gives me a peck on the lips. We slip on our shoes and run for my Mustang. The bullets start to come again. I hop in the driver's side and start it up, but it's only when I look up do I see we're too late. There are guns to both are head from behind. I don't to read Luke's heart to hear him and I say Crap.

Chapter Thirteen

They automatically take are guns, gag us, and restrict our arms. It's gonna be okay. I'll get us out of this. I look to Luke to get approval that it's him I hear. He nods. Just think of what you to say, and mean in it your heart. I take a breath. Who are these people? Why do they want us? Maybe this is a big old joke John is playing on me. No, he probably wouldn't try to kill me first. I don't know, but I'll get us out none the less. They blind fold us once we get off the highway. I feel Luke rub his leg against mine for comfort. Our abductors start to argue. "I'll kill them myself if you don't know where the drop off is!" He turns around with a pocket knife and stabs Luke in the shoulder. He winces as his white tee shirt turn crimson red quickly. I feel my blood start to boil with anger. I rip the plastic band binding my arms like it was thread. I lung at the driver and claw his face till I feel liquid on my fingertips. He cries out in pain and lets go of the wheel. Luke somehow broke the band and the passenger is unconscious my car swerves off the road and hits a tree. My head hits the seat in front of me. My head softly lands in Luke's lap after impact. My head hurts as my blurry vision subsides. I moan and realize…Luke! "Luke! Are you okay?" He's unconscious. "Oh God!" I open the door and drag him out. "He's not breathing!" Who am I talking to? I start CPR and as I come up for air the fourth time his hand push down on my neck as he enjoys a slow, long kiss. You're okay! I am now. I love you, Mia. I freeze. I'm making out beside a major car accident with a boy I just met 2 days ago, and he loves me! Holy crap! Without thinking I respond. I love you too.

Chapter Fourteen

Luke and are make our way back to a motel after I cleaned up his wound. He kisses me passionately before saying "You really love me?" "Of course." I say running my hands up his back to his shoulder blades. He knocks us onto the bed, but doesn't crush me. I still haven't traded in my V-card, but don't plan to any time soon. He looks into my eyes and smiles. "What?" "She did it." "Did what?" "She initiated your Incendia." I get up and look in the mirror my dark brown eyes have turned the cherry red of fire, just like Luke's. I smile. "Now we're the same." I smile as he wraps his hands around my waist.