Sounds of Fire

3

The morning was hot and sticky and absolutely unbearable. Anatolia sat up in bed, disgusted with the hairs sticking to the back of her neck with sweat. She had no idea why the morning was so hot, it was never that hot, at least not inside. Then she looked at her clock and saw that it was past noon. Why hadn't her alarm gone off as it usually did? Incensed, Anatolia strode out of her room, her pajamas sticking to her skin, and rapped on Derek's door. She waited a whole three full seconds before twisting the knob and barging inside. Derek was sitting at the little desk that Sir Den allowed him to have for his magical artifact collection. Anatolia took one glance at his collection before raising her arms in question. "Why hasn't anyone woke me?"

Derek set down a restorative amulet before turning in his chair. "What are you going on about?" He grimaced at his sisters sticky clothes and obvious sweat stains. He hid how grossed out he felt. "And why are you so sweaty?"

"Because the sun is high in the sky and it's hot, dear brother. Did someone turn off the AC or something?" Derek twitched, and Anatolia knew she got her point across. She heard the AC humming so decided that she probably left her window open. She moved on. There were more important things to worry about. "My alarm didn't go off. What happened?"

Derek's face twisted with confusion. "Lady Grace told me that you were sleeping in."

"She said what?"

"Looks like she tricked us both." Derek shrugged and tried to play cool, but he knew it wasn't working. Anatolia was still upset.

"Where is she?"

"At office headquarters. She said she didn't need us today."

That ticked off Anatolia even more. "What? She's supposed to take us! Someone is going to trick her and completely destroy the firm!" Though she thought Sir Den's 'law firm' was boring and unsatisfying, she wasn't going to let Lady Grace flush all of Sir Den's work down the toilet. The firm catered mostly to those of otherworldly origin, and they were a crafty bunch. They could easily trick Lady Grace without Anatolia or Derek there to spot a lie or anything shifty. It was even harder to control since Sir Den's firm was the only one of its kind. Humans were too frightened and didn't have enough knowledge to handle anything that wasn't human.

"Relax," Derek soothed. "She said she was only going to get settled. I admit, her shutting off your alarm before you could get up was a sly trick but-"

"You think?"

"But," Derek went on as if Anatolia hadn't said anything, "she'll be fine. She's just making her office her own. It's nothing to get concerned over."

Anatolia crossed her arms over chest, felt sweat soaking through her shirt, then put her arms at her sides. "I need a shower."

Derek chuckled, his eyes traveling over his sisters wet clothes. He was amused, knowing that she most likely left her window open and allowed the heat inside. Again. "Yeah, you do. Lady Grace should be back any minute. She said she'd only be gone a few hours. Go take a shower, feel better, then you can chew her out yourself instead of yelling at me."

Cheeks hot, Anatolia had too much pride to apologize. So, she left, closing Derek's door gently, then went to her room to shower in the adjoining bathroom. She ran her shower as cold as it could get, hissing when the water touched her skin. It did make her feel better, her upset at being left to fry gone. When she was finished, she dressed lightly in shorts and a loose shirt. But it was still hot. She went to her window and found that it was, indeed, open. Stifling hot air was wafting in so she slammed the window shut and made a face at the inanimate object.