Fractured Legacy: Aicil Paranormal Files #1

Chapter 16

Kaylyn

I push myself off the floor and rub my eyes. Exhaustion makes it near impossible to keep my head up, but once again, I'm alone. Where could they—

As I clamber to my feet, I hear raised voices coming from the front of the house, so I stumble out of the office following the sound.

"I need to go," Cole say, her voice wavering on each syllable. "Kaylyn needs rest, and you need to stay with her. I'll find out what started the fire and call you."

Fire. By the time I reach the hallway, Cole is out the door and heading down the stairs of the front porch.

"You can't let her go alone," I say.

Jonah head jerks around, and after a long second, he nods once. "I don't think we have much of a choice."

"I won't take off the necklace. I'll do whatever you say." If I weren't so tired, those words would be much harder to reckon with. Right now though, I don't even have the energy to fight with myself.

Jonah takes a step back and turns into the living room.

"Jonah, please." I go after him as fast as my shaking legs will carry me.

"I didn't say no," he mutters. His voice resembles a primal growl as he snatches his phone off the floor and waves it for me to see. "However, I can't believe I'm really considering this. You better keep your word."

It takes less than twenty minutes to get to Cole's house. From the outside, we can barely tell anything had happened, aside from the emergency vehicles parked in the road.

Jonah climbs out of the car and waits for me in front of the bumper. "Remember, keep the necklace on."

"Yes, sir. I got it the first hundred times you reminded me." I stare up at the house, frozen in place when I see a shadow pass in front of the window, but Jonah takes my elbow and pulls me forward.

I finally spot Cole, walking in front of one of the fire engines. She turns away, continuing to pace without noticing that either of us have arrived. I doubt she's going to be thrilled.

My jacket makes little difference against the cold air tonight, so I wrap my arms around myself and stay close to Jonah as he approaches Cole. When Cole finally sees us, her worried expression molds into a scowl. "What the hell are you thinking bringing her here?"

I step forward. "I'm not incompetent, Cole. No one is going to be safe until we close this case, and I should be able to aid in my own defense, right?"

No one responds to me.

Jonah shoves his hands in his pockets and leans back, lifting his face to the sky. I highly doubt he expected to run into anything like this during his first week. Or to be forced to deal with anyone like me or Cole. Finally, he exhales and faces Cole. "We need to know what happened, and you can't investigate this yourself."

Cole shakes her head and jerks her shoulder toward the line of fire trucks. "The fire department won't let me in either way. Nor will they tell me anything."

Jonah nods and steps away. Since he hadn't said otherwise, I assume I'm free to stay put. "Have you heard from Dan?"

Cole's hard expression doesn't melt at all, if anything I just pissed her off more by opening my mouth. "I told him not to come home, but he's on his way. Apparently no one wants to listen tonight," She glared at Kaylyn first, then Jonah. "We still haven't tracked down his brother."

The wind carries the smell of smoke and an even colder burst of air around us. Hunching my back, I turn against the wind, but Cole continues staring at the house. "What if Todd was in there and that's why they won't let me in?"