Maybe Fate: A Novel (New Adult Paranormal Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page B

in my gut. It
must be nice to be so carefree. Huffing,
I watched my breath swirl in front of me in the crisp air. Maybe
I should try to relax more, or care less, or... or something.
    My
scalp tingled, mere seconds before I heard an oddly metallic groan.
As if drawn by a sense of knowing dread, I tilted my chin to the
sky.
    Above
me, on the side of a building, I spotted a large sign proclaiming
how delicious a certain brand of beer was.
    Blinking,
unsure what had tickled my intuition so much, I squinted at the
display.
    Amazingly,
it began to move, tilting forward and sliding from the stone. It
strangely reminded me of fudge melting down a slope of ice cream.
    Impossible, I thought, fighting with myself over what I was actually seeing.
    The
giant structure was about to come crashing down on me.
    I
need to move, to run!
    My
legs felt like they belonged to someone else. My whole body was
boiling, but none of the heat could reach low enough to give me
control.
    I
might have stood there, letting myself become crushed, if it wasn't
for that sharp scream.
    Turning,
I saw her. Only slightly bigger than the bag of bread I shared with
the birds, the girl couldn't have been older than five or six.
    In
one hand, she was holding a sparkler. Her eyes, wide dollops of wet
emerald, were fixed above. Following them back up, I watched the
metal snapping, grinding on wire in a downward spiral.
    Suddenly,
my legs seemed just fine.
    Rushing
forward, I bolted across the stretch of sidewalk. There was no one
else, no one but me could have made the distance and reached that
little girl in time.
    I
wondered, as I grabbed her and threw her forward, out of the way, if
they would put something heroic on my tombstone.
    Around
me, the squeal of crunching metal began to rain down. On my knees,
fear mixing with an odd sense of acceptance, I didn't even feel the
scrapes from my tumble.
    Firm,
tight, something made contact with my shoulders. My brain cried out,
wanting to shut down, expecting the touch to be the deadly debris
slicing me to pieces.
    Whatever
it was, instead, curled around me firmer. Arms, I
thought, just before everything in me, around me, shifted into
nothing.
    I
swore, I saw a familiar smile.
    Swimming
in blackness, in chunks of grey, I realized I heard nothing. It was
like sound didn't exist for me; nothing existed, I felt empty.
    What...
    Then
it ended, the reality of screams and smoke and the scent of fear
crumbling back down on me. Someone set me on the ground, then stood
over me fluidly.
    Confused
to the point of delusion, when I glanced up and caught a glimpse of
Nethiun, I didn't believe it.
    He
wasn't looking my way, but off at something in the distance. Behind
me, I heard the roar of cries still going. I thought I heard my
name, but wasn't positive.
    Glancing
over my shoulder from where I sat on the hard sidewalk, I saw the
remnants of the sign where it lay in a destroyed heap at the foot of
the building.
    How...
how did that not kill me?
    The
little girl I'd pushed to safety was surrounded by what had to be
her parents, the trio of them sobbing in relief.
    Across
the street, the man selling sparklers stood there, staring, his
mouth open wide.
    Again,
I heard my voice. That's
Becky, Becky's calling for me. She must think I got crushed. Why...
why am I NOT crushed?
    Turning
back, I stared up at Nethiun, the scent of fire and melted copper in
my nose. “You saved me,” I whispered. “You saved
me, didn't you?”
    He
didn't answer, he simply shot one look down at me, eyes ever hidden
behind those glasses. Then, in a sudden burst of impossible speed,
he sprinted down the alley.
    “ Wait!”
I shouted, refusing to be left in the dark. I couldn't handle having
no answers.
    How
had he managed to rescue me?
    I
needed to know.
    Standing,
ignoring both the stinging cuts on my knees and the panicked shouts
of my friends in the crowd, I chased after the blonde man.
    It
was an impossible task, he'd already escaped my view when I finally
broke