The Key (Heartfire) Read Online Free PDF Page A

find myself there."
    He grinned wider and she turned even redder if that was possible. And then she stood up. He was on his feet in a half a second, ready to follow her wherever she went.
    Even if it was just to the damn ladies' room.
    "Look, I should get back. Lots of homework and stuff."
    That was bullshit. She was just trying to get out of the date. He raised an eyebrow and called her on it.
    "It's the first week of school. There isn't a lot of homework."
    She looked away. He still had a stupid smile on his face. Even though she was trying to get away from him. He knew he was a fool but he didn't care.
    "Yeah, but I have to work tomorrow so I need to do my homework tonight."
    "Okay. Let me walk you."
    She gave him a wary glance that said 'I am onto you.'
    He hid his smile. She was right. He did want to know where she lived. Anyway, it worked.
    He followed her doggedly, keeping up a steady stream of chatter. She answered him cautiously, as if she was afraid to reveal too much of herself. Instead of annoying him, he found it adorable, and mysterious. Just like she was.
    It was unfortunately only a short walk to one of the large dorms that lined the edges of campus. He stared up at Tanner Hall and smiled. Now he knew where to find her.
    Bingo.
    "Can I see you again soon?"
    "Sure."
    Relief flooded his system. That had been easy.
    "How about tomorrow?"
    She shrugged.
    "I work at the dining hall, remember? I'll be there tomorrow. You can lay eyes on me."
    He grinned at her. She was being deliberately obtuse but he didn't mind. She was so damned cute!
    "No, I mean like this. On a date."
    Her pretty lips popped open. He'd shocked her. Again.
    "This was a date?"
    He smiled wider and leaned toward her. He wanted to kiss those pretty lips. Hell, he wanted to do more than that.
    Much much more.
    She turned her head at the last possible moment, leaving him to kiss her cheek. That was okay though. He was close enough to whisper in her ear, "Yes, it was."

Kaylia
    ☿

    Kaylia stood up and then sat down again, jumping back up immediately. She realized what she was doing and started pacing back and forth on her side of the room instead. She was always careful to try not and intrude on her roommate's side, but right now she wanted to run laps around the room.
    Maybe the ceiling too.
    "You okay?"
    "Uh huh. I'm great. Never better."
    Charisse gave her an odd look from her bed where she was lounging on a mound of pillows. Didn't matter. Kaylia could not seem to sit still. She was not sure what to do with herself.
    He'd tried to kiss her. Just like in the dream. But better.
    That gorgeous, impossibly real boy had tried to kiss her for real.
    Only she'd turned her head at the last second. He'd taken it in stride but the moment was ruined. But at least she'd avoided disaster right?
    Wrong.
    Um... Why had she done that again?
    Oh right, because this was all madness and they were clearly headed for the insane asylum. Kissing him would only make things worse. Well, not during the kiss. That would be nice. But after.
    Post-kiss bedlam.
    What the hell was happening to her? She'd always known she was a bit odd. Different somehow. Nan had called her 'special' which had sounded good until she'd realized that often meant that someone had a few screws loose upstairs.
    But that didn't quite fit either. Her feet were firmly on the ground. When she was awake, anyway. She was a sensible, hard working young woman.  
    One thing Kaylia definitely did not have, were loose screws. But she did have this odd ability to travel in her dreams. She'd looked it up. It was called astral projection apparently. But her abilities seemed to go way beyond what the spiritual blogs described.
    So she never told a soul about it. Or encountered the same person more than once. Oh, she did come across people now and then. They usually did not see her, or acknowledge her in anyway.
    Except for him.
    She remembered the first time she'd found herself in his room. Staring down at this