Page 3 of Sweet Inferno

She did as asked and I turned to remove one of the long stemmed matches from the glass jar and stroke it, lighting the three wicks of the candle. They immediately blazed instead of sputtering with smoke, which meant the universe was listening and ready to provide answers.

“Hand me the stick.” She passed it over.

Once I had it in hand, I moved it toward the candle and stilled. The flames instantly rose to the applewood, binding smoothly, melding the two. The fire was bright and strong, extending into an orange spiral.

They watched, eagerly waiting, so I offered a smile. “It’s a definite yes. You have a perfect match and there will be love in your life.”

“Bitch, I told you,” Reece said, shoving her girl in the shoulder and her girl’s face split into a grin.

“That’s real?” Leigh pointed to the candle and I nodded.

“It’s real but you also have to understand it can only tell me what it knows with certainty. Your perfect match and love exist. Not that it exists with the person you’re hoping for. Only time will tell when it comes to that.”

“It’s him. Trust. Micah has it bad for you,” Reece said, making her girl blush. I grinned, shaking my head because young love and optimism was cute.

“How much?” Leigh asked.

“It’s free today.”

“For real.”

“Yeah, if you promise to always trust your gut, then your reading is free.”

“What does she need to trust her gut for? You said it was real.” Reece’s face scrunched.

“It’s real but that attraction and love surrounding you might be your right now. Doesn’t mean it’s your forever. So trust your gut, enjoy it for what it’s worth, okay?”

“Okay.” Leigh’s light dimmed a bit but she smiled. That shift told me everything I needed to know. There was something she wasn’t sharing but I wouldn’t pry.

While her friend reached into her pocket, removed her phone, and stepped away to take a call, I lifted a stone from the small group I kept for last minute purchases near the register. I handed it to Leigh.

“What’s this?”

“Amazonite.” Her eyes dropped to the small smooth aqua colored crystal in her palm and I explained. “It’s for truth and empowerment. Here are instructions on how to cleanse and charge it with intention. Keep it with you as much as possible, and when in doubt, hold it in your dominant hand, close your eyes, and take a moment to let it work through you.”

She smiled softly. “Thank you.”

The girls left shortly after, and instead of cleaning up right away, I decided to test my own fate. I grabbed another candle and a piece of applewood. Holding the stick in my line of sight, I focused my energy and intention, mentally stating my purpose.

Is my forever love out there?

Once I felt certain I infused the question, I struck a match and lit all three wicks, watching them blaze feverishly. When I moved the applewood to the fire, twin flames climbed quickly and smoothly, same as with Leigh’s, but this time more fiercely. I watched for a minute, hopeful, before I sucked my teeth and expelled a breath to extinguish the flames.

“You’re Circle of Ember, crazy. Your magic is controlling the flames,” I mumbled, clearing the counter. No matter how much the words landed, a small piece of me believed the reading, or at least wanted to, but out there or not didn’t guarantee we would ever find each other. That was the part that made my mood plummet. I didn’t want to settle but I also didn’t want to be alone for the rest of my life.

Fuck this love shit… Like seriously, fuck love!

Chapter

Two

“What are we looking like, Captain?”

I motioned to the multi-tiered garage and waited. “Just talked to the owner. Says all accounted for except two females, mid-twenties. His granddaughter and her friend. They were roaming the shop, filming something for social media.”

People and this gotdamn social media. I glanced around the parking lot. Eight employees and the owner recovered so far. Most were okay, a few being treated for smoke inhalation. They were lucky because the damn building went up in flames instantly, with part of it exploding from the gas of the vehicles sitting in the four bays.

“Alright, we’ll get them.”