The trouble was the weather.
The days became very warm—so warm that Andrew hardly saw Lithe. And when the days weren't warm, they were wet.
He'd watch the rain splatter into the Sound, on the back courtyard. The fire pit would turn into a pool.
So much water.
He considered what he was about to do. Was this wet world for her? Did he have a right to free her? Would the water subside?
What if he couldn't keep her fed long enough? What if it rained?
What if Fornax took her away?
There were so many things that could go wrong. If he didn't free her, he may never see her again. If he freed her, then she would be his responsibility. Could she live happily in his world for long?
The questions repeated in his head as the days grew warmer. He now only saw her for a few precious minutes a day; minutes that were spent in hasty planning before she quietly faded away. Each time she disappeared, he warmed himself with the heat she left behind. Then, it would turn chilly and he would become unbearably sad.
Andrew waited for the perfect day. A dry, cold day.
He watched the weather report on the news obsessively. His mother, in a perpetual state of worry about her son, watched him watch the news, saying nothing.
And then there was Taggerty.
The old man began roaming the halls, stopping Andrew at every opportunity.
"You can't do it," he rasped. "You can't do it!"
The old man's cold grip on Andrew's arm was like a vice.
"Do not anger him!"
Andrew would pretend he hadn't understood. He would laugh it off, pull away and disappear.
What did the old man know? Was he simply crazy? Or did he see something that Andrew hadn't seen?
Disaster.
YOU ARE READING
The Song of Burning Souls (COMPLETE)
ParanormalThe song haunted Andrew's dreams. Then he found the singer: Lithe-a girl made of flame who lives in the vents of his apartment building. Slowly, she shows him the fire world, a brilliant place where there are no lonely winters. But these glimpses ar...
