1 Prologue

She came home from the autumn festival with her parents, Jamie and Loren, each holding one of her hands. She could see their house- where she spent her whole seven years living- from where she was- the roof was low and rounded and covered with overlapping roof tiles, several small windows letting in just enough light to the rooms below.

They went in and settled in the living room. They played board games for a few hours before Jamie and Loren tucked her in bed, the sleep taking her right away.

She first smelled the smoke. Then her eyes started watering. Only then did she wake and start screaming. The fire got to her room, she thought, so it started a while ago. Pulling a sweater to her mouth she kicked the door and went for her parents' door.

Noooo!!! The fire burnt the whole room, engulfing it. Flames everywhere. The bodies of her parents lying on what remained of the four-poster bed. She was still screaming when hands came around her waist and started pulling her towards the house door.

"We need to go! The fire is going to block our only exit soon." the voice said, but she couldn't hear the words over the voices in her head. She could have saved them if she woke when she first breathed in the smoke. She could have used her powers to stop the fire.

She was getting dragged down the stairs by the time the voices settled. The next second, all she saw was the ceiling coming down on them and she didn't think before using her powers, even though she was warned to never reveal them to anyone. The wood rained down her shield. It was a boy, she realized, that saved her. Fifteen at best, from the way he looked. He paused for a second watching the wood slide around them before yanking on her hand and getting them past the door. In the fresh air, she started coughing.

"Here! Have some water."

"Thanks!" She drank the water looking towards her house before turning to the boy. He was still there, with her. Onyx hair, green eyes, and a crooked nose, probably gotten in a fight, if the way he was dressed was any indication- dark jeans, bloodied T-shirt, and dirty white sneakers.

"I tried to save them, you know. I went to their room first, but I couldn't open the door. The flames were too strong. That's when I heard you. I'm sorry I could not save them."

She couldn't answer. Couldn't say anything. Her thoughts were for her parents only. For the memories they shared and the love they had for each other.

"I have to go. I'm sorry, I am, but I can't be here when the police show up in a minute. I wasn't supposed to be here in the first place. I'll come back, I promise."

With that, the boy left her in the street. She didn't wait for the police to show up. Her parents told her if something like this ever happened, to follow their instructions carefully. "If we die, don't let them take you. Find a way to get to Nashville, to aunt Cecilia. She will take care of you."

They couldn't have known that the people who killed them and tried to kill her also went after the rest of their family.