Matchstick Excerpt 10: The Fire

(Aaaaaaand, this POV is a secret for now!)

I lifted my hand in thanks and walked back to the sidewalk. Annabell was giggling with that same guy still. It looked like she wasn’t doing anything but flirting. It was a good play. Anyone looking in wouldn’t see anything else. Pretty girl flirting with a firefighter. Not unstoppable warrior gets information from a firefighter. After seeing all the magic last night, I was sure she had the most of it. I wanted to ask, but I knew better. I’d learn more from watching than talking.

“Definitely set by an elemental,” she said softly as she stopped in front of me. “It was pushed through the wall into the bedroom. That’s also why it was so intense in there.”

“I have pictures of everything from every angle, but there is something I want you to look at right now.”

I pulled up the pictures of the weird marks and showed them to her. She tipped her head back and forth and squinted her eyes, but she had no answer either.

“Where was it leading?”

“Toward that yard,” I said, pointing it out to her.

“Someone was over there, but I can’t tell exactly what made this mark like that.”

“I’m going over there then,” I said.

“You are going to draw a bunch of attention to us,” she hissed.

“To me. I will be drawing attention to me. I’m just a nosey human with a vague connection with the family living here. I’m from Florida. I don’t have a record of criminal activity. I don’t have magic. And, if anyone looks, I was accepted to law school with a fantastic LSAT score but didn’t end up attending.”

“Law school?”

“Yes. I’m full of surprises. Now, I’m going over there.”

I turned on my heel and walked away from her. I had to be useful if I wanted to survive all of this. I walked over to the neighbor’s house. I should have knocked on their door and asked to poke around. I’d rather ask for forgiveness than permission.

I walked into their backyard without looking back. I looked around for any sign of anything. I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for. Finding the lock on the shed was broken didn't take long. I was afraid to open the door, but I didn’t have much of a choice.

I slipped the door open slowly. I could see a foot. I took a deep breath and opened it the rest of the way. I wasn’t sure how he would react to seeing me here. 

(All excerpts are taken from a lightly edited first draft. Contents could be changed or removed from the final novel completely.)