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mold her body to his and resting her head on his chest to listen to the gentle thud of his heart.

Her thoughts shifted back to the fight. Kira couldn’t forget what Diana had taunted, that her real mother might still be alive. And she didn’t want to imagine what sort of hell she had been living in all these years, probably trapped in a dungeon, the feeding toy of an evil vampire. Kira silently vowed to hunt Diana down and get the truth. She would find her mother and she would free her mother, no matter how many vampires she had to kill along the way to do it.

As if sensing her dark thoughts, Tristan started to hum a tune quietly in her ear. Kira recognized the jazz song. He had made her listen to it in the car one time, promising Kira she would fall in love with the sounds. She didn’t love the song, but she loved Tristan and she loved the sound of his voice, a deep tenor that reminded her of rolling waves. Kira let her body relax and drift off into a deep sleep, content to push all thoughts of the future aside for the moment, to lie safely in the arms of her lover.

 

 

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Bonus Scenes!

 

Join Kaitlyn’s newsletter to receive three exclusive Ignite bonus scenes told from both Luke and Tristan’s perspectives! What was Luke thinking the moment he met Kira? How does Tristan remember his daring rescue by the sea?

 

Just visit the link below and sign up for the newsletter to find out!

 

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Simmer (Midnight Fire Book Two) is available now wherever eBooks are sold!

 

Keep reading for a preview of the first chapter!

 

 

Description

 

"Slowly, like a whisper almost blown away in the wind, two words streaked across her mind. Kiss me."

 

Kira may have survived the eclipse, but her troubles are far from over. She's headed to Sonnyville with one goal in mind: to learn more about her parents. But with Luke and Tristan competing for her heart and Diana gunning for her head, time is running out on the search for her mother. And the closer Kira gets to answers, the more terrified she becomes. The conduits fear her, the vampires fear her, and Kira is starting to wonder if maybe they're right...

 

 

Chapter One

 

"I hate packing," Kira whined and collapsed onto the heap of clothes piled high on her bed. She did not want to move another muscle.

"Just pick out some outfits." Tristan chuckled, not looking up from the pad of paper he was scribbling on.

Kira arched her head, glancing in his direction. He sat with one leg outstretched and one knee bent, leaning against her headboard in relaxed concentration. With squinted eyes, he focused on rubbing in the graphite pencil marks he had just made with his already blackened fingers. If she wasn't so tired, Kira would have crawled a little closer to see what he was drawing, but instead she dropped her head with a sigh.

"Easy for you to say. You just have to sit on my bed looking all artistic and mysterious while I run around like a crazy person trying to get ready for two months at conduit boot camp."

"Then my plan is working perfectly." He smirked and finally put the sketchbook down. Kira peeked over at the pages, wondering what image of her he was crafting, but saw the last thing she ever expected—a self-portrait. Fighting her exhaustion, Kira jumped up in curiosity.

"What are you doing?" She spun the image to look at it closer, noting the strong cheekbones and crystal eyes he had drawn perfectly. The hairs that always threatened to fall over his eyes seemed just ready to spill, and Kira saw the faint outline of her own features. She realized he had been sketching both of them.

"Just something for you to take to Sonnyville, to carry around and show everyone, especially any guys ages eighteen to twenty-two."

Kira rolled her eyes. "You know I don't date men who are younger than a hundred. I can't stand the immaturity level."

Tristan grabbed her hand and pulled her against his chest, making her giggle. With her arms wrapped around his waist, she let her breath slow to the pace of his heartbeat. Tristan's strong arms encircled her, hugging her as tightly against his body as he could, and he sighed.

"I'm going to miss you," he whispered, and Kira's mouth widened into a smile. She rested her chin on his chest so she could look into his face, taking in each hair on his head and memorizing the features she already knew better than her own.

"I'm going to miss you, too." She leaned up and kissed him quickly, her thoughts already wandering to what lay ahead.

A few months had passed since Kira had woken up from the coma. Luke had convinced the council to let her recuperate before forcing her to go to Sonnyville, and they all agreed that the day after graduation would be, what Kira liked to call, doomsday. Just this morning, she and her friends had all donned their robes and received their diplomas. And before she knew it, time had all but slipped away. But more than anything, Kira dreaded saying goodbye to Tristan. Luke had promised to sneak him into Sonnyville at least once, but Kira wasn't sure if it would even be a good idea to bring Tristan around so many conduits. Tomorrow morning they would have to say goodbye, and even though Kira knew it wasn't goodbye forever, two months was starting to seem like an impossibly long time apart.

"It's going to be fine," Tristan said and kissed her forehead. "And you'll be safe there, which is the most important thing."

"I know. I just wish it wasn't for so long. Do you think you'll be able to find Diana soon?" Kira questioned, bringing up the topic they had skirted around for the past few weeks.

Tristan knew Diana was still a threat. She had come back to Charleston multiple times while Kira had still been in a coma. She managed to evade Tristan, but he still sensed her presence and both of them knew that she was planning something. But neither Kira nor Tristan had known what, until about a week ago when a pack of vampires came to Charleston after hearing a rumor that a mixed breed conduit was alive and in the neighborhood. Tristan had managed to persuade them, forcefully, to leave but more would come. The safest place for Kira was with the conduits, not with her vampire boyfriend, especially since Tristan would be off hunting Diana while Kira was away.

"I know where to look. She can only run for so long." Tristan tried to reassure Kira. He ran his hand along her arm in a soothing motion. Kira relaxed into his touch.

"And you'll find out about my mother?"

"I'll try," Tristan said, but he wouldn't look her in the eye. They had had this conversation before, with Luke too, and Kira was the only one with hope that her mother was still alive. Luke and Tristan agreed that Diana had used it as a dirty trick to shock Kira, giving her the chance to escape, but Kira felt something deep inside, a gut instinct urging her to believe that her mother was living and breathing somewhere on this earth.

Kira opened her mouth to say so, but decided against it. She was too comfortable resting in his arms to bother fighting, and the last thing Kira wanted was to argue with Tristan on their last night together. Instead, she inched up his chest, noting the glint in his eye and leaned in for a kiss.

He slid his hand up her back to cup the base of her neck and pulled her face into his, letting her know he was thinking the same thing. After a teasing moment of stillness, Kira leaned the extra centimeter forward and their lips met.

Instantly, her pulse quickened and her heart began to race as she lost herself in the sensation. The butterflies flying in her stomach seemed specifically tuned to Tristan, appearing every time he touched her. A warm feeling spread from her fingers to her toes, creating a titillating contrast as his cool fingers brushed over her skin.

With heavy breaths, Tristan grabbed her around the waist, easily flipping her over and pressing her body down into the soft bed as he took charge. A familiar twinge of excitement ran up Kira's spine, but she felt something else too, almost like a hint of anger stirring distantly in her mind. And then she heard a cough in the doorway.

"Sorry to interrupt," Luke said with a smile on his face and a steely look aimed at Tristan. Kira sighed and pulled back, trying to scoot out from underneath Tristan. For his part, Kira noted wryly, Tristan made no move to help her escape and instead let his weight hold her down. After a few seconds, which seemed like a few hours, Kira freed herself from Tristan's arms.

"Hi Luke." She smiled and sat up, trying to fix her hair. Yes, she was happy to see her friend, but who wouldn't be slightly annoyed at the interruption and very annoyed at his obviously smug face? Yup, Kira mused, the coma hadn't really changed a thing. Their mutual fear for her health had allowed Luke and Tristan to stand in the same room once in a while, but they were a long way away from friendship.

"Clearly, you're almost ready to go. Now, if we could just find a way to teleport your room to Sonnyville..." He surveyed the empty suitcases and piles of clothes all over the floor. Kira threw a small pillow at him for the sarcastic remark, and he jumped out of its path, holding his hands up in surrender.

"All right, all right, but in all honesty…what the heck happened in here? It looks slightly like the Tasmanian devil tore this place apart."

Kira shrugged. "This is just how I pack."

"So, there's a method to the madness?"

"No, trust me," Tristan spoke up and turned over to lean against Kira's pillows. Traitor, she thought, your hair is still rumpled from our make-out session and you're siding with Luke.

"So, it's a little messy. I'll be ready by tomorrow, don't worry."

Luke copiously surveyed the room again with eyes wide in doubt. "It's not like you're going to see the queen—"

"There's a conduit queen?" Kira interrupted, ready to freak out.

"No, the Queen of England. Did you hit your head again?" Luke questioned, barely able to contain his laughter.

"No," Kira huffed and picked up the closest thing she could find, which happened to be a dress. She looked at it and debated if she would need sundresses in Sonnyville. It wasn't like she would be trying to land a date; she was going there to learn how to fight. Kira cocked her head to the side, going back and forth between the options.

"What's the big deal? Just put it in your suitcase," Luke said, exasperated.

"That's what I said," Tristan chimed in again, and Kira dropped her hands to her side giving him a stern look. It seemed they had no trouble ganging up against her, but when she wanted everyone to get along they were enemies again. I mean really, Kira thought, this is absurd.

A beep sounded from the street, and Kira threw the dress back onto the floor, excited for the escape. Their whole gang was going out together, one last hurrah before Luke and Kira left, which meant she could put off packing for a few more blissful hours.

"Time to go!" Kira chirped and raced from the room, not waiting for either of the boys. Her parents were gone for the night, at a preschool summer event for her little sister Chloe, so she walked right out the door and into Emma's car. Luke appeared a minute later and hopped into the backseat.

Kira suspected that Tristan had already slipped away. Her friends liked him, but the tension with Luke was always obvious, and Kira and Tristan had both decided it was not worth the battle, at least not on her last night in Charleston.

"So, where to?" Kira looked around, eyeing her friends. As per usual, Emma drove and Kira sat in the front seat while the boys piled in the back. She took in Emma's short jean skirt and professionally