My childhood home was fully ablaze, the flames streaking up into the night sky like rockets being fired one after another. Ash fluttered like confetti spraying everywhere, and the acrid stench of smoke overpowered everything, even the stench of my own charred flesh. Even though I was in the woods, fifty feet away from the mansion, I could still feel the intense, searing heat from the flames.
Not just regular flames—elemental Fire.
The same Fire that had engulfed my mom. That had consumed Annabella. That had been used to torture me. I could still feel the foreign magic burning inside my own skin, a constant, throbbing, intense agony that seemed like it would never, ever stop.
Despite the sweat soaking my body, I still shivered. I would have wrapped my arms around myself to ward off the chill, if it wouldn’t have made my hands hurt more than they already did. But I couldn’t stop myself from unwrapping one of the crude bandages from around my palm. I held my shaking hand up to the flickering light, knowing and dreading what I would see.
The mark, the wound, the burn was the same as before—a small circle with eight thin rays. Half of my spider rune pendant, superheated and melted into my flesh. Even though it was made of silverstone, just like my necklace had been, the mark was a vivid blood-red. The pain of it blazed as harsh and bright as my house, and the sensation made me just as sick. I quickly wrapped the bandage back around my hand, hiding the rune from sight.
I couldn’t stand to look at it right now. I just couldn’t stand it.
I’d staggered away from our house ten minutes ago and had been standing in the woods ever since, aimlessly wandering up and down along the tree line, unable to tear my eyes away from the sight of the ruined, rocky rubble of the Snow family mansion. But the flames were only part of the damage. I’d caused the rest when I’d used my Ice and Stone magic to collapse the structure, in a last-ditch effort to save Bria from the Fire elemental and her men who had stormed into our home.
But I’d collapsed all of that stone, wood, and glass right on top of my baby sister, crushing her to death.
That horrible knowledge pushed me over the edge. I bent over double and heaved and heaved, until my stomach was as empty as my heart. After several minutes, I straightened up and wiped my mouth off on one of my makeshift bandages, ripped from the bottom of my nightgown. I knew that I should leave, walk, get away from the mansion, but I couldn’t make my legs move. I couldn’t do anything but stare at the destruction, destruction that I was more than a little responsible for—
“What did you do?” a loud, harsh male voice demanded. “What did you do?”
I blinked, wondering if I’d only imagined the booming voice. But then, a second later, a low, satisfied laugh rang out, floating through the trees right along with all the ash.
“You know exactly what I did, Hugh,” a lighter feminine voice said. “I killed Eira. Finally, finally killed her. Just like the others wanted. Just like I wanted.”
I froze. I recognized that soft, silky, sinister tone. It belonged to the Fire elemental who had killed my mom and Annabella and tortured me with her terrible magic. I’d thought—hoped—that she was dead, crushed by the falling rubble. The sound of her smug, satisfied voice made a fresh wave of heat spike through my burns, reminding me just how much I had lost tonight. I had to bite my lip to keep from screaming from the pain, both in my hands and especially in my heart.
“You killed Eira?” Hugh’s voice rang out, harsher than before. “You actually killed her?”
“Oh, yes,” the elemental purred again. “No doubt about it. She never had a chance against my Fire magic. I got one of her little brats too.”
Even though I wanted to run, run, run away from that voice, from her, from this living, waking nightmare, I made myself creep forward, hunker down, and peer around a tree. Through the dense, boiling smoke, I could just make out two figures standing in what had been our backyard garden before part of the house had toppled over and landed on it, burying all the trees and flowers in jagged, broken stones.
One of them was a man—Hugh—although he seemed more like a shadow than a tangible person. Hair, eyes, goatee, suit. Everything about him was blacker than the night itself. He paced back and forth, staring at first one burning, crumbled section of the mansion, then the next.
Someone was standing beyond him, backlit by the flames. All I could make out was her slender shape, but I knew who she was—the Fire elemental who’d just destroyed my entire world.
Hugh stopped pacing, stormed over to the elemental, and stabbed his finger at her. “You enjoyed this.”
The Fire elemental let out another deep, throaty laugh. “Of course I did. I’ve wanted Eira dead for years, and the Circle finally let me take care of that meddlesome bitch once and for all.”
“She was one of us!” he hissed back. “You always were jealous of her.”
“Aw, what’s the matter, Hugh? Upset that your precious Eira is dead? You didn’t really think that she’d come crawling back to you, did you?” She clucked her tongue, mocking him. “We all knew that wasn’t going to happen. Not after Tristan’s . . . accident.”
I frowned, wondering if I was hearing them right over the continuous popping, cracking, and sizzling of the flames. Tristan? Why were they talking about my dad? He’d died in a car accident several years ago. What did that have to do with any of this?
Hugh turned away from the Fire elemental and stared at the burning house again.
“Oh, you did. You really did think that Eira would fall in line and come back to you.” She let out another loud, pealing laugh. “You sad, stupid little fool.”
“Shut up,” he growled. “Just shut your fucking mouth.”
“Or you’ll do what?” She sneered. “What will you do, Hugh? Everyone knows that you can’t even tie your shoes without his permission—”
Her words were abruptly cut off, and it took me a second to realize why. From one heartbeat to the next, Hugh had crossed the distance between them, wrapped his hand around the elemental’s throat, and hoisted her up off the ground as easily as I could pick up one of Bria’s dolls. I’d never seen someone move that fast. He bared his teeth at her, a telltale gleam of white flashing in his mouth. Not just teeth—fangs.
The vampire tightened his grip and gave the elemental a vicious shake. She let out a little squeak of fear, like a mouse caught in a cat’s sharp claws. Dark satisfaction filled me. In that moment, I wanted the vampire to bite her, to snap her neck, to hurt her the same way that she’d hurt me.
Do it, I thought. Make her suffer. Kill her just like she killed my family.
But instead, he gave her another hard shake, slammed her back down onto her feet, and shoved her away. The Fire elemental staggered back, clutching her throat.
“You said that you killed one of the girls,” Hugh snapped. “Which one?”
She coughed and coughed, trying to get her breath back.
“Which one?” he growled again.
“The . . . oldest . . . Annabella . . .” she wheezed.