Page 6 of Burn It Down

“Given that it’s heading back toward the location of the gala, it’s safe to say it was by the Infidels and not the Heretics.”

“Carson has him.”

The words burned on the way out.

They were caustic.

And the reality of what that meant was so far beyond that.

His father was gonna throw him back into that dungeon.

He was gonna torture him, break him.

He was gonna take him away for good.

“We might be able to head them off,” Caleb said. “I still have my people in the area, I’ll have them help. I’ll follow this trail. You stay with Killian. He’s not able-bodied. He needs your protection.”

I nodded, although hating that I couldn’t be the one to do it.

The fact was, Caleb had a team with him, while mine was compromised, big time, at the moment.

Just as I watched him disappear around the corner, Killian let out an awful, pained cry.

I spun around to see him staggering straight toward the wrecked car.

The car that was still up in flames, smaller explosions occurring intermittently like aftershocks.

“Kill! Stop!” I yelled, rushing over to him.

“Look!” he cried, as I reached him and threw my arm out, barring him from going any further.

His hand was shaking as he pointed to the front passenger side—what was left of it.

I peered through the flames.

And I stopped breathing.

It couldn’t… it couldn’t be.

White-blonde hair.

A burned body slumped forward charred beyond recognition.

“Fuck, no,” I rasped, trying to wrap my head around the sight, trying to find any explanation that what I was seeing was wrong, that it wasn’t real. A mirage. A trick of the light. A sick and twisted fake out.

Kill’s agonized cry ripped right through all of that.

He bolted forward and I was forced to use the full brunt of my strength to hold him back as he screamed and screamed. “Aurora! Fuck, Aurora! No! You’re not gone! It’s not you! You’re not dead! You’re not dead! You can’t leave us! You can’t! No! No! NO!”

Jesus fucking Christ.

It was gone.

It was all fucking gone.

2

~Killian~

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