Page 2 of Of Bone and Ash

I can feel my skin prickle as the surrounding air thickens, making my chest constrict.

“Something’s wrong,” I whisper, panic oozing from me as I slowly set my fork down on the table. Maddie freezes with her fork mid-bite, her eyes flicking to me in surprise.

“Wrong with your food?” she asks in a hopeful tone. I shake my head, and she curses and sets down her food-laden fork, rings glimmering on her fingers as she mutters words I can’t understand. This is one reason I felt so at home with Maddie. She’s a Witch and has similar magic to my brother Atlas. I feel Maddie’s magic mingle with the foreign one in the air and swallow, trying to keep the delicious food I just ate where it belongs when it tries to climb up my throat.

Anxiety tears its sharp claws into me as I slowly push back from the table and stand on trembling legs. He’s here. My Dad. I knew it was only a matter of time before he came for me, but I was hoping it would take longer than this.

“Maddie,” I whisper in caution as the magic grows around us.

“Are you sure somethings wrong? All of my barriers are intact, sweetheart,” she asks with a growl in her voice, still on edge. I nod, and Maddie reaches for her phone, taking my word over her magic.

“We need to leave,” I murmur, stepping toward the front door. My eyes ping from the door to the windows. I am already mapping out all the escape routes I can find.

“No. I’m calling your brother. He can get here faster than—” Maddie's words are cut off as an explosion rocks through the house, sending me flying back into the wall behind me. I cry out as my back slams into the unforgiving wall, knocking the air from my lungs as heat fills the room. My hip throbs when I fall to the ground, landing hard on my side and making my eyes water in pain.

“Fina!” I hear Maddie shout, but her voice sounds funny, almost like it’s underwater. There is a ringing in my ears, and I blink, my vision blurry as I try to press myself back up to my feet. Like a wave, sound crashes into me. Reality comes back into focus as I shove onto shaky legs. The heat grows, and with it, the flames engulf the entire right side of Maddie's house, crawling over everything they touch.

Maddie is standing several feet in front of me, her dark hair flying around her as red magic sparks at her fingertips. Smoke quickly fills the house as men dressed in solid black combat gear rush through the now gaping hole in the wall, guns aimed at Maddie.

Even as a child, I knew Fae were forbidden to use human weapons. They become even deadlier when they’re infused with magic. But my father was never one who obeyed the rules he enforced.

A scream tears from my lips when I realize I’m about to see my new friend killed. Triggers are pulled, and shots are fired just as Maddie brings her magic-filled hands down, sending a burst of deadly red magic rushing toward the men. The bullets ping off Maddie's shields, and the men scream as they are thrown back, landing several yards out of the house. The ground shakes under my feet as Maddie twists, now shouting in another language, her eyes glimmering red as she chants spell after spell, wrapping them around the blazing house.

“Get upstairs!” she suddenly shouts as red sparks swirl in the air. I nod and run, knowing I need to do as instructed. I gasp and stumble back when the door near the stairs slams open, and a man in black clothes barges toward me with a knife clasped in his hand. Something dark twists in my chest as I fall against the bottom step, my breath hitching as the man descends on me. The darkness moves through me, seeking a place to escape. I shiver at the coldness that slowly engulfs my small body, trembling as I blink up at the man.

“I’ve got the girl,” he grinds out into a handset, his words muffled by the black gaiter he wears on the bottom half of his face. Cold blue eyes pin me in place as his hand reaches down to grab me, but just as he is about to make contact, I feel another rush of magic and a loud SNAP. The man's head twists to the side, his eyes widening, breath hitching, his body freezing just as it collapses forward, his heavy weight crashing directly onto me.

“Stupid fucker,” Maddie hisses under her breath as she appears above me, shoving at the heavy man's body, rolling him off me before bending down and scooping me into her arms. “I’ve got you,” she rasps into my ear, holding me close as she steps onto the stairs. I open my mouth to thank her just as another man enters the house.

“Maddie!” I scream in warning, but I’m not fast enough. The man brings his hand back and then throws a gleaming silver blade at Maddie. I’m helpless to watch as the knife sinks into Maddie's shoulder right next to my hand. Maddie screams, back arching, but she doesn't loosen her grip on me as she runs up the stairs. I both hear and feel her magic rush around us as warm blood oozes from the wound on her shoulder, running over my fingers.

Maddie’s shoulders shake as she coughs, her body trembling as she climbs to the top of the stairs, then runs to one of the spare rooms and shoves inside, kicking the door shut behind her.

“You're hurt!” I whisper as she sets me down softly. Maddie doesn’t respond, only holding her hands up before her, chanting under her breath as the rings on her hands begin to glow. But before she can cast any more spells, the door bursts open, letting in three more men. Two of them have their own hands extended, colorful magic dancing at their fingertips.

“No!” I shout, shoving Maddie forward just as a burst of blue magic lights up overhead. We crash to the ground, but the men are on us in an instant. Two of them go for Maddie, one grabbing her arm and jerking until I hear a snap. Maddie cries out, twisting and kicking her legs, kneeing the man in the side before wrenching herself out of their grip. The other comes for me, a dark glint of excitement in his eyes as I shove myself back on my butt, scooching backward until my back hits the dresser behind me.

“Your father wants you home, girl. He said dead or alive, so if you know what's good for you, you will come with me without a fight,” he snarls, hand reaching up to remove the black fabric covering his mouth. I think he’s hoping the threat will make me listen, but what he doesn't know is that I would rather die than go back to my dad. Movement over the man's head gains my attention, and I watch Maddie grab a knife from one of the men. She twists it from his hand and, in a lightning-fast move, rams the blade up into his chin.

Blood erupts from the man's throat, covering Maddie's face as she desperately tries to lunge for the man standing in front of me, only to be grabbed by the last guy and tossed against the wall.

“Don't!” I scream, the coldness inside me swirling, spreading to my fingers and toes, itching to be let free. A sob breaks from my lips as Maddie’s body hits hard, and she falls to the ground in a crumpled ball. “No!” I try to dart around the man looming over me, but his hand wraps around my wrist so tight I know it will leave a mark. “Let me go!” I scream, yanking against his grip, to no avail. In a desperate attempt at freedom, I kick the man’s shins, making him curse and stumble back, but it doesn't break his hold.

“Little bitch!” he snarls, his hand flying toward my face, connecting with a crack. Stars burst across my vision, my head spinning as the man drags me back to my feet. Pain sears through me like a red-hot dagger as I stumble into him. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the other man kicking Maddie with his big boots, stomping on her small body with a dark smile on his face.

“No,” I rasp. “No, no, no…” The word repeats in my mind as I watch, my mind not comprehending the horror in front of me. Darkness stirs, and for the first time since my father released me from the dark room, I let it inch forward, welcoming its odd numbness, relishing the control the darkness takes from me. I feel weird, like I’m no longer in my body. My eyes move to my arm, which the man still clutches in his hand, and I watch as wisps of dark shadows drift from my now sharp fingernails. My once pretty pink nail polish is now black, my skin leaching color as the darkness grows.

“Kill the bitch and let's go! The Councilman will have our heads if we’re not back soon,” the guy holding me snaps at the guy hurting Maddie. The man ignores his friend, still kicking Maddie, and my eyes burn.

“S-stop,” I plead, begging him to stop hurting her. She's the first person outside my brothers and uncles who has shown me an ounce of love.“Please stop!” I cry, the tears running down my face as smoke begins to fill the room. My breath comes in rapid succession, and my heart beats so fast that I think it might explode.

“Fredrick!” the guy holding me snaps as Maddie groans, blood seeping from her parted lips, and everything stills. My breath freezes in my chest, my heart skips… and I scream as black death erupts from me. A painful monster cracks through my body, tearing every inch of my chest in two as shadows fill the room, encasing it in a cloak of dark night.

The hand holding me falls away, and I feel my head roll back on my shoulders. There is a sudden awareness of a small flickering light standing next to me… a light the dark wants, no, needs! A hunger rises in me as I tentatively grasp the light, wrenching it to me. I hear a body fall to the ground before I see another light, this one darker, stained almost gray. With a wicked grin on my face, I close my eyes and seize it to me, feeding the hunger in my chest, the dark itch that needs the light to balance the dark.

A burst of excitement washes through me, and it's more terrifying than the eternal night I’ve plunged us into. I can feel the magic coursing through my body, needing more light… more life.

Life. Souls.

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