Page 93 of The Fifth Soul

“Isabel. Santiago.”

I pull them up to their feet. Disoriented, they turn to look at me and then about the room.

The man’s surprised expression is all the distraction I need. I retrieve a dagger from my thigh, swiftly untie it, and send it soaring through the air. A second later, he drops to the floor and combusts as he chokes on his own blood. My brain doesn’t freeze the way it did with Dora. I can’t explain what happened. All I know is I need to help them get out of there. Get as far away from danger as possible.

The silence that follows is deadly, filled with dark smoke. The eerie, familiar noise of the cracking fire begins again. We all flinch in unison. I look at the dead man on the floor, then my eyes follow down a different hall from where the noise comes from.

“The library,” Isabel says with trembling lips. “Sofia is in the library,” she cries.

I forcefully shove her and Santiago down the hall to the exit I entered from.

“I’ll go find Sofia.” And I’ll take down as many redheaded demons as I can. “You two get out of here. Go and help the injured.”

Santiago takes Isabel’s hands in his and drags her out. I watch them round the corner before I take a deep breath. I cough as the smell of burned flesh and scorched wood fills my lungs, but I shake my head and sprint after the cracking noise.

The path to the library is havoc. The halls are fully littered with fire scorches and all the innocents who sadly crossed its path. My heart beats out of my chest as I pass body after body. This is not an attack. This is a massacre.

I’ve never heard of such heartless destruction. This doesn’t happen here, not amongst civilized societies. Yet, I’ve never witnessed such heinous acts in the City of Sin.

The screaming of the people on top of the cracking of the fire dies down, and my feet nearly freeze in place. My gut tells me it can only be bad. My feet finally cross the library doors but all I see are thick clouds of smoke obscuring everything. The room is covered in an ominous blanket of shadows made of piles of ash. It’s hard to see more than a step in front of me. The only thing visible through the smoke is the flames moving further into the back of the room in the shape of a snake.

I can only see the back side of the shape, but my eyes can make up two forms walking behind it. The snake stops outside the doors of the vault. The two shapes walk inside the room, one slower than the other. They are looking for the curse book.

Not once as I close the distance does it occur to me to go get help.

There is no room for fear here.

I survived the City of Sin as a child.

There is no room for fear here.

I have walked through the underworld and escaped guarding creatures from different species.

There is no room for fear here.

I do not fear redheaded demons; I pity them for crossing me. They won’t live to see another day. The books their fire consumes have taught me the spells that will end them today.

There is no room for fear here.

The snake watches me approach, but it doesn’t move closer to me. Its tentative eyes look so animal-like. The cold detachment behind them doesn’t embody the damage it has created.

Janelle’s face is the first thing I see as I enter the vault. Her eyes are gone. She’s not on alert for anyone coming in, and once her eyes land on mine, she doesn’t respond. There is a distance in her eyes, as if she’s not all there. The snake is hers but is not controlled by her, I can see that clearly.

Ray is the only other person in the room. He’s moving from shelf to shelf, looking for something that’s not there. The cursed book is hidden somewhere inside Lexi Blue’s own personal library.

“It has to be here,” he says as he rounds the corner. He spots me from my place at the doorway and stops. “Look at that. You’re either very brave or very stupid.” Ray’s taunting smile grows gruesome.

I’m afraid the answer is a bit of both. With a swing of his hand, the snake comes toward me, blocking the doorway from any possible exit. In the blink of an eye, it passes through me. I can feel the pressure of the heat on my skin, but it doesn’t burn me. My nose stuffs up, and I am forced to breathe through my mouth, but that is all that happens.

“What the fuck?” Ray eyes me like he cannot comprehend why I am still standing.

Janelle takes a step forward, finally present. Her eyes trace my body in one quick sweep. Her gaze pauses at my right hand. I can’t be sure if she sees my bracelet. If I look down, I’ll give myself away. I expect her to warn him about the amulet, but her lips stay sealed.

“I remember you. You have more gifts?” His words die on his lips as the dragon of fire disappears. The flames die one by one, and the few remaining slip back to the ground Janelle stands on. He trails the path they take and turns to Janelle. “What are you doing?”

“He can’t hurt her.” Crossing her arms, she leans back on the wall. She looks exhausted. “Are you telling me you need help to take down a girl half your size?” The arch of her brow dares him to say something. Instead, he focuses his sights back on me.

“You ready to die, little girl?” His mocking question is delivered like I’m a child, unaware of what is happening.

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