Page 86 of Hollowed

“Thisis not a negotiation, phoenix.Notanymore,” she said, raising an eyebrow.Thecorner of her mouth ticked up, as if she’d thought of something amusing. “PerhapsIwill go into town and collect that old earth witch and his water witch friend you seem so fond of.”

ImagesofHenry, torn apart by whatever creatureDeathwould send to do her bidding, flashed through my mind, and beforeIrealized whatIwas doing,I’dsent balls of fire hurtling for her.Itwas impulsive and foolish, butIwould not let her threaten the peopleIcared about.Thosepeople who could not defend themselves against her.

Ifthis was howIdied, defendingHenryandPriscilla, it would be an honorable death.

Alexander’seyes widened, and he ducked just in time to avoid being struck.Deathdodged, too, but she was just slightly too slow, the flames impacting off her left shoulder, sending the crow skittering into the night with a loud caw.Unlikethe night she’d appeared, my flames only sent her staggering a step back this time.

Myvision swam red, and my entire body felt like it’d been dipped into the open flames of a candle, thrumming with burning energy.

Shakingher head,Deathtutted at me, stepping back up behindAlexander. “Thatwas a mistake, phoenix.Andnow, your belovedDullahanwill pay.”

Timeslowed as she pulled a silver knife from the depths of her cloak, the metal glinting in the sun.Mybody froze, and allIcould do was watch with abject horror as she grabbedAlexander’shair and pulled his head back as she lifted the knife.

Andthen, with a smile that could only be described as evil, she drug the blade across his throat.

Theworld fell away.

Myeyes metAlexander’s, both wide with terror.Ringingfilled my ears, my vision swimming.AllIcould see was blood pooling around the blade.

Whenshe pulled away, a smile still stretched across her face as she watched the blood run down his neck.

Deathstepped back, lettingAlexanderfall to the side, his hands still bound behind him as his blood soaked the earth.Hismouth opened, but no sound came out as his head went limp.Stillopen, his eyes stared at me.ButIcouldn’t see them.Couldn’tsee anything beyond the blurring tears.

Myfeet carried me to him, despiteDeathstanding a mere arm’s reach behind him.Throwingmyself to the ground at his head,Ipulled up the end of my dress, bundling and pressing the fabric against his throat in a panicked attempt to at least keep some of the blood inside his body.

“Donot waste your efforts.”Death’steasing voice broke through the ringing and pounding in my ears. “Immortalitydoes not protect against me.Noteven for my children.”

Iignored her, pullingAlexander’shead into my lap asIbent around it, the tears burning my eyes now flowing freely.Hishand twitched against my knee as his eyes fluttered shut, his body slumping.

Icould hear myself crying, the gut-wrenching sobs clawing from my throat, though it didn’t feel like the noises were coming from my body.Tearsstreamed down my face, dripping ontoAlexander’sface asIrocked back and forth, rubbing my hand over his forehead.Bloodsmeared from the touch, mixed with my tears as they landed on his skin and rolled down his face.

Deathlaughed.

Icouldn’t think—couldn’tbreathe—asIblocked out the sound of her mocking laughs, eyes searchingAlexander’sface, dotted with streaks of red and my tears, looking for any sign of life, any sign that this was a mistake, a trick, and that he was still alive.

Butthere were none.Hewas gone.

Onceagain,Iwas alone.

Mysobs transformed into screams—gasping screams that stole my breath and wrapped around my throat, screams born equally of pain and anger.Alexanderhadn’t deserved this.Ihadn’t deserved this.Bothof us had so much taken from us already.

Death’slaughter broke through my agony again.Myhead snapped up at the mirthful chuckle, heat flooding through my body in a crashing wave of fury.Firepulsed through my veins, flowing easily as it erupted, wrapping around my back like a shield, curling over my shoulders and hugging around my middle.IwatchedDeaththrough the tendrils of red flame; the smile dropped from her face as she looked at me.

Carefully, before my fire could burnAlexander’sbody,Islid his head from my lap and stood.Theflames swarmed and cocooned me.

Monstersweren’t born.Theywere created.

Andnow,Deathhad created me.

Wingsof fire sprouted from my back, tingling in my shoulders blades as the tips of them passed through my peripheral vision.Myheartbeat pounded in my ears, deafening me to everything else.

Turningmy attention toDeath, my flames acted of their own accord, racing toward her.Ididn’t stop them.Instead,Iencouraged them as they streamed from my body, endlessly bright and burning.Myrage only fed them, the fire growing brighter, now an almost blinding white as it struck, again and again, like a viper.Tendrilsof flame wrapped aroundDeath, pulsing wildly as they spun like thread around her body, singing away at her cloak and lighting the ends of her crown of branches.

Sheswatted at the fire, pushing her shadows from her hands in a futile attempt to ease the onslaught.Mylips curled up asIwatched them fail, the flames swarming her further.

Carefulsteps across the grass took me to stand in front of her, the soles of my feet scorching the grass.Hermoonlight-pale skin turned pink with each strike of fire.

Shebared her teeth at me, pushing more shadows from her hands. “Ihave killed hundreds of versions of you, phoenix.Youwill not succeed at killing me.Youare too soft, too weak to go through with it.”

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