Page 135 of Cry of the Firebird

"Anya! Don't!" he shouted, but the men had already collapsed, screaming as ash burst from their mouths and withered their skin. Aramis looked from them to her, and back again. His face was white with shock.

"I told you to run," he growled, grabbing her hand and yanking her out of the power riding her.

"I'm sorry, but I'm done letting other people fight my battles," Anya snapped back, bile filling the back of her mouth even as she said it. "I just let my magic protect me…"

Anya looked down at her hands. All those men were dead, and letting her magic kill them in self-defense had been as easy and natural as breathing.

Like the men you set on fire in Paris, and the boys you almost drowned. Anya pushed down her horror at the thought.

"We can talk about it later, but we need to get out of here before more arrive," Aramis said, as he gripped her hand, and they ran.

Aramis saw Anya safe in Trajan's arms before he went up to his bedroom. As the door shut behind him, he ran to the little bathroom and threw up in the toilet. She barely lifted a finger, and the men in the forest were dead. They hadn't stood a fighting chance.

Aramis heaved again until he had nothing left in his stomach. He washed out his mouth and slumped down onto his bed.

"Killed them, just like that," he muttered to himself. "Too much like her."

Watching Anya kill those men was Yanka all over again. She had the same glow of vengeance in her green eyes, the darkness seething inside of her.

She's not Yanka.He could still save Anya. He would wait until after the gates were shut, and then he would tell her everything,makeher understand the danger she was in from her own power. He would explain what happened when she killed with magic, that it ate away at your soul.

Aramis's cell phone was ringing again, and he knew what he was going to be asked to do. Aramis picked it up and crushed it, the plastic and glass shattering in his hand. He would have twenty-four hours at the most before they slapped the Rogue label and a bounty on him. After what he saw today, that didn't matter anymore.

She's not Yanka, he repeated to himself.You can keep the light in her alive.

In twenty-four hours, Aramis would have Anya far away, and if she didn't close the gates, the Illumination would have a war on their hands and would be too busy to hunt him. If she did close them, then they would want him to take her back toEngland to force her to join them. His stomach turned, already knowing he wouldn't be able to do that to her against her will.

Another thought occurred to him like a smack in the face. Anya had said she had tasted blackberry vodka for days after dreaming about Yanka.

Aramis reached for his bag and pulled out one of the burner phones the Illumination knew nothing about. He dialed a number and hoped it hadn't changed.

"Buna seara, Aramis. What are you doing calling me on a burner? And after such a long time, I might add."

"There are too many listeners on the others, Silvian. Besides, you know what would happen if I was caught talking to a Rogue," Aramis said with a smile.

"Then why are you talking to one?" Silvian asked with a bored tone.

"I need you to look into something for me."

There was a long silence at the end of the line. "Why come to me?"

"Because you are the best, Silvian, and because they won't be able to trace you," Aramis said convincingly.

"You sure know how to kiss my ass when you need to. What do you need, Aramis? I owe you a favor, and you know I can't turn you down."

"It's about Yanka."

"Aramis, you can't…"

"Shut up, Silvian. This is what I need. I want everything the Illumination has on her. Especially concerning how she died."

"You doubt what the Illumination told you?"

"I'm growing skeptical," Aramis admitted.

Silvian laughed, a deep, joyful sound. "My, my, it has taken you long enough. Do you really want to be digging around in the past? You know how long it took to get over it the first time.What was it? A hundred years? Tell me what has brought this on."

Aramis gripped the phone tighter. "Have you ever heard of someone who could dream walk into a dead person's dream?"

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