Page 131 of To Ashes and Dust
Black dots danced across my eyes as I grimaced. The chain-link fence was bent and caved in around me, and my—
I gasped as I tried to move, pain shooting up my spine. I twisted my head around to find my wings shredded and broken at my back, hooked into the chain links. My gaze shot forward, eyes darting around for Barrett, but what lay before me left me without air.
The building was engulfed in a flame so hot I could feel the heat from where I sat. I cried out as I ripped myself from the chain-link and collapsed onto my hands and knees. White hot pain lanced across my shoulder, and I winced as I nearly caved beneath my weight. The ringing persisted, my balance shifting and swaying with each movement, and I vomited onto the concrete, agony rippling out to every inch of my body. I looked over my shoulder, my wings tattered and broken, hanging limply at my back.
My eyes shot back to the building as a hollow blur of words reached me from the distance.
“Ca—ie!”
I searched the flames already spiraling out of control, the magic burning the building quickly. Hands grabbed me.
He can’t be...
“What happened?” Damien’s voice finally cut through the ringing, the sound replaced by the blazing fire and the screams of darklings filling the night sky as they burned.
“He can’t be...” I muttered.
Vincent skidded to a halt, horror painting his face as he caught sight of my wings, of whatever else they could see that I couldn’t. Damien’s hands hovered at my back.
“Where’s Barrett?” Damien asked, his voice laced with panic. Something fractured inside me, tears rolling down my cheeks as I sobbed. The color drained from Damien’s face, and his eyes followed my gaze to the burning building.
He couldn’t be gone. He couldn’t. I pushed myself up, pulling from Damien’s stunned grasp. He told me so himself.Telos Pyraiwasn’t a guaranteed death. He could survive that. He had to.
“No,” I cried, tears rolling down my cheeks, burning in wounds I couldn’t pinpoint. “No, no!”
I stumbled forward, the concrete searing my wings as they dragged behind me. I didn’t have the strength to lift them, couldn’t afford to waste time. Damien called for me, but I couldn’t listen, couldn’t give up on him. Not yet. This wasn’t the end. He had so much life ahead of him. I didn’t. It should’ve been me. He had his brothers, Thalia.
“Barrett!” I cried out as I approached the flames. The heat enveloped me, the wind whipping through my hair. I stumbled to the side, nearly falling as the world spun, my mouth flooding with saliva. I could squelch the flames. We could find him. We could draw the darkness out of him. We could save him.
I stretched out my hands, the heat under my skin calling out to the raging inferno just out of my reach. I called it to me, bending it to my will.
“Cassie! Stop!” Damien called from behind me.
I pulled at the flames, willing them to slow, willing them to calm. They raged against me, the power too much to be tamed. I gritted my teeth, fighting against it, commanding it to bend to my will. If I could put the fire out, we could find him. My weight shifted, my legs unsteady beneath me, sweat drenching my brows, and a chill fell over me despite the immense heat.
Not yet! I pushed through the pain, through the nausea swirling within me, through my body’s warnings. The flames started to calm; he would be alive.He would be alive. Arms came around my waist, threatening to pull me from the flames, and I howled, fighting to stay here. I couldn’t leave him.
Fly, spitfire.
Tears flooded my eyes as I strained, my heart pounding. Damien said something, but I couldn’t hear him, couldn’t process the words as I focused on the only thing that tethered me to Barrett—his flames.
He would be ok. He would be—
48
DAMIEN
The immortals taking shelter in Johnson’s clinic stood around us, murmuring amongst themselves. Vincent stood frozen at my side, his fear and concern thick in the air as I tried to reach out to Cassie again. What had happened? Why were we having issues communicating?
Cassie? Cassie!
“Are they ok?” Vincent asked as I started for the shadows.
“I don’t know. She asked me if everyone was out.” My heart hammered, dread crawling across my skin as we slipped into the shadows. She’d sounded terrified, desperate. “But she isn’t responding.”
Gods, please let them be ok.
The darkness receded, revealing the abandoned parking lot, the stretch of Short Street and its loading docks. Vincent and I skidded to a halt, eyes searching the grounds for any signs of the darklings, of Cassie and Barrett. Were they still inside The Complex?
