Page 110 of The Spark that Ignites
Oh gods, what was that? Emmery shot to her feet and leapt to the window. Flames erupted—roaring, burning, and pilfering the town.
Vesper already had his leather trousers on. “Get dressed.” He tossed her cloak.
Shit, it was still soaked. Her hands shook as she grabbed her trousers. “What—what’s going on? The fire—”
“I tried to tell you when you opened that bloody mountain passage.” His eyes seared her. “You remember the human queen? Melantha? Well, she and Serafelle have been trapped in the north for almost a century. But you just unleashed them on us all.”
Part III
Ignite
“She burnedbrightlyfiercely but I never feared her touch. What I did fear was once I lit up in the symphony of her flames, not a single thing could compare, and I wouldlongbeg to burn with her, until nothing remained but ash.”
The Nameless Book
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Emmery’s heart battered her ribs as she yanked on her damp trousers.
They needed to escape.Now.
Singeing his hand on the molten doorknob, Vesper hissed a curse. The fire had spread to the hallway already. She spun to the window and, wasting no time, unsheathed Vesper’s sword and shattered it with the hilt. Emmery blindly handed it back before he vaulted her out.
Explosions saturated the night. Fear powered her trembling legs as they sprinted, their feet sliding in the slick melted snow. Vesper trailed, his hot breath misting.
Fire crackled off log homes, shops, and flames spewed from a tavern’s blown out window. Ash blended with snow, twining decay and purity. Smoke clogged the air, feasting on the oxygen. Emmery shielded her eyes against the too bright yellows melded with incandescent orange and deadly reds.
Chaos. This was utter and complete chaos.
And she’d done this. Unleashed this pandemonium on these people.
Emmery’s head swivelled, searching for the cause, but only roaring flames answered. Her assumption was Arborius had lit up this town, but this wasn’t white flame. It couldn’t be him.
“If we get separated, we meet at the mausoleum!” Vesper shouted over the mayhem.
Emmery nodded, the icy air and opaque smoke stoking her blazing lungs. A wet cough rattled free. She couldn’t catch a damn breath.
Screams shredded the air as a dozen people scrambled for safety. A wide-eyed woman, clasping her baby to her breast, collided with Emmery. Vesper caught her but Emmery helplessly watched after them. This was their home, and she caused this. This was her fault—
“We have to help them!” she yelled, her throat burning.
“No,” he barked. “We need to go!”
Her attention divided between the shrieking people to a man pinned beneath a pile of fallen logs.
Vesper gripped her shoulders, his engorged pupils swallowing his pale eyes. “My priority isyou. We need to get you out of here. If they get their hands on you—” He shook his head, leaving the words hanging.
Tears gathered as unfathomable guilt gnawed her from the inside. “Help him. Please,” she begged. “We can’t leave these people. I did this.”
Vesper’s gaze roamed over her face for an agonising moment before he groaned, threw his head back, and howled a curse. He kicked up snow as he sprinted for the man.
A young girl stumbled into Emmery’s path, her white nightgown singed, torn, and smeared brown. She clutched a stuffed bear to her chest as her naked feet sank into the snow, her toes turning blue.
“Momma!” she sobbed. The girl’s whiskey eyes were too similar to Maela’s and Emmery’s heart fractured a little.
CRACK!
A beam toppled and Emmery lunged, catching the girl around the waist and sending them careening into the snow. It barely missed, landing with a dull thud and sizzling hiss. Emmery’s heart thundered, muffling her thoughts. Haulingthem both to their feet, she gripped the girl by the shoulders, the teddy still strangled in her hold.
