Itburstfrom me. Wild and alive, a crackling inferno that roared between us. It hit him in the chest, and the sound he made wasn’thuman. A guttural scream tore from the back of his throat as he staggered, his arms flailing, mouth open in a twisted, howl until his lungs caught up. The flames crawled over him like they knew him. They raced down his sleeves, wrapped around his ribs, climbed his neck like fingers reaching for his throat. His coat blackened, peeled away in flakes of ash, as his shirt fused to his skin.
Hisskin.
Gods. His skin blistered and split, raw and red and smoking. The smell hit me like a wave, burnt wool, burnt hair, burnt flesh. Aran collapsed, mud squelching beneath him as he writhed, tearing at his own body.
The fire didn’t just burn. It clung. It devoured.
Slow. Deliberate. Every part of him.
“Aran!” I cried.
I tore off my cloak and stumbled forward, threw the fabric over his chest and pressed down hard, suffocating the flames. Trying to save him. He kept screaming, loud and broken, as his body twisted beneath me. I beat at the fire with my hands, over and over, as the smoke rose in thick, stinging waves.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” The words poured out of me, messy and frantic, half-choked through sobs.
Aran’s hand shot up, and he shoved me back with the last bit of strength in him.
“You—” His voice cracked, ragged with pain. “Youburnedme.”
Tears blurred my vision. My chest heaved. Bile crept up my throat.
“I didn’t—Aran, I didn’t mean to—I didn’t—”
But even as I said it, I knew it was a lie.
Somewhere inside me, I had meant to. I had wanted to. I just didn’t know I could. I hated him, and I wanted him dead, but I didn’t want to be the one who killed him.
I stared at Aran as his chest rose once… then again… slower each time.
“Kera!” Will’s voice cut through.
I turned.
He stood at the mouth of the alley, frozen. I saw it hit him—the smoke curling into the air, the stench of burned flesh, the ruin of Aran’s body crumpled in the dirt… and me.
“What’s going on? Is that...?” Will’s voice faltered as he stepped closer, eyes flicking to the body on the ground. “What happened?” he asked, rushing to Aran’s side. He dropped to his knees, his hands hovering like he didn’t know what to do.
“Kera, what the hel happened?”
Aran gasped for air, his breath coming in short, jagged bursts.
“She—she burned me,” he choked out. Then louder, more frantic: “Get her away from me!”
Will flinched. “She what?”
“Burnedme,” Aran hissed through gritted teeth.
“What the hel are you even doing here?” Will snapped, still not looking at me. “I was hoping you were dead.”
But Aran wasn’t listening. He started to thrash, groaning, the sound raw and awful, people had started to slow near the alley, watching. Whispering.
“Shut up,” Will muttered, pressing a hand over Aran’s mouth. “You’re gonna get us killed.”
Then Will’s eyes snapped to me. “We need to move him. Now.”
I couldn’t speak. My throat felt too tight, my limbs too heavy. I felt drained, like whatever just happened had sucked the life out of me.
I managed a nod, before dropping to my knees beside Aran and doing my best to help Will drag him toward the stables.
