Her pain lanced through me.
I stole that too because pain meant fire. Fire meant survival. It always had.
Rook dropped to her knees. With a cry, her skin suddenly dusted with frost, glittering as if she’d dipped herself in sugar. The contrast of ice and fire collided, rattling like broken pieces, doing their best to reforge.
“Stop wasting time and open the fucking doors!” the leader shouted.
My senses flared out toward him—toward his lifeline and the disgusting taste of his existence. Nausea crawled up my throat as if his energy was poison, all while Rook’s was the sweetest nectar.
She whimpered as the power inside me grew ravenous.
I tried to stop.
To rein in the monstrous thirst as I grew stronger and stronger at her expense.
But I was too far gone.
Fire suddenly rekindled in my veins, hot and savage. I coughed as something ruptured inside me, black blood splattering against the pavers as I spat out a mouthful.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” the leader shouted just before another gunshot went off.
A sharp scream rang out before silence smothered it.
I didn’t know who he’d shot. I couldn’t see a damn thing apart from the red haze of angry fire.
I coughed again, choking on blood as my body broke apart, piece by piece.
My ribs cracked—
Firesurged.
A guttural roar ripped from my throat as my entire body became a living pyre. I recognised the glorious pain. Iwasthat pain. It seared its way through my marrow and detonated in a concussive blast.
The violent shockwave lit up the entire courtyard like a second sun. Fury slammed outward like a bomb, shattering furniture and hurling men off the walls.
Through the roaring flames, Ifeltthem. Felt their panic and terror...their fragile, little lives.
And beneath their horror, I felt their hearts beating. I touched them, claimed them, and all it took was a sickening squeeze as Icrushed those frantic organs into bloody pulp.
One man clutched his throat, eyes bulging, toppling into the courtyard with a sickening crunch. Another dropped to his knees, his face turning blue as his heart stopped. Another clawed at his chest, screaming as his pulse spasmed then flatlined—sending him plummeting backward off the wall.
The sensation was intoxicating,pleasurable.
For one glorious moment, I wasn’t weak anymore.
I was vengeance.
Death.
Flames licked across my forearms, golden and hungry. The air shimmered as pure anarchy filled me. Stone cracked and trees groaned. A scorching cyclone shot free, coiling like a serpent—hunting the courtyard corners and slithering around the wall and rooftops for more enemies.
Every man standing on Whispering Dragon flew backward like twigs as the fire found them, killing them as they fell. Embers and smoke tore after them, feasting on their death as their hearts stopped.
I shuddered as I gave myself over to the fire. I willed it to burn my bones and slaughter all those I hated. I would give whatever it took to keep those I loved safe.
It answered far too strongly, shooting down the link between me and Rook and sinking fiery claws into her soul.
Shescreamed.
