Page 1 of Axis of Fire

Chapter 1

Vuduarus: The Beginning

Thick brick walls couldn’t muffle the screams.

Screams of protest—tearing from deep within.

Her voice was steady, but her heart pounded louder than ever with fear.

She wanted to appear fearless.

But her trembling hands told a different story.

A small, slender figure raced through the narrow, sterile corridors, leaving behind a trail of destruction on an inhuman scale.

Wide brown eyes darted from side to side, searching for an exit.

For salvation.

She should have stayed calm.

But Illariana Arden never gave up.

It wasn’t her choice.

It was her nature.

“Stop! No one is going to hurt you!”

Several people in white lab coats chased after her.

“We just need to examine you!” a red-haired woman shouted, her face flushed—whether from anger or breathlessness.

“I don’t care!” Illariana shouted back.

Betrayal tightened around her lungs like a vice.

A turn.

She remembered her parents’ smiling faces as they waved goodbye, watching their daughter being strapped to a hospital bed.

They had betrayed her.

Again.

Another turn.

And a dead end.

Like a lump rising in her throat.

Illariana spun around sharply.

Her body was already preparing to run back—to take another path.

But it was too late.

“Damn it,” slipped from her lips.