by Amy Braun
“I’m getting Dro,” I shouted over the clamor.
He hesitated until I gave him a look that said, Trust me. I can get us both out.
At least, that’s what I hoped my look said.
There wasn’t enough time for me to make sure Warrick took my expression seriously. Sephiel would make him move, and if it turned out that I couldn’t keep my promise... Well, at least there wouldn’t be a way for him to argue with me. Not unless he wanted to yell at a pile of dust.
The second I entered into the spare bedroom where the fire had begun, the temperature ratcheted up at least ten more degrees. It was so hot I could feel blisters starting to grow on my skin. My hair was clinging to the sweat on my face. The clothes and backpack weighed a thousand pounds. Every breath was a struggle, parching my throat and binding my lungs. Scorching light embedded into my retinas, forcing tears from my eyelids.
All three walls I could see were made of fire. It cased the room, growing inward and filling every space it could find. Tornadoes of smoke caught flakes of ash and spun them through the air. The floor was groaning and straining under the heat and pressure. I had to get Dro and leave the room before it collapsed.
She wasn’t hard to find.
Ten feet away from me was a silhouette of white flame. It burned like the sun, glowing so brightly I had to raise my hand to my eyes and squint through my fingertips. It was so bright I couldn’t even see her outline.
But I knew it was her. Just like I knew this wasn’t the way it usually happened. Dro usually had a nightmare and would be woken up from sleep.
This time she was standing, her screams mixing with the tumultuous blaze, as if they were mocking her.
Dro was causing the fire, and she was wide awake this time.
“Dro!” I screamed. It quickly turned into a ragged cough. “Dro!”
I wasn’t getting through to her. There was no way she could hear me through this storm. She might not have even seen me. That left me with one choice.
I took a step forward. I screamed her name. She didn’t hear me.
So I took another step and screamed again. Then again. And again.
With every stride, I felt the inferno crowding toward me. Tortured wood groaned under my boots. I was gagging each breath. My eyes were blurred with forced tears. Every inch of my body seemed to gain five pounds when I moved.
I only stopped when I looked down and saw the fire snaking its way toward my boots. If I kept walking, I would go up in flames.
“Andromeda!”
She was about four feet from me. She should have seen me, should have heard me. But the glowing whiteness stretched and pushed outward, growing like a supernova about to burst. The floor under me began to shiver.
“Andromeda, plea–”
The floor couldn’t take any more pressure. It collapsed, and took me with it.
It wasn’t a far fall, but I wasn’t prepared. I didn’t bend my knees fast enough, so when I landed, I landed in the worst possible way. My ankle twisted and exploded with a pain so blinding I screamed. My back hit the floor, while splinters of wood clattered beside my head, burning pieces singeing the ends of my hair. My ankle throbbed mercilessly, but I opened my eyes and looked up.
To see the rest of the debris falling fast toward me.
I rolled away, yelping at the sharp torment it put my ankle through. I shifted onto my side and looked around. I was in the kitchen, I think. It was hard to tell from all the smoke. I used my good foot to push further back, whipping my head up to see where I’d fallen through.
The fire wound its way out of the shattered space, splitting off and consuming the walls. The kitchen began to fill with unwelcome light and heat.
I couldn’t see Dro, and with a broken ankle, there was no way I could get back up the stairs to her without being set on fire.
The flames wouldn’t hurt her, but I couldn’t leave her trapped in her nightmare. She wasn’t in danger, but she was trapped in a different kind of torture.
A trap that only Lucifer could create for someone like Dro.
I will destroy you.
No. No, he didn’t want to hurt Dro. Not after going through so much to find her. I had to believe that. I couldn’t imagine he would try to kill her.
But now the thought was there, and it wouldn’t fucking leave.
I tore my eyes away from the ceiling and pushed to my feet. My ankle fired up with pain the moment I put the slightest amount of pressure on it, but I concentrated on moving. Sitting on my ass and praying for a miracle would only end with me being torched.
I had just hobbled to the entryway when a huge whoosh fell behind me. Light flared at my back, like the fire had gasped in awe. I spun around too quickly, lost my balance and landed on my ass.
The column of white fire that circled my sister was in front of me.
For a moment, I didn’t so much as breathe. Not that I could, given the lack of oxygen in the air, but what little I had was locked in my lungs next to a heart ready to break from my chest.
I knew Dro was in there, but I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t do anything.
Come on, little sister. I know you’re in there. Wake up.
Just as I finished the thought, the blaze began to dull. It receded inward, getting smaller and drawing back to its source.
Dro pitched forward, slapping her hands on the ashy floor and dipping her head. She was shaking. I started crawling toward her, trying to get her to snap out of it.
Dro lifted her head, and I stopped.
Her eyes glowed brighter than I could have ever imagined. Even in the drowning red, orange, and black world around us, there was no avoiding that electrified blue gaze.
Just like there was no missing the anger in it.
“Dro.” My lips mouthed her name, though my voice couldn’t speak it. Whether that was because it was too cracked, or I was too scared, I couldn’t tell.
I had never seen Dro look like this before. For the first time in my life, I couldn’t see her as human.
But it only lasted an instant. The glow began to fade, and soon I was looking at my sister again. She blinked, eyes fading back to the shade I knew.
I must have looked awful, because Dro’s eyes widened to saucers. She scrambled to her feet, oblivious to the ash peppering her hair or the scorched holes in her clothes. She grabbed my arm and looped it over her shoulder, rocketing to her feet.
I choked on another cry when my broken ankle touched ground, but I limped with Dro anyway. I trusted her to get us out, because I couldn’t see a fucking thing. My vision was swimming in tears and ash. Every time I stumbled, Dro tightened her grip and kept me upright.
It seemed like forever before we made it outside. Fresh air rushed into my lungs, fighting against the smoky tar inside them. It was summer, but coming outside after being trapped in a bonfire sent a vicious chill down my spine.
I saw someone running toward us from the corner of my eye. I had barely lifted my head by the time Warrick crushed me into his arms for a backbreaking hug. He wasn’t even aware that Dro’s arm was tangled in his embrace, or that he was getting soot on his face every time he buried it in my hair.
“I thought you were trapped,” he whispered in my ear. “When we heard the house breaking apart...”
I ran my hand up his back, soothing him. He tightened his embrace. I patted him roughly.
“Warrick,” I rasped. “I can’t breathe.”
He backed off instantly, giving Dro the chance to free her arm. She stepped back and gave us space. Warrick took up the rest of it. His hands smoothed down the hair on either side of my head, his thumbs cleaning away grime while his eyes looked for injuries.
“Are you okay?”
Broken ankle says no. “Let me sit down.”
He didn’t argue. He looped his hand around my waist and eased me onto the ground as gently as possible. I still winced, and he finally pulled off my boot to reveal my fucked up foot. The bone hadn’t broken through the skin, but
my ankle was ruthlessly swollen and bulging too far left. It looked like I’d been stung by a fat, furious bee. Just looking at it sent a sharp bolt of pain through my entire leg. I rested my hand on my shin and looked up at my sister.
“Dro, can you...”
She was staring at me, but it was like she was looking down at me from the moon. She was completely lost.
“Dro,” Warrick tried, barely holding in his anxiety. “Please.”
She still stared.
That was when Sephiel took a step forward. His white coat was covered in black dust, his auburn hair rumpled and wild. But as bad as he looked, Max was a million times worse.
He stood frozen a couple of feet behind the ex-angel, clutching his arm to his chest. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. It looked like it had been ripped off him and used as a bandage. I couldn’t see the extent of damage to his forearm, but the bits I did see were blackened with cracks of red. He looked awful, and I could see him trembling.
Max looked seconds away from screaming.
“Andromeda,” Sephiel said, getting my attention. “You must heal your sister. She cannot run, and we do not have long before demons and the corrupted seek out this flame.”
My sister snapped out of her trance. Before she could walk to me, I shook my head.
“Heal Max first,” I told Dro.
She whirled around and saw her boyfriend. The gasp that escaped her lips was sharp and hurt. She rushed for him.
Max flinched.
Dro froze in place, looking at her boyfriend like he’d slapped her.
Max backpedaled immediately, guilt crossing his face. But the damage was already done, and we all knew it.
“I just...” he tried. He swallowed nervously. “I need a minute, Dro.”
I wanted to sympathize with him, to say I understood his nerves, but the look on Dro’s face was too heartbreaking. Max quickly dropped his eyes to his feet.
None of us spoke. We stared at Dro like she was a powder keg. The very thing she always feared she would become. I kicked myself for being so insensitive.
“Thanks for letting me take your place in the waiting line, Max.”
He didn’t snark or joke. He didn’t even look at me. Shit.
“Dro,” I tried. “I hate nagging, but my ankle really fucking hurts.”
Warrick’s hand squeezed my shoulder. She turned away from Max, dropping her head. It didn’t hide her tears. Dro knelt by my ruined ankle and raised her hands, but didn’t touch it. She was scared to.
So I lifted my leg and forced my ankle into her hands.
The moment she touched me, the golden healing light filled her hands. She curled her hands around my ankle and soon the familiar pins and needles sensation filled my foot.
Normally I flinched away when she healed me. It was an uncomfortable prickling that I never liked, but already the swelling was going down and the bones were shifting back together. This time I stayed as still as possible, even when she turned my foot back in the right direction, and my bones were forced to grind together.
In a couple minutes, my foot looked no different than it had earlier tonight. The light faded from Dro’s hand and she cowered back. I pushed forward, out of Warrick’s hands, and pulled Dro into a tight hug. She stiffened, then began to sob into my shoulder. I stroked her hair, trying to calm her down.
“I’m sor–”
“Don’t be,” I interrupted. “You didn’t know it would happen.”
Dro’s arms tightened around me. Her next words were a whisper I barely heard, yet would never forget.
“Yes, I did.”
Chapter 6
After a fair amount of coaxing, a free jacket from Warrick, and many harsh glares from me, Max finally allowed Dro to touch him.
She healed his arm until the only remains were tiny flakes of ash on his skin. She swayed for a moment, and that was when Max snapped out of his trance. He hugged Dro tight to his chest and repeated how sorry he was.
She forgave him, but would never forget his hesitation.
Neither would I.
As soon as Max and I were fully healed, we started to move. Sephiel had managed to get together some last minute supplies when he smelled the smoke. Smart man, knowing we would need them since we didn’t know where our next “safe” place would be.
As we walked on the dusty road lining the edge of the slums, Dro fell out of step with us. She drifted to the side of the group. Sephiel turned his head to look at her, making sure nothing would jump out of the crumbling houses or their shadows to grab her. Warrick, Max, and myself huddled together, unable to think of anything to say.
Max looked the most uncomfortable. Warrick had given him his leather jacket so he wouldn’t need to walk around shirtless, and even though it was perfectly fine now, he was clutching his once burned arm to his chest.
There was a lot to say, but no one knew how to start. I wanted to be angry with Max, but that was the first time he’d ever been fully exposed to one of Dro’s nightmares, and he had gotten hurt by it. I’d never been burned by Dro’s fire. At least not directly.
Then there were the words my sister had whispered in my ear. How she’d known she was going to burst into flame. I glanced over my shoulder at her.
Dro seemed to be slumped and broken. I wanted to respect her privacy, give her space, but Dro had never felt comfortable on her own. And patience was never my strong suit.
Ignoring the stares from Warrick and Max, I crossed from their side to my sister’s. Dro turned her head ever so slightly, but didn’t lift her eyes from the ground.
“I’m all right,” she muttered.
“Okay,” I told her. I didn’t care if she believed me or not. I just stayed at her side.
Dro sighed and tilted her head back. “What do you want me to say?”
“Nothing,” I replied honestly. “I was getting bored with the Testosterone Team.”
I looked at her with a stupid grin on my face. It didn’t make her smile. I sighed, and gave up on the effort. Dro would talk when she was ready to.
After another hour of silent walking, Sephiel came to a halt in front of us. I had shut off my mind, so I wasn’t paying attention as much as I should have.
“Seph? What’s up?”
That was when I heard the distant screeches on the main street. We were about twenty feet away from it, still hidden behind the boxy houses. We hadn’t seen any demons or Possessors or maniacal citizens, and while I was grateful for that, hoping that they were all checking out the bonfire Dro had made, the lack of monstrosities made me uneasy.
I felt like I was walking into a trap.
“It does not appear the main road is safe,” Seph stated.
I looked around the houses. They were all dumpy half painted boxes with torn roofing and shuttered windows. The area we’d stayed in before was a little classier, but anything resembling class seemed to disappear entirely when the demons arrived and started plaguing sin on everyone. There had been good people here. Decent people.
Now they were probably all dead.
Tearing myself away from dark thoughts, I looked at Max.
“Any of these houses safe?”
The kid blinked slowly, letting my words sink in. I’d never thought Max would be able to brood. Shows what I knew about him.
He took another deep breath and closed his eyes. After a long minute, he opened them again and turned around. He pointed to a grim, pale grey stucco house with a dark grey roof.
“Yeah. We’ll be good there,” he announced, already walking for it.
We followed him off the road and up the concrete path. He stood in front of the screen door and carefully wrapped his hand around the doorknob. Sephiel moved past me to stand by Max, his hands reaching in his coat for the hilts of his short swords. Max pushed the door open and tried to walk inside, but Sephiel got in front of him.
“You know I wouldn’t have opened the door if there were monsters or murderers inside, right?” Max told the ex-angel impatiently.
Sephiel didn’t turn, his head moving from side to side as he did his own assessment.
“I do not doubt your gifts, Max, but I would prefer to err on the side of caution. Warrick, will you assist me in confirming the security of his location?”
“Sure,” was Warrick’s simple reply. He didn’t look at me, but his presence when he brushed past me was impossible to ignore. I was tempted to follow them, but changed my mind when I realized that would leave Dro alone with Max, something I wasn’t sure either of them was ready to be yet.