Winter Fire (Witchling Series)

by Ford, Lizzy

  “Good sign?” Summer exchanged a look at Biji.

  “It means she’s scared,” Morgan said.

  “I’d be scared, too, if I knew Beck and Decker were going to kill me,” Biji said. “She can’t kidnap their girls and think they won’t.”

  “I’m not Beck’s girl,” Morgan said in a hushed voice. I don’t even know if he’s alive. Her chest seized, or maybe it was her heart. He’d never be able to forgive her for hurting him. The look on his face when he asked her about the rock wouldn’t leave her thoughts.

  He thought she’d betrayed him.

  She cared too much to hurt him, but she had.

  “Do you know where we are?” she asked to take her mind off her failure.

  “We can’t be far,” Summer answered. “We might be …” she drifted off, frowning.

  “Where?”

  “The room is cement, so we can’t talk to the air,” Biji said in frustration.

  “Or earth. I was thinking we’re in the resort where they found Tanya’s body,” Summer’s voice was hushed.

  “There are three closed resorts around the lake,” Biji said. “During summer, we explored them. But we didn’t go down into the basements, which this smells like.” Her nose wrinkled.

  Morgan glanced around the room. They were right. There were no windows, and the entire room was cement. It smelled moldy and stale. Her fire revealed a puddle of water in one corner and green moss lining one wall.

  The door, however, was wooden. She could burn it down. She just didn’t know what – or who – was on the other side.

  Morgan focused her magick on the cuffs. They grew hot and glowed red. She waited until they were soft enough almost to melt then pried them off. She took Summer’s hands and frowned.

  “I don’t know if I can take them off without hurting you,” she said.

  “Try,” Summer replied.

  Morgan met her gaze, surprised. Summer smiled.

  “I’ve been through a lot.”

  “Okay, but if I hurt you, tell me,” Morgan said.

  Summer nodded.

  Morgan placed her thumb over the lock of one of Summer’s cuffs, then focused her energy. Magick made the metal turn red. The red crept up the cuff, and Morgan glanced at Summer’s face. The Light witchling’s eyes were closed, and she was breathing deep and steady, as if meditating.

  The scent of burning skin made Morgan hesitate.

  “Keep going,” Summer directed her calmly.

  Morgan considered for a moment. She’d been warming it slowly, but it was causing too much pain.

  “This is going to hurt,” she murmured.

  Summer nodded.

  Morgan’s fire flashed. She melted the metal with an intense wave of magick then wrenched Summer’s hand free, before the metal seared through her wrist.

  Summer released a breath and rubbed her free wrist. An angry red burn wound all the way around it.

  “Me next,” Biji said and stuck out her arms. “Summer can pain patch me. I’m not going to let them beat me again.”

  “Maybe try it faster this time,” Summer advised.

  Morgan nodded, embarrassed. She focused on the lock around Biji’s right wrist and zapped it with her magick, pulling Biji’s wrist free. Biji flinched at the pain. The red around her wrist wasn’t as bad as that around Summer’s. Summer touched Biji, and Morgan sensed magick in the air.

  “So, there were seven of them,” Biji said and stood. She faced the door. “How long have we been here?”

  “A few hours,” Summer guessed.

  “It’s been quiet, but we don’t really know how many are out there,” Biji said thoughtfully. “We can stay here and hope Decker finds us.”

  “He can track Dark witchlings,” Summer said. “Unless they know how to hide from him.”

  “I didn’t think it was possible.”

  “Yeah, it is. It’s how they hid me for three months,” Summer said.

  Morgan listened, not fully understanding what they were talking about.

  “I think we should assume they only grabbed you because they think he can’t,” she rationalized.

  “He can’t track Light witchlings, though,” Biji said. “Beck can.”

  Morgan ducked her head. “I don’t think he can right now.”

  “I’m sure of it,” Biji replied. “It’s part of what he does. He’s supposed to know when we’re in danger.”

  “And he’s not here,” Summer said, studying Morgan.

  “Yeah,” she agreed. “Well, I know no one can track someone like me.”

  “Did something happen?” Summer asked.

  “I, um, heard something happened to him before I left today.”

  “What?” Summer asked.

  Morgan shook her head. Her insides trembled. When they were free, she’d tell them how horrible of a person she was. First, she had to help them.

  “We’re on our own,” Biji murmured. “Morgan can take out the door like she did the tree, but I’m not sure what happens next.”

  “I didn’t burn down the tree,” Morgan retorted. “No one believes it, but it’s true.”

  “You probably shouldn’t threaten to burn things down then act surprised when they do,” Biji said.

  “I didn’t do it!”

  “Stop,” Summer ordered softly. “None of that matters. We need to focus on getting out of here. We’re in a lot trouble.”

  “Agreed,” Biji said.

  Morgan nodded. She paced, worried about Beck and trying to save the Light girls trapped with her. She was ready to face her fate.

  “So do we blow the door down and make a run for it or just wait?” Biji asked.

  The three looked at each other.

  “Let’s see what we can hear,” Summer said. She rose and crossed to the door, pressing her ear to it.

  Morgan was quiet, waiting. Summer stepped away after a minute.

  “Doesn’t sound like there’s anyone there,” she said, puzzled. “But we might be down some long hallway or in a basement or something...”

  “I’m taking down the door. I’m not staying here. It’s like a tomb,” Morgan said. She went to the door and put her palms against the cool wood. Within seconds, the door was on fire.

  Morgan stood back and watched. It burned as hot as she could make it in order to minimize the time it took. Within seconds, the flash fire was gone, and nothing, but ashes remained.

  She stepped into a long hallway lit by light bulbs dangling from the ceiling.

  “Definitely a basement,” she murmured, looking around. One way down the hallway led to a dead-end while the other ended at a set of stairs. Her senses were alert, but she didn’t hear anything.

  “Do you have your phone, Morgan?” Biji asked as she and Summer entered the hallway.

  Morgan went through her pockets then remembered she’d been too desperate to leave to think of grabbing it. The stone was still there though.

  “No,” she replied.

  “I do, but I’ve got no signal.”

  “Mine’s in my room,” Summer said.

  “I need to get out of here,” Morgan said and started forward. She didn’t think Dark kids needed the rock anymore than the Light girls.

  “Biji, keep checking your phone,” Summer said trailing. “You know who to call?”

  “Decker.”

  Morgan hurried down the hallway then started up the stairs. She slowed as she neared the top. The light from the basement faded, and there was no way of knowing what awaited them. Unless she started a fire, but that might give them away.

  “Wait,” she said and waved at the two girls behind her. She put a finger to her lips to warn them to keep quiet. They paused.

  Morgan put more distance between them before she lit a fire in her palm. She reached the top of the stairs and looked around. A door was in front of her. With a deep breath, she pushed the bar on the door and stepped into the dark hall beyond. Voices came from down the hallway, along with light from a cracked door.


  It certainly looked like a resort. The hallway was tall, wide and lined with doors, like the main floor of a massive hotel. The floor creaked beneath her. Morgan gasped and froze. No one emerged from the doorway.

  She retreated and motioned to the other two to follow.

  The air around her tingled as both girls connected with their air magick.

  “Morgan, we can use the air to guide us,” Summer said. “Your fire might draw attention.”

  Morgan extinguished her flame. Summer took her hand and started forward, moving to the edge of the hallway. Morgan took Biji’s hand, and they crept down the hallway. Morgan looked around, trying to make out what the shapes were in the dark. Some looked like wall décor that had fallen into piles on the ground. Others looked like saplings growing in the middle of the hallway.

  In the dark, they were monsters. Adrenaline made her jump with each creak of the wooden floor beneath them. Summer stopped suddenly, and Morgan ran into her.

  “Look,” Summer whispered, pointing.

  In front of them was a gaping hole where the floor had disappeared. It was more than five feet wide, too far to jump.

  The door down the hallway opened, startling them. Biji wrenched Morgan back, who in turn pulled Summer. The door nearest to them opened at the request of Biji’s magick. They ducked into the dark, and Summer pushed the door closed. Fresh air swept though the room, and Morgan turned. Moonlight was visible through part of the crumbling wall opposite them in what appeared to be a ballroom or conference center at one time. The floor here, too, appeared to be rotting. She wondered how far down the holes went.

  Summer’s ear was pressed to the door. Biji’s phone glowed in the dark room, and Morgan waited nervously.

  “They’re headed to the basement,” Summer reported, moving away from the door.

  “We need to go,” Morgan said urgently. She started towards the moonlight.

  “Wait, Morgan, we can make an air bridge. So we don’t fall,” Summer said, catching Morgan’s arm.

  “I have -” Biji started.

  Her phone rang suddenly, the blaring ring tone jarring Morgan.

  Biji fumbled with the phone, panicking. It took a few seconds for her to silence it, and all three of them held their breaths.

  “What was that?” a voice said from the other side of the door.

  Morgan’s fire reacted. The door burst into fire.

  “No, Morgan!” Summer exclaimed.

  “Come on!” Biji called.

  Cold air swept by Morgan, an indication that one of the girls was using her magick.

  “Follow me,” Biji told her. “Step only where I step, Morgan.”

  Morgan obeyed, pausing when Biji appeared to run over a hole three feet wide.

  “Just don’t look down,” Summer said.

  Morgan swallowed hard and followed. The floor didn’t drop out from under her, and she dashed after Biji.

  Suddenly, the blazing door was snuffed. Water splashed them, and Morgan felt the cool water magick that was much like her brother’s. It snuffed her fire.

  Halfway across the room, the air bridge beneath Morgan gave out. She cried out as she fell. The hole in the flooring was deep enough that she wouldn’t have stopped falling, had Summer not grabbed her arm. Her shoulder jerked. She dangled, unable to see in the darkness.

  Summer screamed suddenly, and Morgan felt her grip weaken, as if someone was trying to yank the girl away. Biji shouted something. Suddenly, Morgan was falling. Her fire magick flared, and she saw the concrete below rising up to meet her.

  The floor was between one and two stories down. She landed hard with a sickening crack. Morgan gasped, hot pain shooting up her leg. It was sharp enough nearly to drive her unconscious. She lay still, panting. Someone was calling her name, but it sounded so far away, and her world was so dark.

  Morgan shook her head, trying to clear it. She pushed herself up and stopped as pain radiated from her shin. She knew that pain; she’d felt it once before, when her uncle broke her arm.

  Her eyes went upward, where she heard the sounds of scuffling from the main floor. Their escape attempt was fruitless. She summoned her fire and held out her hand. It blazed to life, illuminating her surroundings.

  “Damn basement,” she muttered, agitated to find herself in a cement tomb once more. Her hand shook. She felt the shock set in; she was thirsty, hot and having trouble focusing.

  For the first time in her life, she was grateful to her uncle for beating her. She knew it was shock, and she knew how to handle it. Morgan felt her mind start to float and moved her leg enough that sharp pain took her breath away. Focusing once more, she tossed the flame onto the ground then gingerly used her arms and good leg to stand. She wobbled. Her emotions were near the breaking point, and she recited the advice Beck gave her about breathing deep to keep calm.

  The door was no more than six feet away. Her first attempt to put pressure on her hurt leg resulted in her smashing onto all fours. Morgan gritted her teeth, tears of pain springing from her eyes. For a moment, she thought she was going to pass out or vomit. She didn’t, and she pushed herself to her feet again.

  The six feet to the door might as well have been two miles. She hopped, balanced then hopped again. The jolting hurt her leg but not as much as standing on it. Shouts came from the hallway in the basement, and she realized they were looking for her. Morgan twisted her hips when she hopped to change her direction. She extinguished her flame then made it to the corner and sagged against the cool wall.

  Her father and uncle were right. She was a horrible person and deserved whatever happened to her in this tomb. Morgan wiped her eyes, heart aching for Beck above all. She leaned her head back. Someone opened the door, and a flashlight shone into the room.

  “Got her!” the guy shouted into the hallway.

  He strode towards her and gripped her arm, pulling her up. Morgan gasped at the agony in her shin.

  Unable to handle the pain, she took two steps and dropped into the world between consciousness and black-out. The guy tried to catch her then leaned down and lifted her over his shoulders. Vaguely aware of the world, she did her best to keep from sinking into unconsciousness.

  He took her up the stairs, out of the basement. A cold breeze helped clear her head. The Dark teen walked through neighboring ballrooms rather than take the treacherous hallway. His step was careful, his grip on her tight. He moved through the ballrooms then exited into the main hallway. He entered the room where she’d seen the light during their first trip down the hall.

  The teen lowered her to the ground with more care than she expected. She recognized him from her trip to the Dark Campus. It was Noah, Dawn’s brother.

  “Are you okay?” Summer asked.

  Morgan shook her head and looked around. The Dark teens had set up a small campsite in one part of the room, complete with two small tents, lanterns and a small grill. Summer sat against one wall, cuffed once more, near a small space heater.

  “I think my leg is broken,” Morgan replied.

  Noah knelt at her feet and studied her leg. The jeans around her shin were tight from the swelling.

  “Prop it up, Noah. We’ll get a brace when Jason comes back with the third one,” the other Dark teen said. He glowed with fire magick, and Morgan vaguely recalled Decker referring to the other fire witchling as Troy.

  Morgan glanced around, realizing Biji wasn’t there. She prayed the small girl had either escaped or called someone. Noah was six feet tall and athletic, his movements shadowed by Darkness. He propped up her knee gently with books. She hissed at the pain, and he glanced at her.

  “You won’t be here long,” he said. “We didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  “You taser-d me!” she retorted.

  “What?” he frowned. “I never taser-d you.”

  “Alexa did,” Troy said.

  “Why?” Noah demanded. “She’s just a little girl.”

  “Ask your sister.”

  “I need ice,” Morgan interrup
ted. “For the swelling.”

  “I’ll get some,” Noah said and rose.

  Morgan looked at Summer questioningly.

  “I can give her a pain patch,” Summer said to the boys. “She’s going into shock.”

  Both teens hesitated, before Noah’s eyes settled on Morgan.

  “No funny stuff,” he told Summer. “Go ahead.”

  Summer rose and crossed to Morgan. She sat beside her and placed her bound hands on Morgan’s arm. Morgan groaned as the warmth of earth slid between her and the pain.

  “It won’t last long, but it’ll help,” Summer said. “Only Beck can heal people.”

  At his name, Morgan almost told Summer to take the pain patch away, so she could feel what she’d done to Beck.

  “Noah, stay here. I’m going to check on Jason,” Troy said.

  Noah nodded and sat near one of the heaters.

  “Can you walk at all?” Summer asked.

  Morgan shook her head. “But if you get the chance to run, go. I deserve to be here.”

  Summer frowned.

  “Just promise me you’ll run, if you can.”

  “Straight to Beck.”

  “No. Not to Beck.”

  Summer waited for her to explain, but she didn’t.

  “We should be okay, until Dawn gets here,” Summer murmured. “These guys could’ve done some damage to both of us and didn’t.”

  “Who would listen to that psycho bitch?” Morgan demanded quietly.

  “She’s powerful and scary and currently, completely immune from Decker dealing with her like she deserves,” Summer explained. “She’s invincible with magick.”

  “No, she thinks she’s invincible. Bullies always think they are.”

  “Someday, we’re going to sit down and talk,” Summer said firmly.

  “If we survive. If Dawn’s smart, she’ll probably kill us. Or at least, me. She thinks I’m with Beck.”

  “I did, too. You’re not?”

  “No,” Morgan said softly. “Not anymore.”

  “Quiet, guys,” Noah said gruffly. “If you’re done … what’s your name?” He looked at Summer.

  “Summer,” she replied.

  “Sounds familiar, but I don’t recognize you.”

  “She’s Decker’s girlfriend,” Morgan supplied.