by KT Strange
The fire was deafening, assaulting my senses, my skin feeling like it was burning to a crisp as he shouldered me against him and staggered forward.
“Windows,” he shouted, barely audible over the firestorm around us. His muscles bunched and he heaved me sideways. I hit glass, firm, then splintering under me, spilling out of the cabin and onto the grass below. My eyes were watering, the acrid smoke clung to me, making it hard to breathe. I opened my eyes, blinking them hard. My chest shuddered and I tried to sit up. The side of the cabin lit up, and then Eli was there, grabbing me under my arms. He dragged me along the grass as I watched the cabin go up in flames, the fire forming a long line that reached toward the creek. The fire pit was consumed, hidden behind a wall of fire that reached thirty or forty feet into the air.
Eli kept dragging me, my spine screaming with pain every time I hit a hidden rock in the grass. My head spun, and I had to close my eyes in case I was going to vomit again.
Finally, when the heat from the fire wasn’t so blistering on our skin, Eli stumbled and fell to his knees, dropping me. I landed with a thud, curling onto my side. The world was tilting sideways, flames flickering in the distance.
The thought came zooming up to me, reminding me, screaming at me. I shoved myself up onto my knees.
“DARCY!” I staggered to my feet as Eli jerked, reaching for me.
“No, Finn—” He grabbed me around the middle.
“DARCY!” I fought him, my elbow meeting his face. He grunted, his arms like iron cables around me, not letting go. Dragging him forward, my bare feet slipped over the wet grass as the flames leapt, racing down to the creek, lighting up the edge of the woods.
Fwoom!
A tree nearest the creek caught fire. I snarled, turning on my twin, slamming my fist into his face. He went down like a rock, his arms flopping out to his sides on the grass. Free, I raced toward the flames. Darcy, she had been right there—
A blur to my right slammed into me, knocking me off my feet. Cash lurched over me, panting hard, his face covered in soot and sweat. When I moved to get up again, he roared and tackled me to the ground, pinning me there.
“Are you insane!?” he snarled right in my face. I squirmed.
“Darcy’s—” I couldn’t get the words out, just shoved at him. His face went pale and he sat back, watching the fire. Behind him, Ace emerged from the woods, Frank right behind him. They raced up to us, breathing hard.
“The fire’s going right through the woods. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Frank said between gulps of air. With a great crash, the cabin’s roof collapsed, and we watched in silent horror as the walls began to cave, bending down under the flames.
A weakness fell over me and I doubled over, hard, a hollow feeling expanding inside of me, filling every single part of me. Cash’s hand wrapped around my shoulder, his fingers trembling.
“Where was she?” he asked me. Ace inhaled, standing up straight.
“The fire pit,” I whispered. “She forgot... some of her clothes.” I swallowed hard and closed my eyes. Frank made a tiny noise.
“Where’s Eli?” he asked. I tilted my head to the side. Everything was so slow, like reality was being pulled in every direction, time stretching out. “I’ll get him,” Frank said, and his footsteps moving away.
The three of us stood there, and I knew the other guys were feeling exactly as I did. Flashes of horror, of disbelief, as the flames travelled further into the woods. The fire was burning so fast, consuming the wood like a starving beast, and already parts of it were dying down, leaving scorched earth.
A crackle of thunder rolled through the heavens and I jerked, looking up. Storm clouds were pulling in, piling up, melding into each other. Lightning flashed inside of them, and an eerie glow filtered down to us. A person thudded down beside me. Eli. His eyes were open, and he was staring at me, blinking slowly, a stunned expression on his face. He reached for me, grabbing my shoulder, to steady himself or me, I wasn’t sure.
Above us, the clouds boomed with thunder, and Frank made a noise of relief.
“Wolfe,” he said, and pointed. At the top of the hill, surrounded by a sickly green-blue glow, was the silhouetted figure of the vampire. His hands were spread wide, lightning crackling around them. He slowly walked down, with each step the air became heavier and heavier with humidity. “Ah shit, he’s gonna douse us.” Frank hauled his shirt up over his head for a makeshift hood as the heavens opened up.
The rain pelted down, immediately soaking me, my hair plastering to my face. The rains had finally come, and the fire hissed and sparked, steam rising with the smoke.
It didn’t matter though. She was gone. I staggered to my feet, a wind whipping down, that chilled me right to the bone. The fires guttered, flaring up through the woods. On Wolfe walked, lightning arcing from his hands toward the sky, a look of fury on his face. I shuddered and Cash’s arm wrapped around my shoulders. Ace crowded me from behind. I felt them trembling, felt the pain of what they were feeling right in my own heart.
The rain pounded down harder, hitting my exposed skin and making it sting, getting in my eyes. It hid the tears that were streaking down my cheeks. Frank went to Wolfe who shook his head at the young werewolf before nodding to us. Wolfe lowered his hands, and the glow around him evaporated, dying out.
Wolfe’s mouth moved, but I couldn’t hear it, the rain was drowning everything out. The wreckage of the cabin steamed and smoked, the wind whipping it away, toward the forests where the rains chased the fires down. Still, they burned.
My knees were weak. I wanted to fall, face first, and beg Darcy for forgiveness. If I’d gone out instead of her, or remembered her damn clothes in the first place, she would have been with me in the cabin, within reach to save.
Wolfe moved toward us, a furious scowl twisting his lips. Frank followed just behind him, quiet and solemn. When they reached us, Wolfe reached for me, grabbing my hand and pulling me close, into his chest. His embrace was ice-cold, his hands burning my flesh with how they froze.
“She was in the fires,” my voice sounded so strange to my ears, smoke-rough and cracking with grief. It didn’t seem real. It couldn’t be real. Wolfe pulled away, and let out a low growl.
“It happened so fast,” Ace whispered, leaning hard against me like he was trying to crawl inside my skin, a habit I thought he’d left behind when he’d grown out of his puppy years. “Where’s Charlie?” Our missing pack-mate hadn’t emerged from the woods. Eli moaned softly, as if in pain.
“Cursed fires do that,” Wolfe said, his eyes narrowed as he surveyed the wreckage. “The stench of magic is thick here.”
“What?” Cash lifted his head from mine, staring at Wolfe, who closed his eyes for a moment.
He opened them again, and his next words were said with such fury, he could barely get them out.
“The witch brought the flames,” he said, and scowled at the charred field and the remains of the cabin we’d been staying in. My heart dropped. Darcy would never. She couldn’t. My mind raced. Her only powers were lightning, and—
Wolfe stepped away from us, his shoulders stiff. The rains stopped with an abrupt crack, even though the fires still glowed in the distance, toward the lake. They’d gotten so far, so fast, and taken Darcy with them. Silence filled the air, not even the sound of insects or birds to break it.
I felt empty, and I knew then that, even with a heartstone, none of us would ever recover from this. There was no moving on from this. We’d lost our Darcy, and with her, our hearts.
Find out what happens next in
PHOENIXRISE
available for pre-order on Amazon now!
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Life is a rollercoaster. Sometimes I wish I was shorter.
Mercury is in retrograde, my father’s cancer has progressed and he’s gone to hospice for end of life care, and this book almost didn’t get finished in time.
This is probably why I keep torturing you with cliffhangers. #sorrynotsorry #okayalittlesorry
I just want to say thank you. The outpouring of love and kind words from you has made everything that much easier. All I can do is promise to pay it forward. And to pay it forward, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will go to fund a charity that’s close to my heart, CapForKids. If you haven’t heard of CapForKids, go ahead and check them out:
http://www.capforkids.org/
They help families in need struck by childhood cancers. I chose this charity because one of my readers is currently helping her son beat brain cancer, AND I am lucky enough to know the wonderful people who started and run CapForKids. It’s an incredible charity, and does SO much to help needy families who just want their children to feel better.
I’ll be posting the donation amount at the end of the next book, and on my Facebook group, KT’S Beauties, so make sure you join to see how much we raise!
<3 Love to my Beauties on Facebook, and to my awesome beta readers… Amber, Caitlyn, Cynthia, Danielle, Gina, Kathryn, Linda, Maria, Meagan, Meghan, Nadine, Peggy, Susan, Sabrina, Tennille, Theresa, and Tracy!
Also love to my dear Maman for keeping me sane, to CJ for doing an amazing set of graphics, to Bri for editing last minute for me (lurve u), to Erin for being the best best best PA and friend anyone could ask for, to Yumo for being just an amazing friend and hand-holder and encouragement unicorn queen, to Becca and Lauren (love you guys), and to Curtis for editing Becca’s photos in a rush for me. Thanks to USA Today for featuring Phoenixcry (omg!!!!!) and to all my friends on the book of faces for being super supportive. Also to my cats, because I’ve been ignoring them a lot lately.
One final thank you to my dad. I’ve had to spend a lot of time away from you, not visiting you as much as I wanted to over the past few weeks in order to get this book done. You’ve called me every day and checked in, asked me how the book was coming, and were so patient with me while I finished. Thank you dad. I love you so much. Let’s have some ice-cream together now, shall we?
- Kit
(KT)
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About the Author
KT Strange is a reverse harem romance author from the Great White North. After spending ten years in the music scene babysitting drunk rock-stars, she’s finally ready to settle down (sorta) and write a few good books inspired by her life on the road with bands and her love of everything paranormal.
Also she is rather fond of cats.
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