From Ashes and Embers (Ceasefire Series Book 3) by Claire Marta

Author:Claire Marta [Marta, Claire]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-03-06T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Raziel

Finding the Fortress cell abandoned has not improved my mood. It had been like getting blood from a stone to try and get Cass to give up a vision. For whatever reason, she withheld what she knows. I’d had to pay Badden to track Jane’s soul.

Reality has kicked. I’ve royally fucked up. If anything happens to Tink, I only have myself to blame. The fact I’d let her get under my skin distorted my reactions. Blinded my judgement.

Every muscle feels tight, sprung for action. My usual calm has deserted me, leaving panic in its place. Mind replaying on a loop the last time I’d seen her, I fight to get my shit together.

“I smell death,” Badden warns the second we materialize outside Titianna’s. A swirl of white descends on us from above. Clumps of wet snowflakes drifting down in the thickly falling snowstorm. It’s so dense the scenery around us is barely outlined in the white out.

Stepping through the doors into strip club, I experience a moment of disorientation. Heat licks over my skin as spiralling flakes continue to tumble from above. Unlike the snow that had kissed my face with icy cold, these are warm to the touch. Darting a glance at the roof, I find it still intact.

“Where the hell is this stuff coming from, and why does it smell like BBQ in here?” Palm outstretch, I catch a few only realizing then it’s grey ash.

“There’s no indication of a fire,” Badden tells me slowly. “Everything looks intact…wait what’s that?”

Glancing in the direction, I take in the untouched furniture, bar, glasses, and bottles. Neglected, the place is eerily silent as the grave. A dark mass is by a table. It’s not alone. More are dotted around the room in different positions. Some up right and others closer to the floor.

With caution, I prowl closer.

The surface of the object is mottled and charred. Parts of it have fallen away, revealing soft glowing embers dying in the blackened mass. Comprehension comes with a sickening lurch. I’ve witnessed this before. The fury of a fire but this isn’t natural. Reaching out, I touch the head with a finger. It pushes straight through the fine powder, dislodging and sending it spiralling into the air. The whole thing crumbles slowly into a mushrooming puff.

Incinerated.

Every person in the room has been cremated. Burnt alive on the spot.

Memories of my mother stir. Seeping up unwanted, her agonized screams ricochet through my head. The helplessness I’d experienced back then tries to suffocate me. I hadn’t been able to save her. Not strong enough as a child. She’d been just as ravaged by the time the fire that had consumed her had died down. Barely anything remaining as the Devil had watched me cut her free of the death pyre. The blood of her accusers had dried on my scrawny hands. Their shouts of ‘burn the witch’ silenced forever.

“What could do something like this?” Badden’s voice is a low, raspy whisper. His dark eyes dart around the room with the same unease that loops through me.

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