"This is for my father." I shift my grip. "For your attacks on my family." I step toward the fire, dragging him with me. "And for her."
I throw him into the flames.
The fire embraces Cormac like it's been waiting for him.
His robes ignite first, then his hair, then his skin. He screams, a distinctive sound that rises and rises until it seems to shake the walls themselves. He thrashes in the inferno, a human torch, arms flailing uselessly against the flames that devour him.
I watch him burn.
The screams grow louder, then begin to fade. His movements slow. His body blackens, curling in on itself like paper thrown into a hearth.
Then silence.
I turn away from what remains of Cormac Donoghue and run toward Zaria.
37
ZARIA
The world fractures into shards of orange and black.
I try to breathe, but each inhale burns, scorches my throat, my lungs, fills my chest with fire instead of air. My head floats somewhere above my body, disconnected and drifting. The pain in my shoulder throbs in waves, sharp and then dull, sharp and then dull, like the blade itself has a pulse.
The smoke is thick now, so thick I can barely see the ceiling anymore.
I'm fading.
I know I'm fading because the fire is starting to not feel as hot anymore. Because the sounds I hear are starting to feel distant and underwater, and because my eyelids keep drooping even though I'm terrified of what waits in the dark.
Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay.
I try to turn my head, but the movement sends fresh agony radiating through my shoulder. I can feel the blade deep insideme, scraping bone, holding me in place while the world burns around me.
Someone bursts into the room. The fire shifts from the wind.
A shadow steps forward.
It's Callum.
He moves toward me, and I brace myself for the pain that will come, but I have to stop him. Warn him.
"Callum, wait!"
I hear gunshots. Two of them. Sharp cracks that cut through the roar of the fire.
My vision sharpens for just a moment. I see Callum on the ground, blood spreading across his sleeve and his foot twisted at an angle. My heart stops.
No. Please God, no.
Get up.
I don't know if I think it or if some part of me screams it, but Callum moves.
My eyes droop and I shake my head to stay awake.
I hear a loud crash and Cormac scream.
I see Callum. He's up and he's limping, favoring his right leg, but he's alive. The relief that crashes through me is so violent it almost pulls me under completely.
