Burn Them All

Chapter 6

Elyse pov

I grabbed his wrist and reached for the power I’d felt earlier.

Nothing.

The heat beneath my skin, gone. The coiled energy, vanished. There was only emptiness where my magic should be.

No.

Lord Casimir’s smile widened. “Did you really think you could hurt me?”

He laughed, and the sound crawled over my skin like insects.

“Your father warned me, you see. Told me all about your little… condition.” He twisted my wrist, forcing me closer. “He assured me the binding spell was reinforced. That you’re completely harmless now.”

“No.” I pulled against his grip. “That’s not…”

“What? True?” He pressed me back against the wall. “Try it. Go ahead. Burn me if you can.”

I reached again, desperate, clawing for the power that had been there just hours ago. The spark. The heat.

Nothing answered.

Papa had done something. When he’d cast that abortion spell, he must have strengthened the binding and locked my power away where I couldn’t reach it.

My legs went weak.

“That’s what I thought.” Lord Casimir’s free hand went to my dress, fingers finding the laces at my back. “Now stop fighting and make this easier on yourself.”

“No!” I kicked at him, my foot connecting with his shin.

He barely flinched. “Feisty. I did say I liked that.”

His grip on my wrist tightened until bones ground together. Pain shot up my arm. With his other hand, he yanked at my dress, and I heard fabric tear.

“Please.” The word came out broken. “Please don’t do this.”

“Don’t?” He leaned in close, his breath hot against my neck. “I paid for you. You’re mine to do with as I please.”

I thrashed, kicked, and tried to claw at his face with my free hand. But he was so much stronger, and I was still weak from the abortion, from days of barely eating.

He grabbed my other wrist, pinning both hands above my head with one of his. His other hand returned to my dress, tearing at the bodice.

The fabric gave way with a horrible ripping sound.

I screamed.

Not words. Just pure rage and terror and grief all tangled together in one primal sound.

And something inside me answered.

Heat exploded through my chest. Not the gentle warmth from before, but something wild and furious that had been caged too long.

The binding spell shattered.

I felt it break like chains snapping, felt my power flood back in a rush that stole my breath. It burned through my veins, scorching everything in its path, demanding release.

Lord Casimir’s eyes went wide. “What…”

Fire erupted from my hands.

Not metaphorical fire. Real flames, bright and hungry, spread across his chest in an instant. They climbed up his neck, caught in his hair, consumed his face.

He screamed and stumbled backward, releasing me as he clawed at the fire eating him alive.

But it wouldn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. The flames spread faster, hotter, feeding on him like he was made of kindling.

I stood frozen, watching him burn.

Part of me wanted to help. To put it out. To stop this.

But a larger part, the part that had been broken and tortured and violated, that part wanted him to suffer—wanted him to feel even a fraction of what he’d done to me. To others.

Lord Casimir collapsed to the floor, still burning, his screams fading to wet gurgles.

The smell hit me then. Burning flesh and hair. Sweet and rotten all at once.

My stomach heaved, but I swallowed it down.

The flames spread to the carpet. The curtains. Within seconds, the entire room was catching fire.

Move. I had to move.

I grabbed a thick blanket from the bed, wrapping it around myself to cover the torn dress. My hands shook so badly I could barely hold it closed.

Lord Casimir had stopped moving. Stopped screaming. He was just a burning shape on the floor now, human features consumed by flame.

I killed him.

The thought should have horrified me. Should have made me collapse. But all I felt was a cold, hollow satisfaction.

One down. How many more to go?

Smoke filled the room, thick and choking. I stumbled to the door, yanking it open.

The hallway was empty. The fire hadn’t spread this far yet, but I could hear shouts from somewhere deeper in the mansion. Someone had noticed.

I ran.

Down corridors I didn’t recognize, past rooms full of treasures and luxury built on suffering. My feet barely touched the ground. Every survival instinct I had screamed at me to run faster, get out, survive.

A guard appeared around a corner. His eyes went wide when he saw me.

“The prisoner…”

I didn’t let him finish. Didn’t think. Just reached for the power that was now responding eagerly to my every thought.

Heat burst from my palm. The guard’s uniform caught fire instantly. He screamed and fell.

I kept running.

More shouts behind me. More guards are mobilizing. But the smoke was spreading now, and chaos with it.

I burst through a door into the night air, gasping. The mansion sprawled before me, all lit windows and manicured grounds. Guards were running toward the building, toward the smoke billowing from the upper floor.

No one was looking at the gardens.

I ran across the lawn, into the shadows of the trees beyond. Kept running until my lungs burned and my legs gave out.

I collapsed against a tree trunk, the blanket clutched around me like armor.

Behind me, orange light flickered through the trees. The fire was spreading. Soon the whole mansion would be burning.

Good. Let it all burn. Let everything Lord Casimir owned turn to ash.

But I couldn’t stay here. They’d search the grounds soon. Search the whole city.

I needed to leave. Needed to disappear.

But where?

-----

I moved through the streets like a ghost.

The city was mostly quiet this time of night, just a few drunks stumbling home and guards on their rounds. I kept to the shadows, the blanket pulled over my head like a hood.

No one looked twice at me. Just another beggar. Another piece of human refuse.

Perfect.

My bare feet ached against the cobblestones. I’d lost the delicate shoes somewhere in the mansion. Small price to pay for freedom.

Freedom. Was that what this was?

I’d killed a member of the Elite. Burned down part of his mansion. The Witch Council would hunt me to the ends of the territory for this. Papa would make sure of it, I’d destroyed his profitable sale.

I couldn’t stay in the Witch Lands. Couldn’t go back to my village. Couldn’t go anywhere where my own people might find me.

Which left only one option.

The border.

Werewolf territory.

The thought made my skin crawl. Werewolves were monsters. Beasts. Everyone knew that. They’d started the war, killed Jason, destroyed everything.

But they also wouldn’t be looking for me. Wouldn’t know my face or my crime.

And right now, that made them safer than my own kind.

I found a farmhouse on the outskirts of the city, a small stable behind it. The family was asleep, windows dark. I slipped inside the stable, moving carefully past sleeping chickens and a milk cow.

Three horses stood in their stalls. I chose the smallest, a gray mare that looked fast but not too valuable. The kind they might not immediately notice was gone.

“Sorry,” I whispered, leading her out. “I’ll try to set you free once I’m safe.”

If I ever was.

I found a saddle by feel in the darkness, managed to get it on the horse despite my shaking hands. Pulled myself up, every muscle in my body screaming in protest.

Then I rode.

Away from the city. Away from Papa and the Council and everything I’d ever known. Toward the one place that terrified me almost as much as staying did.

Toward werewolf lands.

-----

The journey blurred together.

Hours of riding through darkness. Through forests that grabbed at me with skeletal branches. Across fields that stretched endlessly under the stars.

I stopped once to let the horse drink from a stream. Splashed cold water on my face and arms, trying to stay awake. Trying not to think about what I was doing.

Jason would have told me this was insane. Mama would have forbidden it.

But they were both gone. And I was alone with only impossible choices.

Dawn came slowly, painting the sky gray and pink. I’d been riding all night, and my body felt like it might break apart. The blanket had slipped several times, and I’d had to stop to rewrap it, terrified someone would see me in the torn dress beneath.

But I was getting close. I could feel it somehow. The air felt different here. Wilder.

The border.

I pushed the horse harder, ignoring her tired huffing. Just a little further. Just across the line, and they couldn’t follow. Wouldn’t follow.

The forest grew denser. Darker. This was no-man’s-land, the stretch of wilderness between territories that neither side fully controlled.

I urged the horse forward, into the shadows.

And then I saw it. A stream cutting through the forest, wider than the others. Marking the border.

Past that, werewolf territory.

Past that, possible safety. Or possible death.

Only one way to find out.

I nudged the horse toward the stream. She balked at first, sensing something wrong. But I insisted, and finally she stepped into the water.

Cold bit at my bare feet dangling near the surface. The horse splashed across, hooves finding purchase on the far bank.

And just like that, I was in werewolf lands.

My heart hammered against my ribs. Every instinct screamed that I’d made a mistake. That this was worse than anything Papa could do to me.

But it was too late now.

I rode deeper into the forest, looking for somewhere to hide. Somewhere to rest before

The horse stumbled.

I grabbed for the saddle, but my exhausted body couldn’t hold on. I tumbled sideways, hitting the ground hard. Pain exploded through my shoulder and hip.

The horse bolted, crashing through the underbrush and disappearing.

“No!” I tried to stand, to chase her, but my body had nothing left. I collapsed back against a tree trunk, the blanket pooling around me.

I couldn’t go further. Couldn’t run anymore.

A cave. I spotted one through the trees, a dark opening in a rocky outcrop. It wasn’t much, but it was shelter.

I crawled toward it on hands and knees, dragging the blanket with me. Made it inside and collapsed in the darkness.

The stone was cold beneath me. Damp. But hidden.

I’d rest here. Just for a few hours. Then keep moving before…

Voices.

Distant but getting closer. Men shouting. Dogs barking.

No. No, they couldn’t have followed me this far this fast.

But the sounds grew louder. Closer. A hunting party, searching the forest.

Searching for me.

I pressed myself deeper into the cave, trying to become invisible. Trying not to breathe.

Please. Please let them pass by. Please—

“Check that cave!”

The voice was close. Right outside.

My heart stopped.

Footsteps approached. Torchlight flickered across the cave entrance.

I was trapped.