Curse Of The Aswangs (The Vasquez Brothers #1)[COMPLETED]

40: ASH

I was in the middle of editing a manuscript, staring at a screen filled with red marks and incoherent notes from the writer, when my phone buzzed on the desk. The news of an explosion at St. Agustin flashed across the screen. A tight knot formed in my chest as I scanned the details. An explosion? At Jasper's school?

The room seemed to grow hotter, the air thickening with the surge of panic and anger rising inside me. I clenched my fists, feeling the familiar warmth of my fire magic stirring beneath my skin, ready to flare. But before I could fully process it, there was a sharp knock on my office door, and Dylan burst in, pale and out of breath.

"Ash!" he gasped, stumbling into the room. "They've got them! Jose took Zade and Jasper!"

Everything else faded to black.

"What?" My voice came out low, dangerous, like a growl from somewhere deep inside. The fire was building now, coursing through me like a rising storm. The air shimmered with heat.

Dylan swallowed hard, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Jose—he—he was with the Aswangs. They attacked the school, blew out a window in the library. Zade, Jasper, and Frankie were taken. We couldn't stop them."

I stared at Dylan, feeling my blood boil with each word he said. My vision blurred as the heat pulsed, rippling out from me in waves. The papers on my desk started to curl at the edges, blackening before bursting into flames. I didn't even notice at first, too focused on the flood of rage coursing through me.

"They took my brothers?" The words felt heavy, like molten lead in my mouth. My jaw clenched, and the flames grew hotter. More papers crumbled into ash as the fire danced across the desk, consuming everything in its path.

Dylan backed up a step, his eyes wide as the fire spread across the room. "Ash, you need to calm down—"

"Calm down?!" I snapped, my hands igniting in bright, angry flames. "They took my brothers, Dylan! This isn't just some random attack! Jose knows exactly what he's doing, and he's playing us!"

The fire burned brighter, licking the edges of the nearby walls as I paced back and forth. The heat was suffocating, but I barely noticed it, my thoughts spinning out of control. The memory of Enrique's smug warning echoed in my mind. The apocalypse. The threats. And now this—Jose, the traitor, taking my family.

Dylan stood frozen, watching as the inferno in the room grew. "You're gonna burn the place down!" he shouted, his voice rising in panic.

I stopped, forcing myself to take a deep breath. Slowly, I reined it in, pulling the fire back under control, though the anger still simmered just beneath the surface. The flames on my hands flickered out, but scorch marks stained the desk, and the papers were reduced to ashes.

"Where did they take them?" I asked, my voice low but steady, dangerous. "Tell me everything."

Dylan hesitated, still shaken by the fiery outburst, but he pulled out a crumpled map, laying it on the now charred desk. "We think they're headed to the tunnels beneath Nueva Bonifacio. It connects to the portals to hell. They'll use the scroll to open the portals—and if they do..."

"They'll unleash hell on earth," I finished, my teeth grinding together. "We're not going to let that happen."

Dylan nodded. "But we need to move quickly. If they reach the portals before we do—"

"They won't," I cut in. "We're going after them. Now."

I grabbed my bag, eyes still burning with the fire that raged inside me. My mind was clear, though, one single thought driving me: I was going to get my brothers back, no matter what.