When the rage within threatens to destroy everything...
As if firestarter wasn't bad enough, adding assassin to her resume isn't exactly the teenage life Halen Windspeare always imagined. Facing a sinister demon, Halen must unleash her power to van...
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"We need to bring the others here safely, then we can discuss Asair further," Lina said. "I wasn't here when the spell was cast. I'll meet them in the lobby." She opened the door as the cell phone rang.
Dax spoke, walking to the window, and Halen followed.
Alarms screamed and red lights flashed between clouds of smoke; the glow of flames from the Bay illuminated the sky. Below, a husky bear galloped with Daspar and Corinne by his side. Daspar ran with his arm outstretched; a neon blue streak emanated from his palm and the crowds parted, allowing them a clear passage.
"Room 2311." Dax ended the call.
"Well, that's something you don't see every day," Ezra said.
"I forget what every day looks like." If Halen woke to find a stack of books, warm toast, and a cup of tea by her bed, she would find that kind of normal strange now.
Dax placed his hand on her shoulder. She rested her cheek on his fingertips. His energy warmed her through to her bones. When she glanced up, his lips quirked with a half-smile.
"We'll get you out of here," he said. "I promise."
"I don't want anyone else to die." Dax may be used to a life where people lost their lives for the cause, but she couldn't live with the souls of the dead haunting her conscience.
"We'll do what it takes," he said.
"Like with Asair? You don't know what it was like."
"I was there with you—I felt everything."
Lina spoke, "Taking a life never is never easy."
Ezra's gaze darted to Tage. "I don't like this."
The heavy pounding on the door made Halen jump.
Lina rushed to open it.
As soon as the door cracked open, a woman—her hair matted, her eyes rimmed with soot and sleepless nights—pushed past Lina.
"Mom!" Halen ran to her, wrapping her arms around her as tightly as if she were a life raft in the wake of a storm. She buried her face in her mom's dark hair. She smelled of nights sitting around a campfire, pulling Halen back to a time before all the chaos and the ruin that came with her true destiny—before she understood the cursed life of a siren.
"Thank heavens you're all right." Her mom squeezed her.
Glancing over her mom's shoulder, Halen smiled at Daspar.
He winced when he smiled back, lines sprouting across his forehead, where ash settled in the creases. "Hey, kiddo." He stumbled into the room with Tasar by his side.
Tasar had transformed back into a young man, though curly rust-colored fur still coated his body. He rubbed Halen on the top of her head as he passed. "You're looking good, girl." He hooked his nail through the cord fastened around her neck and eyed the oval stone. "Glad to see you still have this."
