Ignite

Chapter Two | Part One

I am not taking advantage of him, I'm not. That is what Scarlet Limoux was telling herself days later. She wasn't trying to anyway, she loved him, she did.

She had decided to drive there, and by there she meant Bone Valley, Nevada, population: zero. According to her research, this year, the Tenebris Ignite would be created at the abandoned fairgrounds in Bone Valley, NV in less than a day.

Scarlet glanced over at Matt. He had been driving for the past 6 hours and she wondered if Ishe should offer to drive now. If you looked closely, the tiniest bit of droopiness was detectable, but physically, he seemed fine.

She had spent the last 9 months researching Cade and the Tenebris Ignite. Unfortunately, her family saw it as obsessing, they had disowned her after they saw how insane she really was. It no longer mattered to Scarlet though, she had Matt and he trusted her, he believed in her, he loved her. Or he was infatuated with her, that's the likelier option. But really, what's the difference?

She knew though, that there was a big difference, but she wasn't ready to face it. She knew it was bad to take Matt for granted, he was just an innocent, small town boy and as far as she could tell, she had ruined his life. Months ago, he had alienated himself from his family and friends, and as a result they hadn't spoke to him in months. Both him and Scarlet were eighteen though, so they had rented a small loft in Seattle together.

She knew she was responsible. They had no family or friends anymore. It's my fault neither of our families speak to us anymore, not even Matt's best friend, Nate, or my sister, Amalie.

Scarlet had trouble finding the right term for her situation―it was not a problem, she refused to think that. She wasn't a hoarder, but she was definitely obsessive. She had spent the last 8 months scrounging every supernatural safe-house and community she could find, hunting for clues.

Matt was the only person in her life who had remained loyal, even when she'd dedicated 23 hours of their days to her research. She had gone to every supernatural corner she knew of in Seattle, desperately searching for clues to Cade's whereabouts.

Either none of the supernatural residents of Seattle knew who Cade was, or they were excellent liars. She knew it the latter. She didn't know much about him, but she knew he was infamous amongst supernaturals―she had felt it. He was also dangerous, and unappeasable. Who knew how far he would go before stopping? She couldn't blame everyone for keeping quiet.

Scarlet had even flown to the East Coast, but still, no one had released even the tiniest fragment of information about Cade or his location.

But then she'd realized, she didn't need to find Cade.

His location wasn't the important thing, she didn't need to find, or even contact him.

When she'd told Matt this, he was relieved, he thought she was finally seeing the light, but what she had told him afterward had dragged him even deeper into her devious plan.

The night Cade had kidnapped her, she'd overheard a bit of his conversation with Sloane, particularly, the words Tenebris Ignite, she had had no idea what it had meant at the time. But after her search for Cade failed, she had begun researching the Tenebris Ignite, and she'd successfully discovered more than she had intended to on the supernatural fire.