Page 235 of Wild Embers
“Mi Cielo.” Santiago slowly reaches toward the gun, his voice calm. “Come here.”
“I do.” I take a steadying breath, calming myself in the eye of the storm.
“You knew what Landon was doing to me.” My voice goes eerily calm. “And you chose money.”
Grant takes one cautious step toward me. “You’re not like them.”
I tighten my grip.
Grant moves forward another step.
The fire snaps loudly behind him, and a beam overhead creaks.
“You're a good person.”
A bitter laugh escapes me, and the ceiling groans again. “You’re wrong.”
Grant’s face falls.
“Ichosethem, remember?” The smile on my lips isn’t one of joy. It’s filled with unadulterated retribution.
With the gun in one hand, I lift the hem of my shirt with the other. “And now I carry their mark.”
Grant’s eyes widen as he lunges for me.
My finger wraps around the trigger and squeezes.
The bullet tears through Grant’s shoulder, pushing him backward, right under the collapsing loft.
A massive timber crashes between us, and the entire cabin quakes.
Fire explodes upward.
Grant’s screams drift above the wildly dancing embers.
He reaches through the flames. “Help me!”
Instinctively, I want to help, but then I see a little girl curled beneath the blankets, staring up at her starry sky and praying that someone would open the bedroom door.
Grant coughs violently. “Please!”
Walker reaches me first. He gently takes the gun from my hands. “Blake.”
I don't answer.
My eyes never leave Grant. I watch as his skin bubbles and burns, as he suffers from his own torture.
The flames climb higher, and Levi wraps an arm around my shoulders. “We have to go.”
I don’t argue. I simply turn and let him lead me away.
The cold air hits me like a slap. I collapse to my knees in the snow. Someone wraps a blanket around my shoulders. Someone else cups my face, checking the cut on my head.
Levi.
Walker kneels in front of me, his hands searching my wrists, my face, my shoulders as though he needs to convince himself I'm whole.
Santiago carefully lifts the edge of my shirt. His eyes land on the brand, and his throat works. “I’m so sorry,mi Cielo.”
