Chapter 71
Volik
Idrop the two pieces of the man to the ground.
Then I kick his torso over so he’s dick side down.
I do not want that squished worm looking at me anymore.
I close my eyes for a moment, checking in on my heartbeat. Keeping it steady.
With my system full of super-charged enemy blood, it takes an extra moment to relax.
I do not remember the last time I drank that much at once. And the power…
My chest expands on an inhale, and the cement floor groans.
When I am confident I am in control, I open my eyes.
I could leave him like this. Let him be humiliated one more time by being found like this. Naked. Headless. But I do not want to traumatize whoever has to do the finding.
Heat twists with the power inside my chest.
Slowly, I look down at my hands.
I wonder.
I look at the body.
I think maybe…
Kneeling, I place my hand on the dead man’s back.
And I focus.
I focus on the heat inside me.
I focus on squeezing it tight.
Intensifying it.
And then I focus on shoving it out through my palm.
A flash of fire rolls over his skin and across the puddle of vodka on the floor. But I do not move my hand.
I keep it there.
I keep pushing my heat out.
Until the body starts to glow red.
Until my lips pull into a grin.
And when his insides start to burn, I stand.
Vameer is not the only one in the family with Fire Touch.
Then I remember the man’s head.
Palming the back of the unattached skull, I wonder if I should bring it back for Nix.
Trying to picture how that might go, I decide no, I will not bring it back.
I also decide that finding a loose head next to a pile of ash might be even more traumatizing.
Let it burn.
I set the head on the man’s back.
It rolls off.
I sigh and pick it up again.
The scene is not that messy. Since the man is missing most of his blood. But bits keep falling out of the neck, and I would rather not ruin my new clothes.
I put the head nose down in the crevice between his thighs and butt cheeks. And this time when I let go, it does not move.
Done, I exit the garage and detour to the kitchen sink.
Using the dish soap left on the counter, I scrub my hands clean, then my face.
Then I open the fridge and grab a bottle of beer.
As I open it, I wonder if it’s the same brand that Nix used to smash him over the head.
I swish the beer around in my mouth before spitting it out in the sink. Then I drink the rest, washing away the last lingering taste of his blood as I walk back to the door leading into the garage.
Eyeing the bottle, then the glowing corpse, I decide that yes, he’s probably been drinking the same brand for seven years.
With that thought, I grip the bottle by the neck and chuck it at the dead man.
It hits him on the head. Just like Nix did.
Only, instead of breaking, it knocks the head loose.
I watch as his face rolls off his ass, toward the front corner of the garage, flinging little burning embers in every direction.
I sigh. Merde.
Turning back around, I walk back out of the house, the way I came, leaving the front door unlocked, like I found it.
But by the time I reach the street, I can already see smoke seeping from the edges of the garage door.
No one else is in the house. No pets. No other life source. But… I look at the houses on either side. How close they are.
Okay, so my Fire Touch needs some work.
I watch as a flicker of flames joins the smoke.
I look back down at my hands.
I wonder.
I look at the houses on either side again.
I think maybe…
I focus.
This… should be possible.
I have done it on small scales before.
This is just… a bit bigger.
I look at the damn neighboring houses again.
I can do this. I just need to be precise.
I shift my right foot forward, taking a strong stance, as I spread my arms.
Precise.
I bring my arms forward until my fingertips are pointing at the spaces between houses.
I focus on my gravito. I gather it. I let it swirl.
I let the new influx of power flow through me.
I focus.
I inhale.
I let it build.
I keep it focused.
And then I shove it out of me.
The force pushes back against me as it surges forward.
Then I slam my hands together.
The force follows.
My gravito collapses in on itself. Taking the house with it. Leaving nothing but a pile of compressed rubble. Starving the fire of oxygen. And ensuring no one will ever set foot in that house again.