Chapter 15 Burn
BURN
Burn couldn’t breathe.
The cell felt too small…too close…too dark. The air tasted like metal and fear and ancient pain. It pressed in on him from every side, crushing his ribs like a vise.
But none of that mattered.
All he could feel—deep, deep down in the marrow of his bones—was her.
Noelle—she was in danger and in pain. He didn’t know how he knew it—they had no Soul-Bond between them—but it was undeniable.
Her terror washed over him in sickening waves that made his stomach twist and his heart slam against his ribs. Her pain was a raw, sickening sensation that made his own nerves sing with agony.
The woman he and Bright both cared for was in trouble and there wasn’t a single Goddess-damned thing he could do about it. He couldn’t go to her, couldn’t save her—couldn’t even get out of this fucking cell!
With a snarl, he slammed his fists into the bars again. The impact jarred his knuckles up to his shoulders. Blood smeared the cold metal, and sparks snapped from the manacles around his wrists, burning tiny black marks into his skin.
Burn didn’t give a fuck. And he didn’t stop either. He hit the bars again and again. But the metal was too strong to break.
He braced his boots against the floor and pulled with all his strength, muscles bulging, veins standing out across his forearms as he tried to wrench the bars apart.
Nothing—it wouldn’t bend either. The metal didn’t budge so much as an inch.
It was made of some unholy Skow alloy, Burn thought—cold, unyielding, and unforgiving.
Just like the bastards who had torn apart everything he’d ever loved.
His breath hitched…his vision blurred.
No, not again… not again… Don’t think about it—don’t—
But the memories came anyway.
A scream…the smell of smoke. The roar of a ship taking off—too fast—too far. A hand tearing free from his grasp. A beloved face… gone forever.
Burn’s heart slammed painfully against his ribs as the memories of the past and the horrors of the present merged and filled his brain like smoke.
The bars wouldn’t give…he couldn’t get to her…couldn’t get to any of them…couldn’t save them. They were gone…all gone…
He staggered backward, chest heaving, like he’d been punched.
“Burn…” Bright’s voice was worried. “Burn, stop! You’re hurting yourself.”
A hand touched his shoulder.
Burn flung it off violently.
“Don’t,” he snarled, backing away from the bars, his fists trembling. “Don’t tell me to calm down. Don’t tell me to be reasonable. You feel it too—you know she’s in trouble.”
Bright swallowed. His face was pale.
“I know. I do. But we can’t get to her. Not like this.”
Burn shook his head fiercely. He couldn’t accept that. He refused to.
His hands curled into fists so tight his nails cut his palms. The pain grounded him—barely. His whole body shook, the tension too much to contain.
“She’s scared,” he whispered hoarsely. “She’s hurting. I can feel it.”
“Yes,” Bright started. “But—”
“But nothing!” Burn exploded, turning on his best friend with a guttural roar. “Don’t you fucking understand?”
He slammed his fist into the wall so hard the bones in his hand sang with pain.
“They took her,” he snarled, the words torn from somewhere deep and raw inside him. “They took her—and they’ll take her apart if we don’t get to her.”
Bright’s eyes widened, worry replaced by fear.
“Burn, you have to calm down—you’re really going to hurt yourself,” he begged.
But Burn was past any kind of calm. His chest constricted…his throat tightened until he could barely speak as the present merged with the past again.
“They took them,” he whispered. “All of them. And they never came back. Don’t you understand? They never came back.”
“Burn…” Bright said softly. “Please, if you’d just talk to me…”
But Burn didn’t let him finish.
He pressed his forehead to the cold metal bars, breath shaking, vision swimming. His voice was a ragged whisper.
“I can’t lose anyone else.” His fingers curled around the bars tightly enough to make the metal creak. “I can’t,” he whispered. “Not again.”
He squeezed his eyes shut.
Hold on, Noelle. Hold on. I’m coming. I swear to the Goddess—I’m coming.
But the cell stayed locked.
And her terror kept bleeding into him like poison.
He had never felt more helpless in his entire life.