Page 37
Story: Pyre
RUBY WANTED EDWARD Alden to burn.
She had never handed over a thermophile with the explicit intention of their death. The thought had always lingered, a shadow in the recesses of her mind, but it had never been her goal. She hadn’t wanted to hurt anyone—not really. She just didn’t know another way.
But Edward was different.
With him, her mission was clear. She wanted to watch him die, slowly, burning like his victims while she stood witness. It wasn’t justice she craved; it was vengeance.
The next morning, she strode into Lucas’s office.
“I won’t find another thermophile until Edward is dead.”
Lucas, caught mid-sip of his coffee, paused as the steam fogged his glasses. He set the mug down and gestured toward the chair across from him. “Sit.”
She complied, folding her arms and glaring at the wall behind his head. Her body taut, every nerve buzzed. She could still feel the ghost of her anger from the night before, raw and consuming.
Lucas clucked his tongue, dragging her attention back to him.
“With all due respect,” he began, narrowing his eyes, “the last time you two met, he used your finger as a tortilla chip. I will never look at nacho cheese the same way, by the way. So, what’s changed in the last twelve hours?”
The night replayed in her mind. The fight with Jonah, the hollow ache it left.
Driving back to the hotel only to park in the garage and sit, hands constricting around the wheel.
A few moments of silence bled into a blind rage that left her truck without a steering wheel.
Her phone didn’t survive the night either; it had gone sailing into the hotel fountain in a fit of frustration.
With no way to call for an Uber, she’d walked.
Hours later, she arrived at the TCA—determined, unrelenting, and ready to put an end to this madness.
“This.” She pulled a sticky note from her purse and slapped it onto Lucas’s desk.
He picked it up, his eyes scanning the contents. His brow furrowed, and for a moment, his composure slipped.
“Ruby…”
“I’m not doing it again,” she interrupted, trembling with restrained fury. “If I lose someone else to this asshole…” She bit down hard, her jaw tight, refusing to let the rest of the sentence escape. A crack ran down the wall behind Lucas’s desk. She glared at it.
When she finally spoke again, the weight of her words crushed her throat. “Jonah needs to be pulled from the case. Put him in protective custody.”
Lucas leaned back in his chair, one eyebrow lifting.
“He’s not going to like that.”
“He doesn’t have a choice,” she snapped.
Her arms folded across her chest, a shield against the oncoming argument.
“I want him and his family safe. I want him nowhere near any thermophile. And I want clearance to focus solely on Edward. Otherwise…” She leaned forward and threatened.
“The TCA can find someone else to do their dirty work. Which may be hard, given you murder all the potential candidates.”
Lucas sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
He looked older than she’d ever seen him.
The deep shadows under his eyes hinted at sleepless nights, and gray streaked his stubble.
How much of his life had he given to the TCA?
How many horrors had he witnessed? She wondered how much longer she’d have him, or Jonah, or even Kavya—the only people who truly knew her.
At some point, she’d lose them all. But not like this. Never like this. Not to Edward.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” He leaned forward.
Ruby raised her chin. “I’m sure.”
ACCORDING TO LUCAS , Jonah did not take being taken into custody well.
So poorly, in fact, that he had to be sedated with the same drugs and thrown into the same cells they kept thermophiles in.
His parents were safe, sent on a tropical vacation in another country, escorted by agents.
They would never know the full extent of the danger they had been in and Ruby wouldn’t have to live with Jonah’s death.
She could handle him never speaking to her again.
She couldn’t handle never having the option to.
Yet, even with him safe, the relief didn’t settle.
The humanity that had briefly warmed in her veins iced over, leaving her hollow—a shell of herself, even compared to the wreck she’d been when the TCA picked her up off the streets.
She sat in her hotel room, waiting for Lucas’s updates.
The walls seemed closer each day, the small space pressing against her.
A leaky shower faucet dripped, each droplet landing with a soft thud that pulsed in her temples.
Flowers that Jonah had given her were browning at the edges, curling in on themselves, their smell turning sweet and sour with decay.
Stale air mingled with the faint burn of herbal cigarette smoke, clinging to her clothes and skin.
Her skin itched beneath the surface, anxiety digging tunnels through her flesh.
She popped up suddenly, grabbing the hotel phone and dialing from memory. “I’m going to the gym, if you need me,” she said as soon as Lucas answered.
“Okay?” he replied, hesitant, but she’d already hung up.
She left her new cellphone behind. It slipped somewhere in the cushions of the ugly orange futon. She hated it, how weak it made her feel, constantly checking for messages Jonah couldn’t send.
She threw on a stolen shirt and a pair of sweatpants, grabbed her room key, and headed for the stairs.
Small but functional, the gym filled with the hum of treadmills and the rhythmic clang of weights. Ruby adjusted her grip on the loaded barbell. The Rockies logo on her shirt clung to her damp skin as she pushed through her reps, each movement sharp, deliberate.
Her mind flitted briefly to Jonah in a cell, sedated; to Edward, out there, waiting. She shoved the thoughts down, focusing on the burn in her muscles.
“Wow,” The man behind her crowed, tone oily with amusement. “That’s some serious weight for someone your size.”
Ruby didn’t stop. Her eyes locked on her reflection in the mirror.
The early thirties man stepped closer, his cologne cutting through the stale gym air; he wore a too-confident grin and had a smattering of coarse stubble. He fixated on her shirt.
“Big Rockies fan, huh? I’m heading to the bar to catch the game. You should join me. First round’s on me.”
Ruby racked the barbell, the plates rattling with finality. “Not interested.”
He chuckled. “Oh, come on. It’s not every day you meet a woman who pretends to lift like this.” He gestured to the barbell. “What’s it made of, styrofoam?”
Ruby’s lips twitched into a mirthless smile. “You’re welcome to try it yourself.”
The man puffed up and crouched beside the weight. He grunted, veins bulging, but the bar didn’t budge. Adjusting his grip, he tried again, managing to lift it barely an inch off the ground before it slipped and crashed onto his foot.
The crunch echoed. He howled, stumbling back, clutching his foot in agony.
Ruby picked up a pair of dumbbells, gave him a once-over, and slung her towel over her shoulder. “You should probably get that looked at.”
Back in her hotel room, she tossed the towel onto the futon and changed into jeans and sneakers. Tugging the Rockies shirt back into place, she headed to the bar downstairs.
The game was already in full swing, the crack of the bat echoing through the room as the Rockies played an unremarkable inning. Sliding into a booth, she ordered a soda she wouldn’t drink.
The buzz of the bar wrapped around her, numbing the ache in her chest. For a moment, she could almost hear Jonah’s voice, his playful commentary, his groan at a missed catch.
But the illusion faded, leaving her alone with the noise.
Hours later, the game ended and an exhausted waitress ushered her out of the bar. She left her untouched drink and dragged herself back to her room.
Her phone buzzed from the couch cushions, jolting her into motion. Kavya’s name flashed on the screen. Ruby stared at it, unsure how much Kavya knew, unsure if she could even handle the conversation.
When the phone stopped, she exhaled in relief. It rang again.
Kavya wasn’t the type to call twice without reason.
“Hello?” Ruby barked into the phone.
“Edward has Jonah,” Kavya said.
The world tilted. For a moment, Ruby couldn’t breathe. Then the ice in her veins cracked, something fierce and fiery bubbling to the surface.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37 (Reading here)
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46