Page 6 of Watch Me Burn (Sanctuary #1)

CHAPTER 5

MAGIC

I had to have heard him wrong.

“I’m sorry?”

The powerful juts his chin in my direction even while leaning back in his seat, arms spread wide, an open target. “Your magic. I want you to use it on me. Light me on fire.”

Is this a test? It has to be a test. Since I woke up, a prisoner of the Cadre masquerading as a ‘guest’, I’ve been told I’m a witch. Even Thorn admitted that I blasted the witch hunter who tried to, well, hunt me.

And now he wants me to use magic that I only just found out I have?

“I can’t.”

His eyes glitter beneath the fluorescent lights. “I insist.”

He can insist all he wants. That doesn’t change the fact that I have no idea how I did it in the first place.

I shake my head.

He sighs. “Very well. I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but I have all of Clarity to think about.” Rising up from his seat, Thorns says, “Fire at me, or I will drain you and put an end to this now.”

My heart skips a beat, my palms tingle, and as a wave of panic crests over me, my fingers spark.

It’s like rubbing two pieces of metal together. Not enough to create a flame, though it’s possible.

Thorn frowns. “Not good enough. You don’t believe me. Very well. I hate to do this because she’s been loyal to the Cadre, but I’m not above sacrificing one for the good of many.” His expression turns hard. “Conjure fire or I will drain Elise instead.”

She goes still.

My heart stops.

“You won’t do that.”

His eyes flash. “If there’s one thing you should learn as you enter the supe world, it’s that those of us who lead? We don’t bluff. To survive, we need to be willing to do what we threaten.”

Thorn shows me his extended fangs. Before I can do anything but yip, he moves. Fuck, he’s fast . In between one blink and the next, he’s gone from his post behind his desk to where Elise was waiting by the door. Carrying her easily—my best friend too wrapped up in his sudden embrace to even try to fight against the male vampire—Thorn brings her closer to me.

Only five or so feet separate the three of us. Purposely positioning her so that her back is to him, her frightened face to me, Thorn angles his head so that the points of his fangs are mere centimeters from the pale column of her throat.

Holy shit. He’s going to do it. If I don’t light ‘em up, he’s going to kill Elise.

No .

Just like what happened down that empty cross street, a rush of fury slams into me, chased by a hint of fear that I’m about to die. Only it’s Elise he’s threatening, and though she’s another vampire, I’ve already learned that while she can probably live a super long time—especially since she’s in her seventies and looks like she’s in her twenties —she’s not unkillable. She can die.

I can’t let that happen.

Suddenly, and without any conscious effort, my hands are engulfed in flames. They looks like a pair of twin fireballs, ready to be launched. The room feels warmer than it did, and the lemon scent has been replaced by the choking stink of smoke, but I wouldn’t know that my hands were burning if I didn’t see it happen with my own two eyes.

No time to marvel at that. Raising my hands, prepared to throw the fire at Thorn if I have to—and hoping I miss Elise—I glare at the vampire. “Get away from her. Now .”

I almost expect him to dare me to do it. Hey, he’s the one who told me to use my magic on him, right? And if Elise wasn’t frozen in his embrace, almost waiting for his bite, I might’ve.

But then he releases her. She immediately straightens, tottering away on her stilettos, trying to put some distance between her neck and Thorn’s teeth.

He smiles. It’s the sort of smile you’d expect from a toothpaste commercial, the type that has a computer-generated sparkle added to it. “Just what I thought. Did I make you frightened? Did I make you angry?”

Through gritted teeth, I snap, “You locked me in your dungeon. You threatened Elise. Of course I’m pissed off.”

And frightened? I thought he was going to drain her on the spot. Hell yeah I was scared.

“Remember that.”

Trust me, I don’t think I can forget.

He nods over my head at something behind me. Only when I follow the gesture and notice that Jasper is back, and that he’s brought someone with him, do I realize that we’ve had an audience for the Cadre leader’s little performance.

I have no doubt in my mind that, if he felt he needed to, he would’ve bit Elise. He wanted a reaction out of me, and he showed his ruthless side by proving how far he’d go to get it. And I think I understand. I’m a threat. If I can walk around Clarity, setting fires and incinerating people at will, I’m a danger to the safety that Thorn promises to all of us.

At least now I know what sets it off. Control my temper, keep out of life-or-death situations, and I should be fine.

And I allow myself that delusion for about two seconds until I notice the look of surprise mingled with horror on the new arrival’s face.

I don’t even want to try to guess her age. Even if I did, I’d probably be wrong. Her hair is a mix between dark brown and pure white strands woven through the top. She wears it pulled back into a short, low ponytail with a few thick braids beginning near her brow mixed in. Her face has that ageless sort of beauty; she could be thirty or sixty or anywhere in between.

Wearing a long black dress covered with a matching trench coat, she’s nothing like what I expected when I hear ‘witch’. Then again, neither am I.

She’s staring at me. It takes me a second to remember that both of my fists have flickering flames surrounding them.

Whoops.

How to get rid of them? Now that Elise is safe, they should be gone. I don’t need the fire anymore, and I give each hand a small shake, hoping that the flames will get the hint and snuff out instead of growing.

Yes! It works!

Then, because she’s still focusing on my hands, I shove them into the front pocket of my hooded sweatshirt.

Her fingers inch up until she’s pressing the tip against her lips. Speaking around them, she says, “You said she was a witch.”

Thorn nods. “I think that’s been established.”

No shit.

The woman—the witch —sucks in a breath. “When you called the coven, you reported that you had one of mine in your city. That she used magic to protect herself against a witch hunter. You didn’t say it was fire.”

Thorn raises his dark eyebrows at her. “Would you have come if I had?” When the witch doesn’t answer, he gentles his voice. “My line goes back to Southern Germany. I know the history, and why witches are uneasy around a flame.”

“The witch hunts,” she murmurs, speaking more to herself than to the rest of us. “A dark time, especially when so few of the victims were true witches. It gave the witch hunters the idea that they had a divine mandate to hunt us. Five hundred years later and here we are. They’re still hunting us.” A sigh, and she finally meets my eyes. “Hello, there. My name is Celeste Montvale.”

“Bridget Hayes,” I supply.

“It’s good to meet a fellow witch, Bridget.”

I don’t even try to deny it. After what just happened… I can do at least one trick. If that counts, I guess I really am a witch.

She gestures to her chest. “I am the head witch of the Ravenhill coven.”

“Ravenhill is the nearest coven to Clarity,” explains Thorn. “I’m sure you understand by now that I can’t allow you to stay in my city. But Ravenhill might do well for a fledgling witch who needs guidance when it comes to her powers.”

“Yes. But the fire…” Celeste has dark brown eyes that seem to turn black as she gazes at me. Tall and slender, she cuts an imposing figure in her floor-length coat. Unlike Elise, she doesn’t wear high heels. She has on a pair of boots that go well with her dress and coat, and she moves soundlessly as she approaches me.

Only when she’s standing right before me does her worried expression turn curious. She offers me her hands, palms facing down. “Take my hands.”

I hesitate.

Her smile warms. “I won’t harm you. And I’m sure you won’t harm me. After all, you have no reason to use your fire against me. I just want to help.”

“Help me?” I ask. “How?”

“As a witch, I can sense things. It works best with skin-to-skin contact. If you allow me to get a read on you, I’ll have a better understanding about your witch skill. Your personal brand of magic.”

Elise clears her throat. “Isn’t it fire?”

“There are those who conjure fire. Then there are those witches who are fire. And that’s not the only element, either. Depending on her magic, it might not be as simple as relocating Bridget from Clarity to Ravenhill.”

Right. Because Thorn is totally kicking me out of the vampire city.

I guess it’s better than him using his judge, jury, and executioner status to off the firestarting witch. Then there’s the whole ordeal with the witch hunter. No witch in Clarity means that the witch hunters won’t come back. As much as I don’t like the idea of leaving the city, I get why Thorn arranged this meeting with Celeste the way he did.

Whatever. I take her hands, pressing my fingers against her palm, laying my thumb lightly over the top of my hand.

She jolts. For a second, I think I might’ve accidentally burned her, that’s how quickly she takes my hands, then releases them.

Oh, yeah. Celeste totally just sensed something about me right now.

What? No clue since, as soon as she lets go of my hands, she turns so that she’s facing the desk. “Thorn. A word in private please?”

The head vampire nods at his witchy counterpart. Then, turning to his right-hand vamp, he says, “Jasper? Please bring Ms. Hayes down to the basement level,” and I fight back the urge to scream in frustration.

Looks like I’m still a prisoner. But no matter how hard it is, I swallow my temper before the fire returns. I already spooked the head witch with my so-called magic.

And no way do I want to test Thorn’s fangs again. Not on me, and not on Elise.

So I nod and, without any smart ass remarks, keep my mouth shut—and my palms flame-free—as I shuffle over to Jasper.

What else can I do? Outrun a vampire?

I saw how fast Thorn moved. I haven’t ran since I graduated high school more than a decade ago.

I glance up at the stone-faced blond vampire. “I’m ready when you are.”

Elise stays behind to speak with Thorn after he’s done with Celeste while I’m escorted back to the same cell I was in before.

I didn’t like that. What if he blamed Elise for letting a witch roam around Clarity unchecked all these months? What if he decided that, by protecting me as best she could—as human, or a witch—she broke his stupid laws? If she didn’t want to join me in the basement… and I don’t blame her… why couldn’t she go home where it’s safe?

I don’t know, but my worries were in vain because she appears on the other side of the cell bars barely ten minutes after Jasper instructed me to sit down until Thorn gives him any other orders.

Now that I know silver seems to have an effect on vampires, I kind of understand why he pulls on those gloves of his everytime he opens or closes the cell bars. He does that now, letting Elise in, before moving a few cells down to give us some semblance of privacy.

She smiles at me, a tight-lipped smile that conceals her vampire fangs. “I know that had to be a lot upstairs. How are you doing?”

“As good as can be expected when my whole world’s been flipped upside down. But, hey.” I wiggle my fingers at Elise, and no matter how long I live, I’ll love her forever because she doesn’t flinch even a little. “At least they didn’t put the handcuffs back on me.”

She frowns. “You’re not a prisoner, Bridge.”

Seriously? “I’m literally behind bars right now,” I remind her.

“It’s a safety precaution,” she assures me.

“My safety or everyone else’s?”

“Yours,” Elise says firmly. “You heard Madame Montvale. Witch hunters work in pairs. We have one sedated. But the other…”

I blink. “Wait. Are you telling me that there’s at least one more witch hunter who’s out there, looking to get me? To kill me?”

“It’s another reason why Thorn thinks it’s best if you leave Clarity. The vampires and humans who live in the Fang City will be safe, but if we move you somewhere that the witch hunters can’t find you, you’ll be safe, too.”

Put like that, how can I be pissed that I’m getting the boot?

Well, to be fair, very easily. But I’m not going to argue about that. Elise has lived in Clarity for more than seventy years. She’s known she was a vampire all that time, I’m guessing. Things that seem super freaking weird to me as a newcomer to the supe world won’t have the same impact on Elise.

Including—

“Forget that for now.” And, boy, do I wish I could. “Do vampires actually eat other vampires?”

Sue me. I want to know. I’m curious about a lot of things right now, but I haven’t forgotten how Thorn had the points of his fangs inches away from Elise’s throat. The Cadre leader said humans were a vampire’s preferred meal, but I could tell he wasn’t bluffing. If I didn’t figure out a way to trigger my magic, he would’ve bit her. To prove a point, he would’ve drained her.

Jasper was right. Vampires are ruthless.

Elise doesn’t even seem to notice how her boss used her as a pawn like that. She just frowns, then says, “Are you asking how different mating is for my kind and yours?”

Mating? Wait a second… does she mean sex? Oh, jeez. She thinks I’m being dirty-minded, and while I’m definitely one to crack a joke just like that…

“What? No. I mean, like, actual food, Elise. Thorn looked like he was going to eat you for lunch before I became a human sparkler.”

“Oh. You mean drinking.”

This is so weird . “Um. Yeah. If that’s what you wanna call it.”

“In that case, yes. When there isn’t a human donor available we make do with each other, but Thorn wouldn’t have bitten me. I know it seemed like he would have, but he’s too powerful to risk a mate bond by accidentally beginning a blood exchange with someone he doesn’t recognize as his beloved.”

And… she’s lost me again. To be fair, I’m not sure she’s found me, but if she came back down here to check on me and is willing to explain all this insanity to me, I’m going to distract myself by asking as many questions as possible.

“See, now, you have to remember that all of this supernatural stuff… it’s new to me. What the hell do you mean by mate bond? And blood exchange? Really? Like, instead of swapping spit, vampires swap blood?”

Elise bends her knees, sinking gracefully down so that we’re on the same level. Her hand settles on my knee again, her tone turning apologetic. “I wanted to tell you, Bridge, but Thorn prefers we keep Clarity a secret. When a human is as blissfully unaware of the vampires living around them as you were, he’d rather them stay that way. I mean it. If I had any idea you were one of us?—”

“I’m not a vampire,” I tell her. Of that , I’m fucking sure.

“No, but you are a supe. Vampires… shifters… witches… we’re all supernaturals.”

“Wait.” My head feels like it’s going to explode with all of this information. “Shifters?” I thought I heard Jasper say something about wolves before… “Like werewolves? Are you telling me they’re real, too?

She nods. “Us vampires stay away from the beastly supes. So yes, they exist, though I’ve never met one before… and they’re not the only other creatures out there.”

Somewhere over my head, a witch and a vampire ruler are debating what to do with me. As a kid, I loved all things paranormal and fantastical. Twelve-year-old Bridget would be geeking out to know that humans aren’t the only species living on Earth. Twenty-nine-year-old Bridget? She’s just hoping that there’s some way to make this all disappear?—

“What about ghosts?” I ask. Don’t think about fire, Bridge. Don’t think about burning . “Mummies? The freaking chupacabra? How about unicorns? Ooh… mermaids. Those could be cool.”

“They’re called sirens,” Elise says gently, “and they would drown you and eat you for supper if given half the chance, sweetie.”

I close my eyes for a moment. “Okay. Yeah. I’m done. I supposedly have all this magic, right? Where is that witch lady? She’s gotta know a way to go back in time until before I knew any of this shit was real.”

Before I turned a witch hunter into barbecue.

Elise takes her hand back, tucking it into the skirt of her dress. “Bridget…”

“No. I mean it, Elise. I don’t want to be a witch. I’m an artist. I do magic with my tablet. I create. Fire… it only destroys. I can’t do this. I can’t walk around, shooting fire out of my hands. I’ll do anything to go back to normal.”

“Do you mean it?”