Page 41 of We Were Meant to Burn (Ashes and Ruin Saga #1)

My screams tore through the night as the warehouse exploded.

A blast of heat slammed into my chest, sending me reeling.

The shockwave shattered everything.

Wooden beams snapped like bones, splinters of timber slicing through the air with deadly precision.

Rope lashed against my arms, torn free from the burning structure.

The force of the explosion ripped through the pier, the boards beneath me groaning, buckling under the strain.

Dust and ash filled my nostrils, my throat, clogging my lungs. Choking me.

I coughed, gasped, fought for breath, but all I could taste was smoke and ruin.

Darkness billowed around me, thick and suffocating, swallowing the world whole.

And somewhere beneath the ringing in my ears, beneath the roar of fire—

I knew.

The vision had come true.

The thing I had clawed against, fought so desperately to stop—it happened anyway.

My body sagged forward.

They were gone.

Malakai. Gone.

Dom. Gone.

Lian. Elías. Kerun. Xixi.

All of them.

Ripped from the world in an instant.

And I—I had done it.

I had killed them.

I killed them.

A strangled, animal sound wrenched from my throat. Grief too sharp to hold inside.

A part of me broke. Shattered.

But something else rose.

A deep, festering need.

Vengeance.

Jaax.

I would tear him apart. I would rip his face off with my teeth. I would carve him open and paint this dock red with his blood.

The thunder of boots echoed across the pier announcing the arrival of Aguatitlan soldiers.

The first shot rang out, a high-pitched whiz slicing past my head. Splinters of wood exploded from the railing beside me.

Jaax grunted.

I twisted, my body sluggish, my mind fractured with too many things, too much rage, too much horror—

I saw him stagger.

His hand clutched at his shoulder, blood blooming across his black robes.

Another shot.

Jaax let out a pained cry, his body jerking as the bullet tore through him. His magic faltered.

And then—

Another bullet tore through his chest, and the grip of his Mentedor magic vanished.

It lifted from me like a rug being yanked out from under my feet.

I gasped.

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, I could breathe without tasting him.

Without his will wrapping around my ribs like a cage.

Without his foul magic pressing against my mind.

Jaax staggered, his face contorted in pain, blood leaking through his fingers.

I was free.

And he was going to die.

Another gunshot screamed through the night, ripping past my ear in a shrill, burning whistle.

Jaax stumbled, his breath ragged, his fingers fumbling inside his robes until he yanked free a pair of goggles. His movements were sluggish, his wounds slowing him—but not enough.

Not enough to matter.

Not enough to stop him from wrenching me forward by the wrist.

“Come with me now if you want to live,”

he snarled.

"Or stay here and die at the hands of our enemies.”

I yanked my arm back so hard it nearly tore from the socket.

“You are my only enemy.”

The words flew from my mouth like a curse, a vow, a promise carved in blood.

His face twisted. Anger. Betrayal. Something deeper, something twisted and wrong.

But I didn’t have time to care.

I lunged.

But he was faster.

Before I could reach him, before I could wrap my fingers around his throat and carve out my vengeance with my bare hands—

Jaax moved.

He didn’t hesitate. Didn’t look back.

He dove into the roiling ocean below.

The dark waves swallowed him whole.

I sprinted toward the edge of the pier, my pulse hammering, my body ready to throw itself after him, ready to rip him from the water and drown him myself.

Then—the sea erupted.

A deafening roar split the night, rattling through my bones.

The ocean churned, foamed, and cracked open.

And something rose from the abyss.

Something massive. Something monstrous.

An alebrije.

Not just any alebrije—a nightmare given form.

Bat-like wings unfolded, black as ink, beating against the air with a force that sent waves crashing against the pier.

A jackal’s head twisted toward me, its long, pointed snout curling back in a snarl.

Its body, lion-like and grotesquely muscled, dripped with seawater, its multicolored hide gleaming under the moonlight in shifting, unnatural hues.

Its eyes found me.

And they burned. Hunger. Malice. A promise of death.

The force of its wings slammed into me like a hurricane and tore me off my feet.

I hit the dock hard, skidding across the wood, my limbs weightless. The world tilted and spun as I fought to right myself.

By the time I blinked through the haze—it was already too late.

I pushed myself up, gasping for breath, just in time to watch my vengeance slip away.

The alebrije rose into the sky, its colossal wings filling the air with a thunderous drum.

And there—clutching onto its back like a coward—was Jaax.

Escaping.

Gunfire crackled behind me. The Aguatitlan soldiers fired relentlessly, their bullets striking the beast’s hide, ricocheting off its thick, unnatural skin.

But it didn’t slow. Didn’t falter.

It just kept rising.

Higher.

Farther.

Gone.

The clouds swallowed them both, and with them—

My revenge.

The frigid night air bit into my skin, but it was nothing compared to the cold settling into my chest.

I had lost.

Again.

And this time, I had no one left to blame but myself.

The thunder of boots echoed behind me, the Aguatitlan soldiers closing in. My hands curled into fists, my body tensing, preparing for a fight.

Then—

A sharp metallic click.

A gun leveled in my direction.

I turned just in time to see the barrel glint beneath the moonlight.

And then—a growl.

A deep, guttural, menacing growl that ripped through the night.

A flash of red-and-blue fur slammed into the soldier, barreling into him with bone-crushing force. He let out a strangled yell as he was lifted clean off his feet and sent hurtling into the dark waters below.

I stared.

I knew those colors. That ferocity.

Xixi.

But—she wasn’t the same.

She landed in front of me, her claws digging into the wooden planks of the dock, her eyes glowing like twin moons.

And from her back—

A pair of massive eagle’s wings unfurled, their golden feathers glistening, gleaming, almost otherworldly in the moonlight.

I sucked in a sharp breath, my heart stumbling.

She had wings.

Xixi had wings.

We have to go. Now! Xixi’s voice slammed into my mind like a gale-force wind.

I had no time to question it. No time to ask how she had survived the fire, how she had become this.

Because another round of gunfire erupted from the pier.

Bullets splintered the wood around us.

I flinched, my ears ringing from the blasts, the shouts, the chaos.

Xixi turned, her tail lashing, her wings stretching wider, her muscles coiled to spring.

I didn’t hesitate.

I threw myself onto her back, wrapping my arms around the thick, corded muscle of her neck, pressing my face against her fur. She was warm. Solid. Real.

Hold on tight. Xixi’s voice was grim, steady. I haven’t gotten the hang of flying yet.

I barely had time to process what that meant before she launched into the air.

The force of it stole the breath from my lungs.

My stomach lurched as the world dropped away beneath us.

I forced myself to look down, catching a glimpse of the Aguatitlan soldiers—some still firing their weapons, their bullets useless against the storm of wings and power lifting me higher and higher.

Others stood frozen, their mouths open in horror, in awe.

I turned my face into the wind as the sky split open.

The first raindrop struck my cheek like ice.

Then another.

And then the heavens poured.

Sheets of rain lashed against my skin, sliding down my back, drenching my clothes, but I barely felt it.

“Where are the others?”

I rasped, my voice hoarse, raw.

"Did they make it?”

I don’t know. Xixi’s voice was quiet, heavy with guilt. Everything happened so quickly.

My chest caved in.

A sound wrenched free from my throat, something between a sob and a snarl.

I pressed my face against Xixi’s fur and let it come.

The pain. The loss. The weight of it.

I didn’t know how long we flew. How long I stayed like that, curled against her, soaking in her warmth while the rain pounded against us, the only sound her wings beating against the storm.

Then—

Something inside me shifted.

The grief didn’t fade.

The rage didn’t lessen.

But a new resolve settled over me, cold and sharp, like steel being forged in fire.

I sat up. My spine straightened.

I let the rain whip against my face, let the wind snarl through my hair.

I let the storm know that I wasn’t afraid of it.

That it wasn’t the only force in the sky tonight.

I had decided.

I knew exactly what I had to do.

Danixtl’s death was coming. Jaax’s death was coming.

They had tried to control me.

They had tried to break me.

But they would regret everything.

They would regret the day they thought they could tame a storm.

A shiver ran down my spine, but it wasn’t from the cold.

Because I knew it now.

I was coming for them.

I was the Nightshade.

And I was not finished yet.