Child of Fire

“Enough of this,” Annalise said. She struck Charles Hammer with the back of her hand. His head tore away from his body and bounced into the corner.

I brought her here, I thought. I helped her kill these people. The thought made me sick.

A flat-faced woman stepped forward and took a deep breath. Annalise looked at her, obviously surprised that Hammer’s death had not restored the women to normal.

With both hands, Annalise slammed the scrap wood over the woman’s mouth just as a jet of flame blasted out of it. The fire engulfed the enchanted wood and Annalise’s hands, billowing over her wrists and setting her jacket alight.

Annalise screamed.

The scrap of wood exploded. Annalise fell backward, holding her burning hands in front of her face. As for the flat-faced woman, her head was gone. The stump of her neck was still ablaze as her body collapsed onto the carpet.

The women glided toward Annalise like ghosts. A tall redhead took a deep breath, and Annalise dove toward me and rolled. The jet of fire missed her and struck another woman, who went up like she was covered in gasoline.

The jet of fire stopped flowing from the redhead’s mouth. Her lips and tongue were charred black. She clutched at her throat and collapsed.

Annalise curled up beside the top of the stairs. Her hands were still on fire and were blackened and shriveled. Her face was pale and her whole body trembled. I grabbed a jacket off the back of a chair and charged toward her.

The women surrounded her. A gray-haired woman took a deep breath. I shoved a woman aside to get to Annalise and was startled to realize it was Ms. Finkler.

Finkler knocked the gray-haired woman aside. The woman turned toward me.

I ducked low, grabbed her leg, and spun her.

I didn’t have much leverage, but I managed to topple her just as the fire blasted from her open mouth. I felt the same scorching heat that had burned Justin Benton as the jet of flame passed over my head. I also had the strange feeling that it had somehow already happened. It was as though I was remembering the fire at the same time I was experiencing it.

The woman fell against a desk, blasting a jet of flame against her computer.

I threw the stolen jacket over Annalise’s hands and hauled her into my arms. For all her power, she was tiny, barely a hundred pounds, and while I didn’t have her strength, I did have adrenaline. A lot of it.

Then I saw Charles Hammer standing at the far end of the room. His clothes were bloody, but he was whole and healthy. His expression was one of pure, innocent astonishment.

Someone nearby took another breath. I carried Annalise to the stairs and leaped for the lower landing. I heard flames cut loose behind me. I felt the heat but no pain.

I hit the stairs about two-thirds of the way down. By some miracle, I didn’t twist my ankle or crack open my head.

Annalise slipped from my grasp and bounced against the concrete steps. I jumped down beside her and yanked her off the floor. I glanced back and saw a column of flame scour the steps. I threw her over my shoulder and ran for the second flight down.

The fire trailed me, always striking where I’d been. If one of those women-and I knew very well they weren’t in control of themselves, but I had no idea what was-had led me a little, she would have burned me to a cinder. That didn’t happen.

I ran like hell to the next floor down, where the jet of fire couldn’t reach me.

Figures moved down the hallway toward me. Cradling Annalise in my arms. I ran down the next flight of stairs. I reached the next landing, then the second floor. It took just a few seconds, but that was long enough for my adrenaline to ebb. It was also enough time for me to wonder why I’d gone to so much trouble to save a woman who wanted to kill me.

Too late to turn back now.

I ran down the last flight of stairs into the lobby. There, blocking the only exit, stood Carol, the receptionist. Her name tag was ablaze, and she stood stiffly, with her hands curled into claws at her side.

She was too far away. I could never knock her aside before she burned me alive.

She took a deep breath.

CHAPTER FIVE

I willed the ghost knife into my hand. It flew out of the inside breast pocket of Annalise’s jacket. In one motion, I caught it and flung it.

Carol had just finished inhaling when the spell entered her throat, passed through, and exited the back of her neck.

I darted to the left. Although the ghost knife had left no mark, a jet of flame spurted out the front of Carol’s neck, then a second shot out the back. Fire curled out of her mouth, but the pressure behind it was gone. The flames touched off her face and hair. She buckled. Fire blasted down the front of her clothes, the flames spreading. She didn’t make any sound at all as the fire engulfed her.

I ran around the flames and pushed through the front door into the morning drizzle. The ghost knife lay on the sidewalk as though waiting for me. I hoisted Annalise higher on my shoulder and reached out to my spell. It flew into my hand.

Sprinting across the lot toward the van, I did my best not to jostle Annalise, but I doubted she could feel my