Read Online Forged in Darkfire: An Amber Lee Novella (Amber Lee Mysteries Book 5) by Katerina Martinez - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Katerina Martinez
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a hungry hag, and we feed her to placate her. To have her blessings. To keep her happy with her servants. We, her mothers, fathers, and children. Her hands and warriors. Her chosen.”
“You were never chosen for anything,” Lily spat, “And neither was that piece of shit father of yours.”
“Watch it,” Henry said, lowering his head and scowling. “Watch your fucking tongue.”
“You’re just like him,” Lily said, “The Dark Fire was a curse. He turned mad with power when he stole a secret he shouldn’t have ever learned. It got him killed, Henry. Not us. We deflected his magick away from the innocent life he was about to snuff out.”
“And doomed my father in the process.”
“You speak of him like he was an innocent. He was the one who summoned the Dark Fire to begin with, not me. No one should play with that kind of magick and you know that. Or at least you would if you were real.”
Real? Damien thought. What did she mean by that?
“Fuck you,” Henry said.
She was on to something, even if Damien didn’t know exactly how or what. “How much of himself did the real Henry put into making you?” Lily asked.
“Enough to do what I have to do.”
“And what’s that? Torment an innocent young witch who had nothing to do with any of this?”
“The Dark Fire was meant for Damien or for you. Not her. But I’ll settle.”
“Big man,” she said, mocking. “Strong man. I bet you’ve made Henry really proud.”
Damien , the voice came into his mind like an echo in an empty room.
Lily? He thought.
This thing isn’t real. I’m going to distract it, but you have to get Natalie. You have to wake her up; it’s the only way to get us all out safely before the Dark Fire comes.
“I don’t have to prove anything,” Henry said.
“Sure you do. You have to prove to me that you can take a punch.”
Damien felt the ripple in the Currents an instant before Henry grimaced and doubled over. Lily’s hands were at her side, balled into fists, and the Power was surging through her; riding on the back of her anger. He could see, with his mind’s eye, the way her ethereal form had leapt out of her own body and drawn a fist into Henry’s stomach. A psychic strike , Damien thought.
“Bitch,” Henry said when he recovered. He ran at her, baton raised, and took a swing. Lily ducked to the left and Damien staggered away. The baton went wide and Henry stumbled, but in a moment he was at it again, the black nightstick flashing and cutting the air. Then Lily started to run, and Henry gave chase. “You should have married me!” he screamed as he ran, “I would have loved you!”
Damien sprang to his feet and ran after them, but then he caught sight of something, no someone , in one of the cells. Natalie! The cell was like the others—a mouth instead of bars—but this one was quiet. Its teeth were crooked and yellow, stained with blood, and cracked like old bones. But Natalie was on the other side of those teeth, bound and gagged and… crying.
But she was awake and alert.
The alarm on her face was evident, as was the relief at seeing Damien through the gap in the vertical mouth. Damien approached, taking one step after the other. The mouths along the corridor were gnashing and clacking, but this one was still. Careful, he reached for the gap with his hand, but the mouth clamped down hard and he only just managed to save his arm from being cut off by yanking it back so hard the movement hurt his shoulder.
“I’m going to get you out of there,” he said.
But the rumbling outside was getting louder, Lily had disappeared—as had Henry—and these teeth weren’t going to make things easy.
He searched around him for something that might help; an iron bar, a fire extinguisher… an ax. But the dream prison seemed as inmate-proof as the real Alcatraz may have been. Natalie was whimpering now. She could see the alarm on his face. The concern. The helplessness. Had she not been afflicted with whatever
“You were never chosen for anything,” Lily spat, “And neither was that piece of shit father of yours.”
“Watch it,” Henry said, lowering his head and scowling. “Watch your fucking tongue.”
“You’re just like him,” Lily said, “The Dark Fire was a curse. He turned mad with power when he stole a secret he shouldn’t have ever learned. It got him killed, Henry. Not us. We deflected his magick away from the innocent life he was about to snuff out.”
“And doomed my father in the process.”
“You speak of him like he was an innocent. He was the one who summoned the Dark Fire to begin with, not me. No one should play with that kind of magick and you know that. Or at least you would if you were real.”
Real? Damien thought. What did she mean by that?
“Fuck you,” Henry said.
She was on to something, even if Damien didn’t know exactly how or what. “How much of himself did the real Henry put into making you?” Lily asked.
“Enough to do what I have to do.”
“And what’s that? Torment an innocent young witch who had nothing to do with any of this?”
“The Dark Fire was meant for Damien or for you. Not her. But I’ll settle.”
“Big man,” she said, mocking. “Strong man. I bet you’ve made Henry really proud.”
Damien , the voice came into his mind like an echo in an empty room.
Lily? He thought.
This thing isn’t real. I’m going to distract it, but you have to get Natalie. You have to wake her up; it’s the only way to get us all out safely before the Dark Fire comes.
“I don’t have to prove anything,” Henry said.
“Sure you do. You have to prove to me that you can take a punch.”
Damien felt the ripple in the Currents an instant before Henry grimaced and doubled over. Lily’s hands were at her side, balled into fists, and the Power was surging through her; riding on the back of her anger. He could see, with his mind’s eye, the way her ethereal form had leapt out of her own body and drawn a fist into Henry’s stomach. A psychic strike , Damien thought.
“Bitch,” Henry said when he recovered. He ran at her, baton raised, and took a swing. Lily ducked to the left and Damien staggered away. The baton went wide and Henry stumbled, but in a moment he was at it again, the black nightstick flashing and cutting the air. Then Lily started to run, and Henry gave chase. “You should have married me!” he screamed as he ran, “I would have loved you!”
Damien sprang to his feet and ran after them, but then he caught sight of something, no someone , in one of the cells. Natalie! The cell was like the others—a mouth instead of bars—but this one was quiet. Its teeth were crooked and yellow, stained with blood, and cracked like old bones. But Natalie was on the other side of those teeth, bound and gagged and… crying.
But she was awake and alert.
The alarm on her face was evident, as was the relief at seeing Damien through the gap in the vertical mouth. Damien approached, taking one step after the other. The mouths along the corridor were gnashing and clacking, but this one was still. Careful, he reached for the gap with his hand, but the mouth clamped down hard and he only just managed to save his arm from being cut off by yanking it back so hard the movement hurt his shoulder.
“I’m going to get you out of there,” he said.
But the rumbling outside was getting louder, Lily had disappeared—as had Henry—and these teeth weren’t going to make things easy.
He searched around him for something that might help; an iron bar, a fire extinguisher… an ax. But the dream prison seemed as inmate-proof as the real Alcatraz may have been. Natalie was whimpering now. She could see the alarm on his face. The concern. The helplessness. Had she not been afflicted with whatever
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