Aria's POV
I run straight into the burning building.
ARIA! Caspian shouts behind me, but I don't stop.
Smoke fills my lungs the second I'm through the door. The lobby is chaos people running, screaming, coughing. The sprinklers are going but they can't stop the fire spreading from the fifth floor.
Dad's floor.
I push through the crowd to the stairs. The elevator is dead, smoke pouring from the shaft.
Miss, you can't go up there! A security guard grabs my arm.
I yank free. My father is on the fifth floor!
The firefighters
Won't get there in time! I'm already running up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
Behind me, I hear Caspian cursing. Then his footsteps following.
By the third floor, the smoke is thick enough to choke on. I pull my jacket over my nose and keep climbing.
Fourth floor. The heat is intense now. I can hear the fire roaring above.
Fifth floor.
I push through the door and nearly fall back from the wave of heat. Flames cover the walls, eating through everything. The sprinklers are trying but failing.
Dad! I scream. DAD!
Caspian catches up, his shirt pressed over his face. Where's his office?
Down the hall! Left side! I point through the flames.
We run. The fire is everywhere, blocking hallways, melting the ceiling tiles. My eyes burn. My lungs scream for clean air.
Dad's office door is closed. I grab the handle and immediately jerk back it's burning hot.
Caspian kicks it open.
Dad is slumped over his desk, unconscious. There's blood on his head.
Dad! I run to him and shake his shoulders. Wake up! Please wake up!
He doesn't move.
We need to get him out. Now. Caspian lifts Dad over his shoulder like he weighs nothing. Can you walk?
Yes. Go!
We run back toward the stairs, but the fire has spread. The hallway we came through is completely blocked now.
This way! Caspian heads the opposite direction, toward the emergency exit.
But when we reach it, the door won't open. Something's blocking it from the outside.
No, no, no I pull harder. Nothing.
Julian, Caspian says grimly. He blocked the exits. He wanted everyone trapped.
A section of ceiling crashes down behind us, cutting off our retreat.
We're trapped.
The fire is closing in from both sides. The smoke is so thick I can barely see.
Dad is still unconscious on Caspian's shoulder. And we're about to die.
Unless...
I look at my hands. Remember the golden light that came from them when I healed the Revenant.
Put Dad down, I tell Caspian.
What? Aria, we need to
Trust me! I kneel beside Dad and place my hands on his chest.
I don't know if this will work. I don't know if I can heal injuries like I healed corrupted magic.
But I have to try.
I close my eyes and reach for that power inside me. The resurrection magic. The golden light.
It answers immediately.
Light floods from my hands, pouring into Dad. I can feel his injuries the head wound, bruised ribs, smoke damage to his lungs. I push my power into each one, trying to fix them, heal them.
Dad gasps and his eyes fly open.
Aria? His voice is rough.
Hi, Dad. We need to leave now. I help him sit up.
The fire
I know. Can you walk?
He nods, coughing.
Caspian is staring at me. You just healed him.
We can discuss my weird abilities later. Right now, we need an exit. I look around desperately.
The window.
We jump, I say.
We're five stories up! Dad protests.
And we're about to burn to death if we stay! I run to the window and look down. Firefighters are setting up safety nets below. There's a net! We can make it!
Caspian breaks the window with a chair. Glass shatters outward.
Fresh air rushes in, but so do the flames they surge toward the new oxygen.
Go! Caspian shouts. Now!
Dad climbs onto the ledge. He looks terrified, but he jumps.
I watch him fall and hit the net. Safe.
Your turn, Caspian says.
You first.
Aria
You're carrying the research on resurrection magic in your head. You're more valuable than me. Go!
Flames lick at my back. The heat is unbearable.
Caspian grabs my face in both hands. If you don't jump right after me, I'm coming back for you. Understand?
I nod.
He jumps.
I watch him fall and hit the net.
Now it's my turn.
But as I'm about to jump, something grabs my ankle.
I scream and fall backward, hitting the floor hard.
Through the smoke, a figure crawls toward me. Burned. Bleeding. But alive.
Julian.
If I'm going down, he rasps, you're coming with me.
He drags me away from the window, back toward the flames.
I kick at him. Let go!
You ruined everything! His face is twisted with rage and pain. My life, my future, everything! Because you couldn't just stay dead!
You murdered me!
You deserved it! He's on top of me now, hands around my throat. You were supposed to be nothing! A trophy wife! But you had to be smart, had to notice things, had to ruin everything!
I can't breathe. His hands squeeze tighter.
My vision starts to blur.
Is this how I die? Again? Killed by the same man who killed me the first time?
No.
I'm not that helpless girl anymore.
I reach for my power. The golden light. And I push it through my hands directly into Julian's chest.
But not to heal.
To hurt.
Julian screams and flies backward, hitting the wall. Smoke rises from where I touched him.
I scramble to my feet, gasping for air.
Julian lies on the floor, unconscious or dead I don't know which and I don't care.
I run to the window and jump.
The fall feels like forever.
Then I hit the net and bounce, the air knocked from my lungs.
Hands pull me off. Paramedics surround me, checking me over.
I'm fine, I gasp. My dad
He's okay. He's in the ambulance. A paramedic shines a light in my eyes. You're very lucky, miss.
Lucky. Right.
I look up at the burning building. The fifth floor is completely engulfed now.
If Julian was still up there...
Miss Castellan! A firefighter runs over. Did anyone else make it out from the fifth floor?
There was a man. Julian Strand. He I hesitate. He tried to kill me. But I left him up there.
The firefighter's face goes grim. He talks into his radio.
Caspian appears beside me, soot-covered and angry. You said you'd jump right after me.
Julian grabbed me.
Where is he?
Still up there. Maybe dead. Maybe not. I look at my hands. They're shaking. I hurt him, Caspian. With my power. I used it as a weapon.
Good. Caspian's voice is hard. He tried to kill you. Twice. He doesn't deserve mercy.
A paramedic leads me to an ambulance. Dad is inside, oxygen mask on his face. When he sees me, tears fill his eyes.
I climb in and hug him. I'm so sorry. This is my fault.
No. Dad pulls the mask down. Julian did this. Not you. You saved my life.
I healed you. I don't know how, but
I don't care how. You're alive. I'm alive. That's all that matters. He holds me tight. Though we're definitely going to talk about the glowing hands thing later.
Despite everything, I almost laugh.
The ambulance takes us to the hospital. Caspian rides in his car behind us.
At the hospital, doctors check us both. Minor smoke inhalation. Dad has a concussion. I have bruises around my throat from Julian's hands.
But we're alive.
Lyra bursts into my room an hour later, her red hair wild. I saw the news! Oh my God, are you okay?
I'm fine. Dad's fine.
Julian?
Unknown. He might be dead. The building collapsed before they could get to the fifth floor. I lean back against the pillows. It's over, Lyra. He's gone.
But even as I say it, I don't quite believe it.
That night, I'm released from the hospital. Caspian insists I stay at Vorelis Manor where it's safe.
Dad wants to come home with me, but the doctors keep him overnight for observation.
So it's just me and Caspian in his car, driving through the dark.
You used your power as a weapon, Caspian says quietly.
I didn't mean to. I just... reacted.
Your power responds to your emotions. Fear, anger, love they all fuel it. He glances at me. You need to learn control. Before you accidentally hurt someone you care about.
Can you teach me?
I can try.
We pull through the gates of Vorelis Manor. The mansion looks different at night less scary, more like a sanctuary.
Inside, Silas has dinner waiting. Heard you had an exciting day, boss. And guest.
You could say that, I mutter.
After eating, I'm exhausted. Silas shows me to a bedroom that's bigger than my entire apartment.
Rest up, he says kindly. Tomorrow's a new day.
But I can't sleep.
Every time I close my eyes, I see Julian's face. His hands around my throat. The hatred in his eyes.
Is he really dead?
Or is he out there somewhere, planning his next move?
Around midnight, my phone buzzes.
A text from an unknown number:
Congratulations on surviving. But the game isn't over. Julian was just a pawn. The real players are watching now. And they want what you can do. Sleep well, Aria. Tomorrow, everything changes. M
My blood runs cold.
The mysterious stalker who's been watching me.
I'm about to text Caspian when I hear something.
A sound outside my window.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
I freeze.
Slowly, I walk to the window and look out.
A figure stands in the garden below. Not hooded this time.
It's a woman. Beautiful. With long dark hair and eyes that glow gold in the darkness.
She looks up at me and smiles.
Then she lifts her wrist and points to it.
Where a price should be written, there's nothing.
Just blank skin.
Like mine.
She's resurrected too.
And she's here for me.
Timeline: Day 3, Night