Black Sunshine (Dark Eyes 1)

Something inside me churns with immense power, and a deep, unfamiliar voice inside my head asks, Are you sure, child?

I think of what Solon told me, how the candle flame needs just enough force to make it burn bright, and I answer the call.

Yes, I’m sure.

Then the well inside me ignites, catching Solon’s spark and suddenly my entire body goes up in flames.

I’m on fire.

I am the fire.

The fire rises.

With a growl I reach out and lunge for Yanik, the ropes already disintegrating, burning away with the chair. I grab hold of him, sinking my teeth into his old flesh, tearing at his throat, spitting out the skin and blood, and it’s enough to let the flames leap onto him.

Yanik screams, and then I’m pushing him to the ground, holding him there, smothering him. The fire that grows from my skin, that surrounds me from head to toe, is now spreading on him until he’s as much on fire as I am.

But the difference is, the fire is killing him.

It’s not killing me.

It’s giving me more power than I could have ever imagined. The dark well inside me is burning up, obscuring the waning moon with smoke.

I get to my feet, kicking Yanik’s burning, screaming body over to the side and swivel my head towards Solon, Wolf, and Ezra, held in place by the dark order.

All three vampires are staring at me with utter fear in their eyes, even Solon, though he manages to combine it with awe, his jaw slack. I must look quite the sight, a walking fireball.

There’s a screeching cry from the creatures as they hiss and roar, sounding like a zoo gone wild, and I know it’s just a hint of the true madness underneath those hoods. Without their master, who knows what they will do.

But I know what I will do.

A few of them start running for me on all fours, their red veils moving as they go, showing flashes of teeth, claws out, leaving gauges in the old wood floorboards.

I know what I’m capable of now, the confidence seeping through me.

I don’t even have to snap my fingers.

I just point at them as they run for me.

One, I think.

And a creature goes up in flames with a tortured cry.

Two.

I point at another one, just steps away, and it too bursts into flames, falling to the floor, thrashing helplessly.

Three.

I flick my finger at the third one on the loose, watching as its cloak explodes in fire, the s

creams filling the barn.

I grin to myself.

My god. This is almost fun.

I keep that smile on my face as I look at the rest of them, and now the vampires are really scared, even Solon doesn’t seem to know what I’m going to do.