Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles 1)

The flames shot higher. The fire spread like it had a will of its own until the flames surrounded Sarafine, Larkin, and Hunting. Lena laughed. A dark laugh, like her mother’s. Even from across the clearing, it made me shiver. “You don’t have to pretend you care about me. We all know what a bitch you are, Mother. It’s the one thing I think we can all agree on.”

Sarafi

ne pursed her lips and blew, as if she was blowing a kiss. Only the fire blew with her, shifting its direction, racing through the weeds to surround Lena. “Say it like you mean it, darling. Put some teeth into it.”

Lena smiled. “Burning a witch? That’s so cliché.”

“If I wanted you to burn, Lena, you’d already be dead. Remember, you’re not the only Natural.”

Slowly, Lena reached forward and thrust one hand into the flames. She didn’t wince, but remained completely expressionless. Then she stuck her other hand into the blaze. She lifted her hands above her head and held the fire as if it were a ball. Then she threw the flames as hard as she could. Right at me.

Fire smashed into the oak behind me, igniting the spray of branches faster than dry kindling. The flames raced down the trunk. I stumbled forward, trying to get out of the way. I kept moving until I reached the wall of my invisible prison. But this time, it wasn’t there. I dragged my legs through the inches of mud, across the field. I looked over and saw Link falling alongside me. The oak behind him was burning even brighter than my own. The flames reached into the dark sky and began to spread to the surrounding field. I raced toward Lena. I couldn’t think of anything else. Link stumbled over toward his mom. Only Lena and the fire line stood between Sarafine and us. For the moment, it seemed to be enough.

I touched Lena’s shoulder. In the darkness, she should have jumped, but she knew it was me. She didn’t even look at me.

I love you, L.

Don’t say anything, Ethan. She can hear everything. I’m not sure, but I think she always could.

I looked across the field, but I couldn’t see Sarafine, Hunting, or Larkin beyond the flames. I knew they were there, and I knew they were probably going to try to kill us all. But I was with Lena, and for just one second, it was all that mattered.

“Ethan! Go get Ryan. Uncle Macon needs help. I can’t hold her much longer.” I took off running before Lena could say another word. Whatever Sarafine had done to sever the connection between us, it no longer mattered. Lena was back in my heart and my head. As I ran through the uneven fields, that was all I cared about.

Except for the fact that it was almost midnight. I ran faster.

I love you, too. Hurry—

I looked at my cell. 11:25. I banged again on the door of Ravenwood and pushed frantically on the crescent moon above the lintel. Nothing happened. Larkin must have done something to seal off the threshold, not that I had any idea how.

“Ryan! Aunt Del! Gramma!” I had to find Ryan. Macon was hurt. Lena could be next. I couldn’t predict what Sarafine would do when Lena refused her. Link stumbled onto the doorstep behind me.

“Ryan’s not here.”

“Is Ryan a doctor? We gotta help my mom.”

“No. She’s—I’ll explain later.”

Link was pacing on the veranda. “Was any a that real?”

Think. I had to think. I was in this alone. Ravenwood was a virtual fortress tonight. No one could break in, at least no Mortal, and I couldn’t let Lena down.

I dialed the only person I could think of who would have no problem tangling with two Dark Casters and a Blood Incubus, in the middle of a supernatural hurricane. A person who was a sort of supernatural hurricane herself. Amma.

I listened to the phone ring on the other end. “No answer. Amma’s probably still with my dad.”

11:30. There was only one other person who could help me, and it was a long shot. I dialed the Gatlin County Library. “Marian’s not there either. She’d know what to do. What the hell? She never leaves that library, even after hours.”

Link was pacing frantically. “Nothin’s open. It’s a freakin’ holiday. It’s the Battle of Honey Hill, remember? Maybe we should just go down to the Safe Zone and look for the paramedics.”

I stared at him as if a bolt of lightning had just come out of his mouth and hit me in the head. “It’s a holiday. Nothing’s open,” I repeated back to him.

“Yeah. I just said that. So what do we do?” He looked miserable.

“Link, you’re a genius. You’re a freaking genius.”

“I know, man, but what does that have to with anything?”

“You got the Beater?” He nodded.