Chapter 50

Chapter 50 Set Fire and Burn by Ruth NalioAngelica…Ash looked at me like I had spoken a different language. “You invited a Demon into a Gargoyle's home?”Closing my eyes, I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Al is the leader of the Demons here in town, and Zander is the leader of the Gargoyles, right?”“You are correct, and for the last few months, you have been in the middle, making a mess of things,” Ash said in a bland tone.“Watch yourself, friend,” Zander said in a tight voice.“He’s just giving his honest opinion. What I’m getting at though, is that things between Gargoyles and Demons in this city could improve if Zander and Ash can get along at least a little bit. Wouldn’t it be nice to go anywhere in the city without worrying about whose damn territory you’re in?”“You are painfully human in your thinking,” Ash said.“Does that mean you’re coming to dinner?” I asked, matching his bland tone. They were the ones being painfully stubborn.“Do I have a choice?” Ash asked, looking a

Last Updated : 2025-07-31

Chapter 51

Chapter 51 Set Fire and Burn by Ruth NalioUnknown…Using a transportation potion, Angelica’s captor took them to Greece in a matter of moments. Once his feet settled upon the soil, he wasted no time searching her for a phone. Finding it easily in her pocket, he tossed it to the ground, lifted her unconscious form into his arms, and set off for his destination.Zander… As I got the last of the items on Angelica’s list, I looked around, wondering if it really took that long to pick out the perfect bird as she’d said. With a sigh, I pulled out my phone and called her while heading to the frozen turkeys. Her phone rang, rang again, and again. Panic filled me as I listened and couldn’t hear it anywhere in the store. Then a thought occurred to me, and I pulled up Alatap’s contact information and called him.He answered on the second ring. “Well, if it isn’t The Sandman. What can I do for you?”“Cut the shit, where is she?” I demanded, ready to track him down and rip him apart.“What do yo

Last Updated : 2025-07-31

Chapter 52

Chapter 52 Set Fire and Burn by Ruth NalioAngelica… “Wake up,” a woman’s gentle voice said as someone lightly shook my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see a stunning brunette, the one from last night who had been without chains on one of the tables.That’s when I remembered everything that had happened. Horror and disgust took over my body as I sat up quickly, tears beginning to stream down my face. “Oh God, what did I do?”She gave me a sad look. “I had hoped that he would wait to do such to you. I’m so sorry.”I looked up at her with tear-filled eyes and hatred. “As if it would have been any better to wait a day or two before raping me!”She looked toward the entrance to my room. “I’d hoped to have a chance to free you before it had happened instead of after. We must hurry, while they are busy regaining their strength.” She handed me a robe. “Put this on, it’s all I have.”“Who are you?” I asked as I took the robe.“I’m your grandmother, Persephone,” she said as she looked around ag

Last Updated : 2025-08-01

Chapter 53

Chapter 53 Set Fire and Burn by Ruth NalioAngelica…“Did you find her?” Zander answered on the second ring, anger and desperation in his voice.“Zander-” I nearly sobbed with relief at the sound of his voice.“Angelica! Where are you? What happened? Are you alright?”I closed my eyes and slid to the floor, tears streaming down my face. “I’m so sorry, I couldn’t stop it—couldn’t stop them from—Zander, I’m so sorry,” I sobbed.My heart felt like it was frozen in my chest as I waited for his response. “Are you alright?”“No. Yes. It—it’s complicated,” I cried.“Is Alatap with you?” he asked in a calm voice.“I asked him to go get me clothes,” I said, gaining some control over myself.“Where are you? How do I get to you?” There was a note of desperation in his voice.“About 20 minutes outside of hell,” I told him honestly.“Angelica, love, I can’t get to you if I don’t know where you are.” The irritation was rising in his voice.I looked up at the ceiling, willing myself to tell him as m

Last Updated : 2025-08-01

Chapter 54

Chapter 54 Set Fire and Burn by Ruth NalioAlatap…I crested the hill, out of breath, just in time to see Zander fall to the ground. Angelica stood about ten feet away from them, her body covered in brilliant orange flames, wind whipping all around the crumbling city. I opened my mouth to yell for her to run when tornadoes began to drop all over the city. My eyes widened as her orange flames turned blue and white. What little had been left of her clothes quickly burned away, followed by her skin and muscle, until she was nothing more than a flaming skeleton.Hades threw back his head and laughed. “Is that supposed to scare me?” he mocked.“I’m going to kill you,” Angelica said in a voice so low I could hardly hear it over the tornadoes, even with my heightened hearing.“Angelica! No, run!” I yelled, starting to make my way down the hill at a good clip when the ground began to shake and crack, lava bubbling up from the jagged fissures in the earth.“You can’t kill me! I’m a God,” Hades

Last Updated : 2025-08-02

Chapter 55 THE END

Chapter 55 Set Fire and Burn by Ruth NalioAngelica…How could a heart ache when it no longer existed?I had become something unholy—flame-wreathed bone, a screaming soul bound in fire. When I snapped, I didn’t break—I burned. My rage flared hotter than the sun, a molten scream that cracked the earth open beneath my feet and pulled the sky down in a frenzy of tornados.My body fought to regrow itself—sinew sizzling, skin bubbling over scorched bone—but I no longer cared if it won. Pain was constant, my flesh caught in an endless cycle of death and rebirth. But even that agony couldn’t touch the thing inside me. The hollowness. The truth.My mother’s body had been discarded like garbage, her life beaten out of her until she was nothing but a battered heap on the ground. And Zander… Zander’s heart had been ripped from his chest and shoved in my face, still twitching, still warm.That was my pain—not the flames devouring my body or the flesh that hissed as it returned. No, this pain was