Burn The Boats Novels & Stories

The air around me crackled with energy, the fire feeding off my determination, my will to protect. And then, with a shout, I released it. The flame shot forward, a blazing streak of light that arced through the air and struck the nearest boat. There was a brief, stunned silence, and then the boat exploded into flames, the men aboard it scrambling to escape the inferno. The fire spread quickly, jumping from one boat to the next, turning the enemy’s advance into a scene of chaos. I could hear their shouts of panic, the splash of oars as they tried to retreat, but it was too late. The fire was relentless, consuming everything in its path.

C H A P T E R 1 2 : W H E N H E R E A L I Z E S "I set fire to all the bridges that would lead me back to you. But I wonder, why couldn't I burn the boats?” ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

That’s when I noticed them—five boats lined up by the shore. “Let’s go! We’re leaving!” Ken barked, yanking me toward the boats. I struggled, trying to break free. “Make sure they can’t escape! Burn that house down! Let them feel what they did to me!” “Ken, please,” I begged, my voice breaking. “Just let them go. I promise—I’ll go with you. Just don’t do this.” “No!” he snapped. “I will never let them go, Caroline. Miguel will suffer just like I did. He’ll burn! He’ll scream! And he’ll die in agony!”

I took Ava and ran. We had seconds. Fire alarms screamed. Men shouted. The house went into a frenzy, and in that chaos we found the service exit we needed. Metal clanged. Feet pounded. I shoved Ava into the car and slammed the door. The engine roared. The shadow in the doorway watched us leave. Isabella lay on the floor, the files scattered like a cemetery. She looked up. The bullet had not killed her. It had cut deep. Her eyes were steady now. “Burn it,” she told me, voice thin. “Burn it all.”

I downed a swig of the fiery drink, feeling it scorch my throat. However, it did nothing to calm the storm inside. "I need to hit the restroom." I bolted for the bathroom and drenched my face with cold water, staring at the ghostly reflection with red-rimmed eyes. I locked eyes with my reflection, silently telling myself, "Keep it cool, just keep it cool. If you don't confess, no one will know." However, every time I blinked, I saw Winter as she was at that concert. I lingered in the bathroom for a solid 10 minutes, dragging my feet before I finally stepped back out.

His complexion cycled rapidly from a ghostly white to a deep, burning crimson, and finally to a sickly, suffocating blue. He realized, with absolute certainty, that there was no mercy to be found here. The bridge wasn't just burned; it had been totally vaporized. He couldn't say another word. Crying hysterically, he scrambled backward toward the grand doors, tripped over his own wet shoes, and practically tumbled down the front steps into the roaring storm outside. A few days later, the financial and tech news channels broke the story globally.

He saw the golden collar that marked me as property of the very beast I was trying to save. "You are insane," he decided. "I am a mother," I said. Silas stood up. He walked to the window and looked out at the stormy sea. "The water is rough tonight," he said. "The waves are thirty feet high. The sensors will pick up any engine larger than a dolphin." "Can you do it?" I asked. He turned back to me. A slow, dangerous grin spread across his scarred face. "I built this boat for one reason," Silas said. "To go back and burn that place to the ground."

"And the board has decided that the architects are no longer required." The lighthouse exploded, not from a bomb, but from a massive surge of raw, unencrypted energy that sent a wall of fire racing across the surface of the water toward the gunboat. Elias looked at the fire, then at Silas, and for the first time, a flicker of something human,something like regret,passed through his eyes. He shoved Silas and Verina toward the small emergency submersible at the back of the boat just as the fire reached the hull.

August flinched from the shattering sound. "That time our whole family was alive Steve! Do you even hear yourself!?," Adriel roared. "Have you forgotten what they did to us? It wasn't you who saw them bathed in blood, it was me. And our mother? Think about the pain she endured when her whole body was burned. Were her mighty husband and three children able to save her? No." August cried silently allowing his brother to let it out from his heart. Adriel snatched the unfinished bottle from the table chugging the contents down his throat. He gazed at the portrait of the beard man on the wall with resentment. August followed his gaze where their father's picture was hanged.

The blaze flared into the sky. The night filled with smoke and sparks. The stars disappeared in the haze and glowing embers. The historical saloon hotel was shaded by the inferno roaring behind it. The life Lynexia had known and loved, devoured by coruscate. Lynexia stood at the edge of the woods and watched two figures being pushed through the ruins of the entrance to the saloon. They were covered in ash, and they were pale with fear from the building, disappearing inside again. A crack was heard through the screams and flames, and another window exploded. The roof began to buckle as more smoke and sparks sprayed the night sky.