In Flames Stay With Me Novels & Stories

As the fire raged fiercely, I took my husband's hand and tried to rush out of the banquet hall with him. However, Frank Winston shook me off and turned to run toward his assistant, Johanna Scott. As I stood frozen in disbelief, the cabinet beside me collapsed with a rumble and pinned me beneath it. I yelled out for Frank, but he simply picked Johanna up and hurried off without a single glance back at me. Flames and thick smoke enveloped me. I watched helplessly as Frank and Johanna moved further and further away until I eventually lost consciousness.

Flame looks over her shoulders at the sound and smiles. "I see your team has found mine, took them long enough. It's time for me to leave." Her hands drop and she takes a few steps away from me. "What? No, you need to stay with me. I can protect you." I tell her and she smiles warmly at me, looking so much like my Flame that I almost doubt my own resolve. "Prove it to me, Cain." Her lips find mine and her tongue slides into my mouth and I struggle to stop myself trying to push her away. "Get rid of Abaddon, take the Alpha position and beat Eligor, if you do, I'll be yours forever."

Maybe my voice, being here, could hold him steady when the flames tried to tear him apart. I bent close to his ear and spoke steady even though my chest shook. "Stay with me, Kieran. Stay with me. I'll fight them. I'll fight for you. You don't belong to them. You belong here." For just a heartbeat, his lips moved, making words I couldn't hear against my skin. And in the quietness that followed, I felt it; the tiniest flicker of his fire pushing back against the fever. Not burning him up, but fighting.

“Elara!” ‘I’m fine!’ Her voice fills my mind. My heart lurches, but I can see her through the flames. The image is distorted from the heat, but she’s standing in a pocket of safety. The flames around her sputter, dying down to nothing. What the fuck? The flames around me surge higher, licking the sky, and pressing even closer. Why? Why only me? I stumble towards one of the flames, trying to break through, but as I step closer, the air alone sears me. My skin bubbles, blisters form across my flesh before I even touch the flames themselves. I jerk back with a hiss, my eyes stinging. Holy fuck.

I say, softer than the words sound in my head. “Damien…” she whispers, a warning, a plea. I step closer, wanting her warmth, her scent, anything to drown out the smell of blood and cordite still clinging to me. “Little Flame. I’m here. I’m fine.” I’m not fine. The muscle in my jaw won’t stop ticking, and my vision blurs at the edges, but I give her the smile I’ve used all my life to keep people from looking too close. “You can’t keep shutting me out,” she says. “Not when we’re in this together.”

The warmth grew, racing through my veins like liquid fire, rushing down my arms to my fingertips. When I opened my eyes, silver flames flickered alive in my palms. I gasped softly, my heart skipping. The flames danced, small but steady, their glow lighting up my hands and the ground around me. For a moment, panic rose in me, but then Liam’s voice broke through. “You’ve got this, Katrina,” he said firmly. “Don’t let go.” His words steadied me. I focused on my breathing, in and out, in and out, and the flames steadied too. They grew brighter, less shaky.

“Maybe I want to be burned. Burn me, Kade.” He shook his head. “That is what they all say until they feel the harsh lick of the flame against their skin.” “Oh, trust me. I'm used to the flame. This wouldn't be the first time I would be getting burned. So come on, Kade. Why not use me? I seriously won’t mind.” His eyes remained fixed on mine, then they dropped to my lips. Yes!

> “You were right. Fire is part of life.” The Flame Child smiled. > “And you were right — even fire needs rhythm, or it burns itself away.” She turned to them, her eyes soft. > “Will you stay?” > “I’ll go where the Flow sends me,” they replied. “But I will always return when your world forgets how to burn.” Lyra reached out and brushed her hand against their flame. It didn’t hurt — it warmed. > “Then we’ll keep each other honest.”

My body felt like it was rusted solid, but I clenched Nicole's hand tighter. From then on, we only had each other. I locked eyes with Simon one last time, finding nothing but emptiness. "I'm sorry for the trouble," I said to the onlookers. I nodded politely, straightened up, and walked out with slow, measured steps. Nicole did not fight me then. Instead, she whispered, "Mom, what about our stuff?" I shook my head and said, "Let's pretend it all went up in flames." Options were slim in the middle of the night, so I booked us into a motel.

I paused and sat next to him. "You and I share something in common. We want the best for ourselves without using our trauma and problems to hurt people. I don't care how long you choose to push me away, the more you do that, the more I see reason to be closer with you. And, I don't care about being a target for your Mafia enemies, I will pledge my loyalty to you till the day I die,"