The Book Burned Novels & Stories

Every trade secret Malcolm had collected, every piece of leverage David had inherited, and every reason Adrian had fought to return burns down to nothing. Eli reaches out and slides his fingers into Lucia’s hand. She tightens her grip, watching the fire eat through the middle section of the book where her mother’s maiden name was once written. “Every route,” she says quietly, mostly to herself. “Every secret. Gone.” “For good,” David confirms. They stand there together until the fire has fully consumed it, until there’s nothing left but ash settling into the hearth, and something in the air shifts once it’s done, lighter than it’s been in longer than Elias can properly measure. No one speaks

"But what really happened here? Why is a book burnt?. I wrote quickly, my hand still trembling. I don't know. I touched one book and it started to burn. I dropped it. It was a weak lie, but it was all I had in that moment of panic. Suddenly, Noah's eyes caught something. He grabbed my hand roughly, turning it over. "You're burned." He was right. My hand was red and blistered from where I had held the burning book. I had been so terrified by what I'd read and by the fire that I hadn't even felt the pain.

The path to freedom was clear and direct. In murderous rage, I pierced my claws into the palm of my right hand, hovered it over the last remaining shreds of the book and watched Vincent's eyes glaze over with tears. I uttered a single word, "Burn." And the book caught on fire the moment drops of my blood from the cut I made on my palm came into contact with it. In Vincent's absentmindedness, with his gaze still pinned on the burning book, everything slowed down before me. I moved faster than the law of time permitted, over to where he knelt with a sorrowful expression as he watched the remains of the book become ash.

But because my sister, Raven Webster, thought Snowviper was too terrifying to look at, she stole Blazewing for herself. A month later, the whole world turned hotter, and the heatwave apocalypse began. Snowviper's power, just like his name, could lower the temperature within ten feet of him, creating a living shield against the burning world. Blazewing, on the other hand, carried the opposite—heat and fire. Raven took Blazewing, but she died of heat stroke in the heatwave apocalypse, while I survived thanks to Snowviper's cooling power. In her final moments, Raven was convinced I had stolen her husband. She whispered poison into Snowviper's ear, and he killed me.

Flames devoured the trees as they imploded from the inside. Nests abandoned to the heat blazed in a short glory. Young green leaves wilted and browned before succumbing to the fire's will. The landscape shuddered with the heat, the trees groaning for mercy. But the fire showed no lenience. ***

Raven took one, struck it, and stared at the flame. It felt symbolic. It felt final. She touched the flame to the ledger, and it curled inward immediately. Fire licked up the edge of the page, consuming names and numbers and signatures. Jaxon stood beside her, watching the fire devour the past. "One page won’t save us," he said. "But it’s a start." Raven nodded. "We’ll build the rest together." The flames crackled louder. The smoke rose, curling in the air like the last of their denials. They said nothing more as the book burned, and the room filled with the scent of scorched truth.

I cut her off before she could say a word after she took my words as offense. “Touche,” she replied, her voice steady but laced with a hint of defensiveness. “What kind of help will you offer?” she questioned. “A help that you won’t be able to resist,” I muttered smugly as I brought out an old and worn-out book from my coat pocket and showed it to her. It is the book that I acquired from Beta Alek, the one that he entrusted me to burn. However, after reading its contents, how could I bring myself to burn a valuable book such as this?

The walls shook, the ground rumbled, and rocks clattered everywhere around me. I placed my hands on my face, rubbing my burning eyes before slowly bringing them open. When my vision finally returned, I found the book surrounded with one of those circles with stars in the middle you'd see in horror movies. The shape was on fire, sending smoke all over the place. The fucking book was going to burn down my home. I gritted my teeth, shaking my head. “Not today, Satan!" I quickly rose from the ground and ran to the book as I took off my jacket from around me. Then, I draped it over the burning ground and began stomping on it in a bid to put the fire out.

"H-how? I remember perfectly well when you were swimming in the burning flames of the poisonous fire." Amethyst muttered under her breath, still analysing the black covers of the big, bold book that she knew she burnt a few months ago. Her hands trembled at its heaviness — at how fresh and old it smelled. Old tales and unknown prophecies were still lingering on every page she turned over.

"You thought you were going to take us down? You thought your little boyfriend was going to wake up and save you? He doesn't even know you're alive, Hannah. You’re nothing but a memory he’s already deleted." Daniel grabbed the ledger from the sofa. He held it up, a cruel smile on his face. He walked over to the fireplace, grabbed a lighter from the mantle, and clicked it. "No!" I screamed, trying to lung forward, but my leg wouldn't let me. "Daniel, don't!" He held the flame to the corner of the pages. The paper caught instantly, the fire licking at the black leather. He watched it burn for a second, then tossed the flaming book into the grate.