The Witch Born to Smoulder (Inferno Book 4)

or two? Your family will be okay for a few days, and that will give you some time to recover your strength.’
A red-hot energy burned through me. I stood and locked eyes with Jet.
‘I’m fine, but my family – their execution is probably already being planned.’
Jet winced, but he didn’t back down. ‘You’re not strong enough.’
‘Stop telling me what I can and can’t do,’ I said, trying my hardest to prove I was strong enough by producing fire in my hands. But a few sparks were all I could manage.
Jet raised an eyebrow at me. Our stand-off was interrupted by Boy, who bounded towards us from the cliffs.
‘Boy!’ I said, dropping down and taking him in my arms.
Boy nuzzled me before standing back and tilting his head to Jet.
‘What is it, Boy?’ said Jet, his body tensing.
Jet let out a deep, low growl.
‘What’s wrong?’ I asked.
‘He must have seen something,’ said Jet, grabbing his binoculars and striding straight towards the cliffs, Boy behind him.
‘Okay then,’ I said before running after Jet, only to find that my legs were not strong enough to support me. I staggered forward.
What’s happening to me?
The answer came in the pain searing my cuts: the creatures had infected me somehow…made me angry – turned me weak.
Growling, I straightened my back and stepped forward. Using what strength I had, I slowly made my way to where Jet and Boy lay hidden in the rocks. I crawled in beside Jet and took in the cove below us. My heart did a jump-start as I saw not one, but two coastguard boats travelling through the choppy waves towards the shore.
I scanned the beach for where our boats were normally hidden, but they were nowhere to be seen.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Jet quietly. ‘Even if they make it to shore, they won’t find the boats.’
‘Where are they?’ I asked, my breath shortening as I made out the familiar form of Max, who stood at the bow of the larger of the two coastguard boats, barking his instructions to the crew.
‘I tucked them into the trees at the other end of the beach – and camouflaged them.’
‘With magic?’
Jet shot me a wry grin.
‘It won’t stop him,’ I whispered, my vision fading for a moment. ‘He won’t stop until he finds me.’
Jet’s eyes narrowed before he turned back to the boat, his body stiffening.
‘That’s Max?’
‘The one and only,’ I said, and anger flared inside me again.
Sweat bubbled on Jet’s forehead. I wasn’t the only one who had been damaged by the sick and twisted Max.
‘You okay?’ I asked as Jet shuffled against the rocks.
‘I…will be.’
‘He tortured you, didn’t he?’
Jet let out a small sound and I found his hand, held it tight.
Inside me, something shifted. The shock of what had happened last night wore off. I was left with an inferno of anger scorching my body, mind and soul.
‘Time for payback, don’t you think?’ I said.
Jet’s eyes opened wide. ‘Eva, we can’t…’
‘Why not? After the things he’s done, he deserves it.’
‘You…can’t mean that?’
‘I’ve never meant anything more.’ I glanced back to Max, never having wanted to wipe the smug look from his face more than I did in that moment.
‘We can’t use magic like that. It would change you.’
‘I don’t care,’ I said, the truth igniting something new – something dark – inside me.
‘Well, I care about you, and that’s not the right way to go about things.’
I laughed, louder than I should have. Max glanced up towards us.
Jet swore under his breath. In moments, his mist hid us.
‘Are you going to help me or not?’ I said, wondering whether I’d have the energy to conjure up a fireball and set Max on fire.
‘No, I’m not going to help you, and you’re not going to do anything stupid.’
‘Come on, Jet. It’ll feel good.’
Inside me was a thirst for performing a dark act.
‘What’s going on with you?’ he asked.
‘Oh, I don’t know – this sicko and his boss want to kill my family and you, and they most definitely want to kill me. And I happen to be over it. I’ve waited long enough to use my magic and nothing, not even you, is going to stop me now.’
‘Eva – you can’t use magic like that. You won’t be a good…white witch anymore.’
I gazed at Jet; he was so close I could hear his unsteady breathing.
‘I don’t care.’
He gasped. ‘You can’t be serious.’
‘I’ve never been more serious. When Orpheus took my family, he declared war. And I am not going to stand around any longer, waiting for someone else to decide my fate. Enough is enough.’
‘Slow down, Eva – when you’re stronger, you can use the magic you know and I can teach you more. Together, we can save your family and you won’t have turned into a…’
‘Black witch,’ I said.
He nodded.
‘But what if I want to? What if I want to learn the ways of dark magic? What if I don’t care what happens to me, so long as I save my family?’
Jet blinked quickly. ‘You can’t mean that. You don’t understand what you’re saying. Once you’ve used your magic for dark reasons, you won’t be the same person.’
‘I don’t want to be the same weak and trusting person. That person got her heart broken, over and over again. She was in danger all the time. She trusted that somehow everything would work out in the end. Well, you know what, it doesn’t. That person I used to be, she’s dead.’
Jet opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish, staring at me as if I were a stranger.
I softened my voice. ‘Teach me dark magic.’
‘What! No way, Eva. Stop talking like this.’
I glanced back to the two coastguard boats down below, which were being tossed around in the waves.
‘You know dark magic. In fact, I seem to remember that when I first met you, you rather enjoyed practising black magic.’
‘That…that was a long time ago. I don’t do that now.’
‘And you’re not a bad person. So come on, what harm can come from