Between Burning Worlds (System Divine #2) - Jessica Brody Page 0,86

an idea. Follow me.”

Before anyone could respond, she spun around and headed out of the kitchen, right back toward the flames.

“Cerise!” Marcellus called after her. “Where are you going?”

“Does no one understand what fire is?” Gabriel shouted in exasperation. “You’re not supposed to run toward it!”

“Trust me!” Cerise yelled over her shoulder.

Reluctantly, they all followed Cerise out of the kitchen to find the fire had overtaken the entire room. Ravenous flames were eating through the old bar, floorboards glowed like exploding Sols, and the walls could barely be seen behind the curtain of smoke.

“You can’t go up there!” Gabriel bellowed to Cerise, who was now making her way through the flames toward a decrepit staircase that looked one second away from collapsing. “There’s no exit up there!”

Cerise paused long enough to shout back, “If you want to stay down there and take your chances with the fire and the droids, be my guest!”

Gabriel gestured helplessly at Alouette, his face stained with soot and ash. “That girl is whacked. I’m not going—” But he was cut off by a loud crash as the front door of the inn gave way and three enormous droids barreled inside.

Gabriel let out a small shriek. “Upstairs it is!”

He bounded up the steps after Cerise, followed closely by Alouette and Marcellus. One of the droids gave chase, ascending the staircase behind them, its hulking silver frame shaking the foundation with every step.

“Faster!” Marcellus urged.

The droid reached the first landing and made a swipe at Marcellus, just managing to grip the sleeve of his coat in its metal fist. Marcellus cried out and staggered back.

“Marcellus!” Alouette grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the droid’s grip. The droid took another step, but the staircase was already weakened by the flames, and its massive metal foot crashed right through the wood.

“Go!” Marcellus shouted.

They charged up the rest of the steps. A terrible creaking noise followed, and Alouette spun around just in time to see every step they’d just climbed disintegrating right before their eyes, pulling the droid down into a storm cloud of fire and smoke.

“In here!” Cerise called, beckoning them from an open doorway. They stumbled inside and Marcellus slammed the door shut. Smoke immediately began to slither underneath the door frame.

Terrified and out of breath, Alouette quickly took in her surroundings. She remembered these low, sloping ceilings, sagging, unmade bed, and old wardrobe. This used to be the Renards’ bedroom. Not much had changed, and just as Gabriel had warned them, there was no exit up here. Only a single dirty plastique window.

“Fric!” Gabriel swore, punching his hand into the mattress of the bed.

But Cerise wasn’t even listening. She stalked purposefully toward the window and shoved it open. The cool night air instantly rushed inside like a lost traveler, desperate for the warmth of the fire. Then, they all watched in horror as the girl climbed up onto the windowsill and stepped straight off the edge.

“No!” Alouette sprinted toward the window, cringing in anticipation of the sight she was certain was waiting for her: a mangled body crushed against the ground. But a second later, a sleek silver cruiseur rose up into the air, causing Alouette to jump back. Cerise was perched in the open doorway, a look of urgency on her face. “What are you all staring at? Get in already!”

Alouette, Marcellus, and Gabriel dove inside the hovering vehicle. The door slid shut and Cerise called out, “Go!”

Alouette was wrenched backward onto the leather seat as the cruiseur launched away from the burning building. The flames were destroying everything in their path. Not just wood and mortar, but the memories they held too: the terrifying sound of pounding footsteps, the suffocating stench of hot, angry breath in her face. Blisters and splinters and aching feet. The piercing wail of a baby crying in the distance.

The fire consumed it all, until the old inn finally collapsed in on itself in a fountain of sparks, flying debris, and pluming, choking smoke. And as it all disappeared—every wall, every chair, every table, every childhood memory—Alouette felt something deep inside of her break free.

- CHAPTER 25 - MARCELLUS

THE JONDRETTE WAS GONE. DISINTEGRATED. Nothing left but rubble and ash. Marcellus stared numbly out the window as the cruiseur soared high above the darkened streets of Montfer, putting welcome distance between them and the line of Policier patroleurs and transporteurs stationed outside the wreckage.

What happened back there?

It had all transpired so fast, Marcellus barely had a second to wrap his