Read Within the Flames for Free Online Page B

her eat his flesh. There was nothing we could do to stop her.”
    Eddie didn’t speak. Charlie had not told him that part.
    Lannes took a breath, then exhaled slowly. “Imagine being imprisoned inside your own skin for years, unable to move or breathe, existing only as a thought. Forced to watch someone you love be tortured, over and over again. And the only way to stop it is to sell your soul.”
    Eddie didn’t need to imagine. All he had to do was think of his sister.
    I watched. I was helpless. I couldn’t move or breathe. In the end, I sold my soul.
    I did something I could never take back.
    He remembered, and heat suffused his skin, rolling through him in a slow wave that poured from his head down to his toes. Eddie breathed slow and deep through his nose, trying to maintain control.
    Lannes didn’t seem to notice. “The witch who captured us was incredibly powerful. And she loved that power. She wanted more of it. She wanted to flaunt it.”
    “You’re warning me,” Eddie said in a strained voice. “I get it.”
    “You better.” Lannes gave him a flat, empty look. “There’s a tipping point. It’s different for everyone. I don’t know if the witch was born without compassion, but somewhere in her life, she forgot it. She began enjoying the pain she caused. She fed off the agony of others.”
    “I know the type,” he replied, still struggling with the heat gathering beneath his skin. “I won’t hesitate.”
    Lannes paused. Eddie realized he was rubbing the scars on his hands. The gargoyle was looking at them.
    Eddie stilled. Lannes dropped his gaze and stared at the ground. “It’s been years since I heard of the Cruor Venator. I had to ask my brothers about them. I had to go outside the family. Everyone says the same thing.”
    Lannes finally looked at him. “When they want you, hey want all you can do is run.”
    “Not an option. And nothing I haven’t already heard.”
    “Then you know their power comes from blood. Blood obtained through death. The slower the death, the better. And not just any blood. A true Cruor Venator will absorb the essence of the victim, and so they choose only those whom they perceive to be strong, vibrant. The ones with the most to offer.”
    “Shape-shifters,” Eddie said. “That doesn’t explain why everyone is so afraid of them.”
    Lannes gave him a hard look. “Really?”
    Eddie didn’t back down. “Really. You talk about magic and witches, and it means nothing to me. Just more people with strange gifts.”
    “Gifts that alter reality. In small, personal doses.”
    “So how do you fight that?”
    “With luck and a strong sense of free will.” Lannes leaned forward, holding his gaze. “What creates a witch is nothing more than desire and power. That, and a particular bloodline that makes it possible to manifest that desire. What makes the Cruor Venator different is the way they harness power.”
    “It doesn’t seem as though it should make them special. Anyone can spill blood.”
    “You’re wrong. But that’s not something I can explain in words.”
    Eddie jammed the toe of his boot into the grass, and dug in, frustrated. “I spoke to someone else. Long Nu. She’s a very old shape-shifter . . . old enough to remember the Cruor Venator. But she didn’t explain any of this.”
    “I’ve heard of her. Dragons are like that.”
    Great, he thought. “Do you know how to kill these witches?”
    “Maybe. But it’s not good.” Lannes leaned against a tree and, despite the illusion, suddenly looked tired. “I’ve been told they can only be killed by one of their own. The magic that gives them power . . . is the only magic that can take their lives.”
    Eddie didn’t immediately respond. He couldn’t. It was all too overwhelming and strange.
    v> eight="
    He listened to the dull thrum of the city beyond the trees, a mix of voices and honking cars and birdsong. He imagined himself younger, hungry and homeless, craving a normal life. Free of