Master of the Storm

Chapter Twenty Nine: Pyrotechnics

A/N: this chapter is from Beatrix's perspective, it takes place a few hours after she left to find Marcus

I'm in the basement

I reread the ominous text as I stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at the dark basement below. I was at the bottom of Marcus's apartment building, where I had managed to track him down. Now that I was here, I was feeling a lot less confident.

"Marcus?" I called. "I'm here."

"Come down," he called back.

"Can't we talk up here?" I asked.

"No, I can't move. It- it burns."

I felt sorry for him, then. He sounded like a scared kid, and not like what I had though of him. And I knew how he felt. Every moment, the pulsing and faint voices in my head grew louder, and feelings that weren't mine washed over me. But now was not the time for sympathy.

As I walked down the stairs, my own worry grew stronger. What if he was resisting my control? What if he hurt me? And what if I had been wrong about him, and I'd been influencing an innocent person this whole time?

But I had been right about Evianna. I had felt her helpless, desperate anger, her need for power and control, which was hidden underneath her sweet disposition, her pretend to help while she tried to gather as much information on Damira as she could, who I had tried to warn.

As my feet touched the concrete of the basement floor, my fingers searched the wall beside me, looking for a light switch. Before I could, the small space was illuminated by fire.

Marcus stood in front of me, a ball of flame in his palm, lighting up his face, and mine. He was a lot closer to me then I had sensed. I hadn't even been able to feel him down here. And that scared me the most, more then the dangerous boy with fire in his hands in front of me. My powers were failing me. And they couldn't keep me safe, not now.

"Hello, Beatrix," he said.

"Marcus," I responded coldly. "I finally found you. Where did you go?"

"I needed to get away from your mind control," he spat. "I wanted to rule, to control. To actually use these powers, like I was doing before I met you. But in the past week, I haven't felt that at all. It's like something was censoring my thoughts and feelings, and making me numb. I suddenly wanted to help Damira and the rest of you with whatever your fucking plan was. I didn't even realize something was wrong until after the whole rescue mission, when I went to school and spent a whole day away from you."

"You sound crazy," I told him. "I think you're just imagining all of this. Maybe this was just you, subconsciously trying to be a better person."

"Don't try to manipulate me!" he said angrily. "I know you did something to me! Why?!"

Because as soon as I'd met him, I'd known who he was. What he'd done. I had felt it on him. And I'd known he would destroy us all if I didn't... change his mind.

"Why?" he demanded again. "Tell me why!"

"I know you're the arsonist the police are looking for," I told him. "You burned down that apartment complex, didn't you? You set fire to that restaurant."

He didn't answer, but his face told me everything I needed to know.

"Why did you do it?" I asked. "I mean, what was the point? Did you just feel like causing chaos?"

"A guy living in one of the buildings," he said bitterly. "He insulted me. And after that... I realized I liked it."

"You burned down an entire building because some guy insulted you? Christ, you're insecure. That's embarrassing for you," I mocked, unable to stop myself.