A Necessary Evil (Book 1)

Prologue

After

The flame grew hotter, more violent, the heat licking my skin like a tiger getting ready to consume its prey. No longer were the flames an impending doom; the doom had arrived. My eyes found my parents once more. I wanted to hate them. I wanted to make them feel the pain they were inflicting upon me. But I knew I was incapable of both. The fire spread around me, sparks singeing the tips of my hair. I supposed I would feel more as my death grew more imminent, but instead my mind was blank. Everything inside was numb. This must be what acceptance felt like.

The slow approach of the fire I had been counting on was now all but a distant memory. The breadth it once had to travel to get to me was gone. I bit down on my bottom lip as the flames gnawed at my ankles. It took everything I had within me to keep from yelping in pain. I would not let them see my tears. I would not. But that was proving more difficult a task than I had imagined. My parents had done this to me. They were the reason I was burning. But all I could feel was a deep sorrow for them. I had never thought how sad their lives had to be for them to fear me so much that it seemed killing me was the only option.

I locked my jaw in place as the flames burned hotter, charring my skin. It didn’t matter. I could no longer hide the pain I was feeling. Against my will, a moan of deep agony crossed my lips, filled with every ounce of emotion I had been feeling over the past week. I pinched my eyes shut, trying to throw up an obstacle so they wouldn’t see me broken. They would not get the satisfaction of seeing how much pain I felt. I refused to let them think they had won. I allowed my thoughts drift to Andreas in an effort to distract myself. He was the only one who could give me comfort in my final moments. It was only then that I truly realized that Kalen never really stood a chance.

I remembered everything. Every single interaction Andreas and I had had, the good and the bad all mixed together. The way he had kissed me that first time. The way he had held me as he led me from the cage. The way he spoke my name, even in anger. The way he had kissed me for the last time, not knowing he would never get the chance again. The way it made me feel when he said that I was his. I thought these memories would bring me comfort in my final hour, but instead they hurt more than the flames ever could. Just the thought of never seeing him again shot an unbearable anguish through my body that I doubted I could keep to myself.

“You are all cowards,” I said aloud, my voice cracking as I addressed my audience. It was a weak utterance at best, but I had to try and keep the pride I still had left. They would not strip me of my dignity, even in death.

No one replied. Their expressions just filled with more malice.

“Today you die, witch,” my father finally spoke. His words might as well have been a dagger to my heart, one stab for every word. Any illusion that he still cared for me disappeared in the moment. He was just as heartless as Jane Eleanor, his wife – the woman I would no longer call my mother.

I ignored him to the best of my abilities. It was futile now. The flames were already tearing at my dress, burning it off me. I was numb to the pain. The only agony I still felt was for the ones who loved me that I was leaving behind. I never even got to say goodbye, and now it would be too late. Andreas would never show. My hopes had been diminished, my fantasy never fulfilled. I was going to die.

I just hoped they knew I loved them. I hoped that Zane, Andreas, Kalen, and even Izzy all knew how much I cared about them before I left this world. If they knew that, at least I would leave something behind.

With that in mind, I rose my head to the sky, my eyes closed once more. I resigned myself to my fate, letting the flames consume me.

“LANA, NO!” a voice shrieked, but the dark abyss had already swallowed me, gripping so tightly that everything else slowly faded into empty oblivion until nothing was left.