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Jade cried out and jued for the pot of water she kept in the corner for fire e the container, she du it

She fought the panic that seized her Losing her cottage was her biggest fear of all, for with it, the tangible reminder of her life with her parents would incinerate as well

Jade attempted to compose herself, but a ed her attention Once more, she turned toward the s at the back of the house and a heartbeat later, a ghastly apparition appeared before her eyes—a wraith draped in a cloak as dark as the night, but with the edges of it lit by fla all around him

Another shriek fell from her parted lips

A fire wraith?!

She’d only heard about them from her father—no one else had conceded they existed, not even the slayers

The demon’s sockets blazed where there should have been eyes When he opened his mouth and fire spewed forth, she let out a full-on screaed to propel herself into action

“Not my house!” she yelled Then she bolted for the front door

She only wore gray drawstring pants, a knit sweater and her slippers The biting air nearly froze her to the core of her being, but she was desperate to pull the wraith from the close proxiround She raced along the bank of the river, hearing the pounding of horse hooves behind her Jade knew they didn’t belong to the Deeist that hunted her

“Davian!” she called out—in hopes he was near by—just as the horse and its ghostly rider descended upon her

She stole a glance over her shoulder The anis connected with her back, sla the wind fro it iround, she tried to concentrate on breathing Urged herself to craay

Fire erupted beside her, igniting the trees and appearing to reach all the way up to the inky sky The stallion drew back on his hind legs again Jade had no ti contact with her left wrist and hand, crushing the bones

The sound of her suffering reverberated all around her as she wailed The excruciating pain shot through her, stealing her breath and plunging her mind into a dark abyss so that she couldn’t think or force herself to move

She lay in the thick snoith asped for even the thinnest slice of air Her eyelids squeezed shut and she willed herself to begin the healing process, but the raw sensations held her hostage so that she couldn’t focus on anything other than the crippling shockwaves

Above the pulse ringing in her ears, she heard the thundering approach of another rider and the neigh of his horse, followed by the unsheathing of swords and the clanging of er possessed the ability to open her eyes and see who had come to her rescue Instead, she put her faith in whoever it was and willed herself to rise above the pain and repair her spine so she could pull in a full breath without it feeling as though everything inside of her had shattered into a ed shards