CHAPTER 104: BLAZING FIRE

CLARE – POV

"AAGH! She’s taking forever!" Thelia’s voice sliced through the air like a blade.

Before I could react, she was in front of me, her speed a blur, her fingers yanking Blaze’s shirt open.

Buttons flew like shrapnel.

"I call dibs on her wrist," she smirked at Lucas.

I scrambled to hold the shirt closed, trying to hide what little I could. A guy seated nearby chuckled at the pathetic sight of me clutching scraps to my chest like some broken doll.

Lucas laughed. "Let the fun begin."

And then his hands were on me—tugging, tearing, gripping like claws. The hollering from the table swelled around me, a grotesque chorus of clapping, hooting, cheering.

My pleas—my screams—meant nothing.

They were the soundtrack of their sport.

Lucas bent to yank down the sweatpants.

I kicked out, my foot slamming into his jaw with a snap.

"Bitch!" Thelia screeched. Her hand whipped across my face.

The slap was inhuman. My head snapped sideways, stars bloomed in my vision, and the warm taste of blood flooded my mouth.

But then—everything changed.

Thelia screamed.

And her hand caught fire.

Not just heat. Not a flicker.

Blazing. Roaring. Living fire.

Lucas reeled back, howling—his hands ablaze, the fire eating at his skin like it was made of parchment.

The long banquet table ignited with a furious whoosh—an inferno bursting from its very bones.

Chaos erupted.

Vampires shrieked, knocking over chairs, toppling glasses full of blood. The naked humans scrambled, slipping on red-slick marble, trying to escape. But they couldn’t—because now a ring of fire surrounded the hall, sealing every exit.

The world spun in flashes of pain and fire.

The ring of flames roared around the grand hall, trapping everyone inside like livestock in a slaughterhouse. I could barely see through one swollen eye—my other stung too much to keep open. My cheek throbbed, hot and wet with blood from Thelia’s slap. My torn shirt barely clung to me, ripped in shreds. My hands were shaking, fumbling to cover my chest as the jeering and clapping faded into screams and chaos.

Thelia screamed, her beautiful, cruel hands engulfed in flames, burning unnaturally bright. Lucas thrashed, his palms sizzling like raw meat on fire, rolling across the marble floor, leaving trails of smoke and ash.

The table—once elegant and grotesque—was now a pyre.

Vampires scrambled over one another, tripping on chairs and blood-slick tiles, trying to escape. But the fire had them caged. Even the humans—those naked, drained things—screamed in confusion as they sought exits that didn’t exist.

I clutched at scraps of fabric, trying to cover myself as Thelia thrashed. Her twin, Marcus, tried to smother her burning hand with his jacket—it ignited instantly.

He screamed.

She screamed louder.

Lucas rolled on the ground, his mouth torn wide in agony, hands now blackening at the tips.

And Blaze’s father—still untouched, unburned—stood calmly at the side of the room, watching the table burn like it was a fine painting being ruined.

The flames danced in his cold, calculating eyes.

I was on my knees, one hand gripping what was left of the shirt, the other pressed to my bruised, burning cheek. My vision was cut in half—one eye swollen shut, everything spinning.

Then—

Through the ring of fire, someone stepped in.

And the temperature... dropped.

Despite the roaring flames, the room turned cold as death.

My breath hitched.

Blaze.

But not the version I’d seen before.

This Blaze—he wasn’t just furious.

Blaze stepped through the ring of fire as if it bent out of his way. The flames didn’t dare touch him.He wasn’t just angry.He was a storm disguised as a man.His eyes burned with fury colder than ice, his power pressing into the room like a second gravity. My body, broken and shivering, responded on instinct.

Relief. Terror. Awe.

I didn’t know which to feel more.

His aura pressed on the room like a coming storm, dark and suffocating. The fire flickered around him, shrinking like it feared him. He didn’t move. He marched. And the moment he reached me, he dropped his jacket over my bare shoulders and scooped me up—arms strong, protective, cradling me like something broken and precious.

The room fell deathly silent.

Only the crackling of flame and the ragged screams of Lucas and Thelia filled the air.

My good cheek pressed against Blaze’s shoulder. It smelled like blood and smoke and safety.

The black dots in my vision danced faster.

He didn’t look down.

His jaw was clenched, stone.

His eyes locked on his father.

"Did anyone feed from you?" he asked, voice soft.

Gentle.

Too gentle.

That’s how I knew he was truly dangerous now.

His voice shouldn’t have been soft.

Not with the way his jaw was clenched, his eyes burning, his aura devouring the air around us.

But it was.

It was soft like a lover’s whisper before vengeance.

I nodded weakly. A tear slipped from my good eye.

He stilled.

And the fire grew.

His grip tightened. The fire surged higher.

"Who?" His voice was still low. But it quaked the walls.

I tried to speak, but my lips barely moved. My mouth was dry. My tongue heavy. "The... red... she..."

I don’t know if he heard my words or just felt my fear.

But his gaze snapped to her—and his next words shook the entire hall.

"Defang her."

A pause.

"Or I will."

His words slammed into the room like a thunderclap. Chairs cracked. Walls trembled.

Silence.

Thelia let out a shriek louder than the fire when two of the elder guards grabbed her, yanking her head back with iron grips. Her eyes widened in horror.

"No—no, please, Father, tell them to stop! I only took a little! It was just a—"

She screamed as the first fang was ripped from her gum, blood spraying down her chin.

Blaze didn’t even look.

He was already walking out—with me in his arms.

And then—

That was the last thing I heard before the darkness took me.