Page 1 of Burned

CHAPTER ONE

ERIN

The kindling snapsin my hand.

A clean, sharp crack shatters the frozen silence of the woods around Red Shutters.

I stare down at the broken stick as if it’s betrayed me.

Ridiculous.

It’s only wood.

Just a branch. Just bark, splinters, and sap, frozen hard under my fingers.

Just one more thing I’ve broken without meaning to.

Clouds drift in front of my face as I lower the pieces into the basket at my feet.

We’re supposed to be in New York right now. All of us. Together. Safe.

We’re not.

The cold here is different from the cold in the city.

In New York, winter is alive and dirty and filled with exhaust fumes and curbs of gray snow.

Here, the cold is quieter. Clean. The kind that settles into your bones till it almost scares you.

Behind me, Red Shutters stands tucked between the trees, warm light glowing through the windows like something out of a storybook.

Safe.

That’s what everyone keeps calling it.

The safe house.

The place Lucian brought me after blood, bullets, and betrayal. Then he brought my family. The place where Ryan sleeps peacefully. The place where Cass can rest without bracing for a monster to come through the door.

The place where Gregory has found his place beside his brother.

The place where we should all be breathing easy.

I glance back at the cottage.

Two stories, its shutters painted green, not red. Stone walls. Deep porch. Smoke curling from the chimney into the pale morning sky.

Everything about it should make me feel protected.

Instead, I feel watched.

Not by the men stationed in the trees. I know they’re there even when I can’t see them.

Bayne’s people move like shadows. Silent, trained, and tough enough to stand outside in this ungodly cold without complaint.

The Kings don’t make me nervous.

The threat of Lucian’s one true love coming to life does.