Burning Ember by Evi Asher

I collapsed, exhausted, in the hollow of an old lightning struck tree. I curled up there, convinced it was a good place to sleep off the fatigue.
    Scarlet watched Archer closely, and she could see in her mind’s eye the images he was creating with his words.
    “I slept deeply, and I dreamt,” he continued in a hushed voice. “She was calling me, calling for help, and I had to reach her. Her voice lured me like a siren’s call. The need to reach her was so overpowering that I couldn’t do anything but run, so that is what I did.” His voice fell to a quiet hush.
    “I ran in my dream, like I’d never run before, and my speed and agility increased exponentially as I ran farther.”
    “The moon was full, fat and bright.” Archer looked up as if he was back in his dream world, seeing the full moon again. “Igniting the air that was moved by my speeding form, but without warning, the moon dulled compared to the flames in the clearing ahead of me.” His head snapped forward, and his eyes glowed with something that made Scarlet shiver.
    “They were brighter than the sun” Archer stared into space as if he was seeing the flames, experiencing it all again.
    Scarlet moved to the edge of her chair, almost scared to breathe in case she broke the spell of his words.
    “I stopped, shielding my eyes, but I couldn’t stand still long. I had to move forward, her cries for help were still calling me, and I was incapable of ignoring them.” His voice stayed hushed but intense.
    “Her hand reached through the flames, and she called me by my name, pleading for me to help her. I reached for her, but as my fingers touched hers, her fingers turned to ash and sifted to the ground, not touched by the blast of wind the fire created.” Archer’s voice dropped lower, agony aching through his tone as he spoke. “I woke with her voice still in my ears and the need to find her riding me hard. I searched that forest for two days, and in the end, I had to give up and admit it had only been a vision. The woman wasn’t real.” His blue eyes lifted and locked on Scarlet.
    “But I know this—she was a pyro who died in her own flames, and I will do anything to stop something like that from happening again.”
    There was silence in the room. No one knew what to say to that. Zane was the one who broke the silence. “Damn, Archer, that must have been a seriously intense vision.”
    Archer nodded, not answering, his eyes still locked on Scarlet. “Can you understand now why you are going to get my help, whether you want it or not?
    “Yes…” Scarlet cleared her throat. “I understand.”
    “Good.” Archer relaxed and moved to sit on the couch near Scarlet.
    “It’s your turn to divvy some info, Poe. What did you find out?”
    Poe raised his brow. “We finally get to hear the story of your vision, and now you want to ruin it by getting all anticlimactic?”
    “We need the information you got, so stop being evasive and give it up,” Archer grumbled.
    “First, let me say, any debt I owed you is paid, in fact you owe me now.” Poe stood and unbuttoned the front of his shirt then parted the halves.
    Scarlet gasped. His sculpted chest was covered in bite marks. “What happened to you?”
    Poe nodded and flashed a smile. “Blood is currency in the vampire court. My blood is of the purest, therefore the most valuable.”
    Scarlet opened her mouth to ask why Poe’s blood was so pure.
    “Poe is the crown prince of the Vampires.” Zane supplied.
    Scarlet closed her mouth as Poe buttoned up his shirt again and sat.
    “Consider it a debt owed.” Archer gritted his teeth in guilt.
    “As you saw, the information I got was costly, even if it was vague and—in my opinion—useless.”
    “Can the death sentence be lifted?” Scarlet asked.
    “The answer on that is unclear.” Poe held up his hand as they all started to question him at once. “Everyone tells me that it can’t be lifted. That there is no power save that of the hidden