Denouement (The Darkness Series Book 3) by Cassia Brightmore

of books on the floor was currently on fire, the flames consuming the pages. The blaze was so high it blocked the way to the office, effectively making the aisle a dead end. Sweat began to run down her back as she realized that he was playing a game with her, watching her run through the stacks knowing that he’d set fires and there would be no way for her to get free. Refusing to give up, she retraced her steps and ran down another walkway, only to be met with the same fate. He’d caged her in. There was no way out.
    “Oh God, oh God,” she whispered, walking backwards, her eyes never leaving the flames. Her back collided with something hard; immovable. Her body shook as she slowly turned and looked up into the face that had herded her into this spot. A ski-mask blocked his identity, making him a faceless menace that would haunt her dreams if she made it out of there alive.
    “Say goodnight, pet,” he told her. She looked at him quizzically for a split second before he brought his fist up and everything went black.
    The man hummed as he hooked his hands under Aubrey’s arms and dragged her along the floor. Mila had ordered this one’s death and he was nothing if not a loyal servant. Dumping her beside the file cabinets, he gathered up more books and dumped them all in a pile around her. When he was satisfied with his collection, he slipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew his pack of matches. He struck the flame and with a flick of his wrist, dropped it into his makeshift fire pit. His hands twitched and he looked down at the blow torch at his side. It would be so easy to just spend a few minutes playing with her, he was intrigued to see how her pale, milky skin would look when alive with flames. The fact that he couldn’t take the time only fueled his rage further. Mila owed him for denying him his pleasure.
    The flames came to life, dancing across floor to latch greedily onto the books he’d arranged. Power coursed through his veins, electrifying his pulse into a furious pace as his handiwork came to life.
    One tiny ember is all it took to engulf their world in flames.
    One dance of the molten blaze extinguished everything of importance. Glancing at his watch, he realized he was cutting it close to his meet with Mila and she was not a woman who would be pleased to be kept waiting. With a regretful look, he turned and walked away from his creation, without a second thought of the woman he was leaving behind to burn.
    “Thanks for the game, pet. Be seein’ ya,” he called out as he walked to the only unblocked exit in the library. It wouldn’t be long before the whole building lit up. Knowing that he was responsible for that filled him with pride. His work, their work would make him a legend. They’d be talking about his masterpieces for years to come. Especially this one.
    *     *     *
    West slowly opened his eyes, blinking several times. His neck protested when he moved his head too quickly and he raised a hand to rub the back of it. He was sitting straight up in the passenger seat of his car, seatbelt firmly in place. “What the fuck?” he wondered out loud. How much had he drank last night? He never let himself get out of control when drinking. To think that he was that out of it that he had no recollection of how he ended up in the passenger side of his own car, parked outside the—the library? It made no fucking sense.
    He looked himself over. He was covered in ash, black marks covering his hands once again; just like the other morning when he woke up with parts of his memory missing. His blackouts were coming more and more frequently and were starting to scare the shit out of him. West rolled his stiff shoulders and looked at the clock. Almost ten a.m. He’d told Aubrey he would come by and see her this morning; but he wanted to go home and clean up, she shouldn’t see him in this state.
    Climbing out of the car to move to the driver’s side, something caught his eye at the library.