Free Phoenix by Elizabeth Richards Page A

wooden beams above us creak and splinter. There’s
     a terrible cracking sound, and Ash shoves me, sending me flying out the front doorway
     into the street just as the roof caves in behind us.
    Cool air smacks me in the face, and I gasp deep lungfuls of it before crashing to
     the ground. Michael takes his son from Ash, who kneels on the cobblestones beside
     me, coughing up soot. Someone hands us a pan of water, and I let Ash drink first before
     guzzling the remainder myself. My throat feels scorched, on fire.
    “Are you okay?” I say croakily.
    He manages a nod, but his whole body is shaking.
    Day rushes over to me after she’s tended to MJ.
    “Polly?” she says.
    “Not here,” I reply. “I don’t know where she is.”
    Day gasps. “Natalie!”
    She points toward the house. It takes me a moment to realize what I’m looking at through
     the smoke, and then I see it.
    Painted on the side of the house is a bright red rose.

8.
    NATALIE
    “POLLY! POLLY!” I yell.
    Ash holds me back, and I kick and whale against him like a wild animal. I know the
     symbol is a message for me. Purian Rose has taken Polly. Sebastian’s words ring in
     my head:
Just know it could’ve been prevented.
They never intended to kill me. I make these little hiccupping sounds until my chest
     hurts.
    “Why won’t Rose leave us alone?” I say.
    “Because we’re a threat,” Ash replies.
    “But Polly wasn’t a threat. MJ wasn’t a threat!” I say. “Why should they suffer because
     of something
you
did?”
    Ash flinches.
    I regret the words as soon as they fall out of my mouth.
    “I didn’t mean that,” I say.
    “It’s true, though.”
    I pull away from Ash, my whole body shaking with rage at the Sentry. They took my
     sister, they tried to kill MJ. Who else will they hurt to get back at us? A name suddenly
     springs into my mind.
    “Harold!” I exclaim.
    What better way to punish Ash than to kill his father? We push our way through the
     crowds of people trying to put out the fire, and sprint through the streets until
     we reach the Ivy Church.
    We burst through the front door.
    “Dad!” Ash yells.
    Harold comes rushing out of the kitchen and goes pale when he sees us.
    “Oh, my heavens! What happened?”
    We tell him about the house fire, about Polly and MJ and the rose symbol. When we’re
     done, I collapse in a kitchen chair, utterly drained. Ash tentatively rubs my back.
     I lift my head up to face him, tears in my eyes. It strikes me how gaunt he’s looking,
     with deep shadows under his sharp cheekbones, the stress of the past two months catching
     up with him. I wonder when he last ate something.
    “I really am sorry for what I said earlier, about this being your fault,” I say. “It’s
     not.”
    “It is, in a way.” Ash lowers his lashes. “Rose told me he was going to take ‘Miss
     Buchanan.’ It didn’t even occur to me it could be your sister.”
    “Did Purian Rose tell you what he had planned for her?” I say quietly.
    “No,” he says, not looking at me.
    He’s lying, but maybe it’s best I don’t know.
    Harold fetches Ash a sachet of Synth-O-Blood from the fridge and makes me a cup of
     herbal tea. I stare at the tea leaves drifting down to the bottom of the cup, thinking
     about Polly. She must be so scared. Another sob escapes my lips. Ash cradles me in
     his arms as Harold goes to get Day and her family. The front door closes. We’re alone.
    “Am I a bad person, Ash?” I say.
    “Why would you think that?”
    “Because my whole family has been taken away from me,” I say. “My father was killed,
     Polly’s been kidnapped, and I have no idea where my mother is. It’s too much.”
    He hooks a finger under my chin, tilting my face up to meet his. “We’ll get through
     this.” He kisses me softly, trying to take the pain away. It works for a while, like
     a dam holding back the tides, but the second he breaks the kiss, it all comes flooding
     back, worse than before.
    “I wish