Sizzle and Burn

inside. Just like he did to all the other witches.”
    “Move,” Zack ordered. Somehow he was on his feet.
    She grabbed the edge of the bedside table and staggered upright. Adrenaline made it possible to ignore the pain in her ankle. Somehow her purse had made it back into the bedroom along with her. It was lying on the floor. Age-old feminine instinct and reflex made her scoop it up.
    The sight of the painting on the wall stopped her. It was an ominously smiling mask. She reached up and took it down. There was a small safe set into the wall.
    Zack had the window open now. Cold air blew into the bedroom. “What the hell are you doing? Get over here.”
    “Just a second.”
    The safe was a simple, inexpensive one. She punched in the date of her own birth.
    “Leave it,” Zack said, throwing the emergency rope ladder over the windowsill. “Whatever is in there isn’t worth your life.”
    But she had the door to the safe open now. She pulled out the only object, a leather-bound volume, and stuffed it into her purse.
    There was a great, roaring whoosh of sound from the hallway.
    “ Burn, witch! ” Spicer screamed.
    Vella’s many smoke alarms began to shriek.
    She ran for the window. Zack practically shoved her through the opening. She got a foot on the first rung of the emergency ladder and started down. The ladder shook and trembled but it held.
    Zack followed swiftly.
    She reached the ground and scurried back.
    “This way.” Zack stumbled a little when he stepped off the ladder. He put one hand to his side where the crimson stain was growing.
    Together they half limped, half staggered toward the shelter of the small shed that had originally been built to hold firewood. Vella had used it to store garden tools. Raine gritted her teeth against the pain in her ankle, aware that Zack had to be in agony. If he could keep going, so could she.
    When they reached the back of the shed they stopped. Raine could see flames and black smoke surging up into the damp sky. The fire was roaring now, a huge tyrannosaurus rex come to life and busily devouring everything in sight.
    “Sit down,” Raine ordered. “Before you fall down.”
    Zack obeyed reluctantly, unclipping his phone while he sank onto the cold ground. He leaned forward slightly, watching the burning house, gun in hand, while he talked to the 911 operator.
    Raine reached inside his jacket and unfastened his blood-drenched shirt. His right side was a gory mess. It was difficult to tell exactly where the wound was. Using her fingers, she tracked a steady, welling stream of blood back to its source. When she found the raw edges of the wound that had ripped open his flesh she felt him suck in his breath.
    She jerked off the long scarf she wore and wrapped it snugly around his rib cage. By the time she finished they were both covered in blood.
    The house was fully engulfed now. The speed of the fire was terrifying. If it hadn’t been for the phobic fear that had led Vella to install emergency fire ladders in the upstairs rooms—
    No , Raine thought. Don’t go there . Thank you, Aunt Vella .
    “Spicer must have left,” she whispered.
    Zack shook his head once, never taking his attention off the house. “Don’t think so. He can’t leave. He has to be sure.”
    “He’s crazy.”
    “Oh, yeah.”
    A few seconds later she heard Spicer’s voice again.
    “Die, witch. Die like she died.”
    “He just noticed the rope ladder,” Zack said quietly. “He’s going to come unglued now.”
    Spicer’s high, keening scream of rage rose above the thunder of the fire.
    “You can’t escape!” Spicer shouted. “You have to burn. It’s the only way.”
    “He’s just noticed the shed,” Zack said. “He’s coming this way.”
    She could hear sirens in the distance now. Spicer seemed oblivious, however.
    “The demon always wins!” he yelled. “The demon is more powerful than you, witch.”
    Zack rose slowly, back pressed to the wall of the shed.
    “Put the gun down, Spicer,” he called. “The cops are on the way. It’s over.”
    Spicer’s response was a flurry of shots followed by an abrupt pause. She didn’t know much about guns but she knew enough to realize that they occasionally needed to be reloaded.
    Zack leaned around the edge of the shed and fired once.

    Doug Spicer was still alive when Wayne Langdon and a deputy pulled into the drive. A fire truck followed by an aide car appeared next.
    Raine didn’t wait for the medics to do triage. She