Consuming Fire

Chapter 93

It was a miracle, in Hunter's opinion, that she could be standing so composed when behind her, there was a force stronger than her will to live drawing her back. It was not the gentle whisper she heard when she arrived at the shack, nor the voice of what she thought was her mother.

It was an unbearable, unshakable grip on her heart that felt as if it could physically drag her backwards. She would have, if Dr. Wolfe didn't have a gun at Joshua's head.

"What are you going to do then?" asked Joshua – obviously trying to distract Dr. Wolfe from Hunter's instability.

"I need you to come with Simon and I inside the caves – along with Bravo as protection – and Will and Hunter will remain here with my Agents. We will extract samples of Ravenadium, exit the caves, and then I will release you. It's that simple."

"You cannot take him in there," Hunter snarled. "I know what you'll do to him once you have what you want."

Dr. Wolfe gazed at her with his oyster eyes. She had run over this moment for at least an hour before she heard them coming. Dr. Wolfe would use all the leverage he had to gain power. Even Hunter's life was at risk standing between him and the mouth of the volcano. But Joshua, he needed. Only until he had Ravenadium, that is.

"I can't go in there alone, Hunter," said Dr. Wolfe, as though this were a diplomatic discussion and not a matter of life and death. "If I do, you'll only awaken the volcano and make it swallow me whole."

So he did sense the fire. It was so eager to drag the doctor into its depths and destroy him. She would have brought the lava right out of the cave, had it not been for Joshua and Will.

"Take me," said Joshua.

"No!"

"I swear I won't do anything to harm you, Dr. Wolfe. How can I when you have all these weapons and hostages, ones I care about?" He inclined his head at Will. "It's why you brought us here, isn't it?"

The doctor raised his eyebrows and nodded in agreement. "You have a point." He shoved Joshua in the back and he stumbled toward Hunter and the cave. She stepped aside. The scientist and Agent Bravo scuttled after him. "I'll be back with samples. Charlie, Agents; make sure you hold tight to those guns and don't let either of them out of your sight. You hear me?"

The men nodded. Hunter saw Agent Charlie put a gun to Will's head. He didn't falter, staring at Hunter with a look of calm defiance. That was when Hunter noticed the blood bags. Her mouth dropped open.

"Please Dr. Wolfe," she begged him. "Don't do this. What if Joshua melts?"

"I won't melt," said Joshua, though he didn't seem so sure of it. Ignoring Dr. Wolfe's protests, he marched up to her, his pale eyes consuming her. She wrapped her arms around him, not even caring that he couldn't hug her back. The comforting feeling of his cold body against hers, that nearness and connection with the man who was there for her from the moment she was born, made the fire stir in fear. With his forehead pressed against hers, he murmured, "I have faith. But even if I do burn, it's okay. I will not let him have the fire."

Hunter clenched him tightly. She didn't want to say a goodbye, because that made the possibility of losing him that much more real.

"I love you, Joshua."

"I love you too."

Joshua was pulled away by Dr. Wolfe, the gun once more against his head, but he did not leave her gaze as they marched into the volcano cave.

Her heart pounded. It was one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do. She looked back at Will and felt tears of frustration come to her eyes. She couldn't stand there. What if Dr. Wolfe did something horrible inside the volcano? What if Joshua burned the instant they entered?

This is wrong. I should be in there. Hunter couldn't decide if that was the fire talking or her own conscience. Either way, it was right.

An Agent was suddenly beside her with a gun to her neck. He wrenched her back from the opening of the cave to the shade of the trees where the others were gathered. Four Agents, she and Will.

"Are you alright?" asked Will.

She nodded to him as the Agent tied her hands together with a flexi-cuff. Stupid idiot. They also took the knife she had in the belt of her superhero suit. "Are you?"

"I'm fine. I'm sorry I got caught. I'm sorry Joshua got caught as well. It was unexpected."

"A lot of it was. I didn't expect that it would all end here."

"How did you get here so fast?"

"Ryo," she said. "I defeated Jack. I was going to go back with Ryo to the army base but-"

"Everyone is dead," said Will.

Hunter couldn't bring herself to say anything. It was too soon to accept that they were gone. She held back tears and nodded.

The Agent behind them snickered. "What did you expect? Your stupid team of so-called superheroes have no real power. Can't you see you were outnumbered from the very beginning?"

Hunter was very tempted to turn around and burn his eyes out with her fingers. She shot a quick sideways glance at Will. He was warning her to keep her cool.

 "I think that's enough talking," said Charlie. To make his point clear, he cocked the hammer on his gun and moved it to Will's temple.

Hunter's brain ticked. Will could not get shot. It changed everything. Hunter was willing to bet that if she acted fast enough, she could avoid a fatal wound. But with Will completely restricted and Joshua at the mercy of Dr. Wolfe, her choices were limited.

She weighed ideas in her mind, but her thoughts kept turning to the heat beneath her feet. She could feel the mountain, feel the power of Ravenadium beneath her, the birthplace of her powers, the very soul of her being. It was right there, waiting for her to use it.

Somewhere inside her, Hunter felt the presence of the fire tell her to trust it. And so she did. She let go of the fear and breathed from it courage, taking one last look at Will, telling him it would be alright. And then she closed her eyes and drew the fire from within.