The Burning Girl: Haunted Collection Series Book 5

Bright red flames emerge with the strike of a match, devouring everything in sight… Stefan Korzh’s desire to destroy the lives of everyone around him knows no bounds. Even as he’s hunted by enemies, Stefan shows no signs of slowing down. His deadly collection of antiques continues to spread and help his dreams become reality. Meanwhile, Victor Daniels and Tom Crane have managed to build some resemblance of an ordinary life. They remain more determined than ever in their fight against Stefan, and will stop at nothing to put an end to the horrors of the Korzh collection. But life tends to take nasty turns when ghosts are involved. Stefan’s latest threat is the fire-obsessed Molly, whose deadly ghost emerges from the pages of a novel. With the simple flick of a match, she satisfies her addiction for scorching buildings and burning flesh. Victor and Tom quickly find themselves in the middle of a bloody trail of chaos, chasing after an enemy that will test the limits of their strength. And they must hurry. Because it doesn’t take long before Molly craves her next fiery fix… PRINT LENGTH 199 Pages AUDIO LENGTH 7 hours and 24 minutes NARRATED BY Thom Bowers PRODUCT DIMENSION 6 x 0.45 x 9 inches ISBN 979-8-89476-021-6 LANGUAGE English PUBLICATION DATE March 31, 2018   Read a Sample CHAPTER 18: MORE BAD NEWS Jenna and Gabby sat in Clair’s office. Their eyes were sunken, their faces drawn. They looked as if they hadn’t slept well in days and Clair didn’t care. Clair took pills each night to sleep. And it had gotten bad enough that she washed them down with a glass of wine. Only she and the twins knew what was going on, what it was that Shane and Frank were doing to the organization. It has to be them, she thought, stifling a curse. “How many?” Clair asked, hating the stiffness in her voice. “Three on Monday night. Two more on Tuesday,” Jenna answered. “They took a breather on Wednesday and Thursday,” Gabby continued, “and then hit us again yesterday.” Clair glared at Gabby until the woman added, “Another three.” “Damn it!” Clair snarled, slapping the top of her desk. “At least they’re small,” Jenna said. “The size doesn’t matter here,” Clair spat. “Every single one of them is necessary now. Rousseau didn’t return. We have the One. We’re not losing one ghost in each house. Oh no, we’re losing all of the dead it siphons energy from. It is a horrific ripple in our little pond.” “Do you want us to go to Shane’s house?” Jenna asked. “Are you serious?” Clair asked after a stunned moment of silence. “Sure,” Gabby said, nodding and glancing at her twin. “It’s just him and his buddy, right?” Clair took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and said, “Were either of you ever informed as to why these two gentlemen are an issue for us?” “No,” Jenna said. “We only know that they were causing some trouble.” The phone on the desk rang before Clair could enlighten the sisters. A look at the base showed a button labeled “Emilio and Sadie” flashed. Something about the pair tugged at her memory but it wouldn’t reveal itself. Frowning, Clair reached out and answered the call. “Hello?” she asked, her voice sharp. “Why hello,” a man said. His tone was harsh and unforgiving. “Who’s this?” “Evidently the wrong number,” Clair retorted and slammed the phone back into its cradle. Before her hand had left the receiver, the phone rang again. The same line flashed. Feeling anger flare within her, Clair snatched up the phone. “You have the wrong number,” she began, but the man on the other end cut her off before she could finish. “Where’s Harlan?” “He’s not here,” she replied, warily. “Who’s this?” “This is Shane Ryan.” Clair straightened up. “Shane.” “Yes,” he said. “Who are you?” “I’m Clair.” The twins leaned in, all hints of exhaustion gone as they listened intently to the part of the conversation they could hear. “You’re in charge now,” Shane said. It was a statement, not a question. “I am,” Clair replied. “What happened to Harlan?” Shane asked. “I had him strangled,” she responded. A snort of laughter came through the line. “Good. Well, I have to ask, how do you like my work so far?” Hatred boiled within her. Gritting her teeth together, she replied, “I’m not. When are you going to stop?” “Just as soon as I’ve crushed your organization,” Shane replied in a voice so low as to be almost inaudible. “You can’t,” Clair stated. “Maybe not,” Shane conceded. “But I’m going to try. And now, I know how.” He left an unasked question in the dead space between them and when Clair didn’t speak, he did. “I know about the One,” Shane said. “I know where it is. And while I figure out what to do about it, how to go about destroying it, I’m going to continue to disassemble the Watchers. A single ghost at a time.” “And what makes you think you’ll succeed?” Clair hissed. “What makes you think we can’t stop you?”