Alanna still couldn’t see Matthew’s expression, but she could see when he raised his hand high in the air to point a finger at Owen. Then he began making a circle in the air. She watched in amazement as fire shot out from the tip of his finger to land on Owen. Then Matthew started moving his finger faster, going up and down.

Alanna watched, horror-stricken, as flames consumed a screaming Owen. The snapping dogs backed away as the fire devoured him within their depths, the fire swirling around him like a tornado of heat. Then Owen crumbled to the ground when Matthew turned his hand palm up and the flame flew to him as if Matthew had beckoned them like Moses his dogs. The flames danced on his hand until he closed it into a fist. When he opened his hand again, the flames were gone.

Alanna stood there, trying to grasp what had just happened. She must have lost her mind when she had seen Elizabeth shot, which was the only rational explanation she could come up with. It was the godawful smell coming from the burnt, still smoldering spot on the ground where Owen and the fake deputy should have been, but both were gone and that snapped her out of her thoughts.

A shrill sound had her coving her ears to drown out the noise that was so loud it was mind numbing.

“Alanna, stop screaming.” Matthew surrounded her with his arms.

Frightened by what she had just witnessed, she tore herself out of his arms. “I’ve lost my mind. I didn’t just see you burn—”

“Please don’t be afraid of me.” Matthew’s grim visage turned heart wrenching. “I can explain—”

“How can you explain killing a man?”

“Because he wasn’t a man. He was a monster who preyed on the innocent. He should have been locked up when the foster system found out he had raped two other girls, beside you. He should have never been put in a home where there were females, and they didn’t even give your foster parents any clue what type of monster they had allowed into their home.”

She stared down at the smoldering ground, the stench making her want to vomit. Gagging, she covered her mouth.

Matthew took her by the arm to move her away from the stench and toward Silas’ home. Helping her sit down on the upper step, he used his hand to press her head down to her knees.

“Isaac, get her a glass of water.” She heard Silas tell his brother.

Alanna felt Isaac hurry past her and heard the screen door open.

“Just breathe,” Matthew said, sitting down next to her to put an arm around her.

“Greer and Dustin aren’t answering my calls. Is Logan okay?”