Damon held Kai’s eyes, giving nothing away as the silence stretched between them, and I knew…I just knew…
She was dead.
That night wasn’t over when Kai and I left The Pope.
“Kai!” Alex shouted. “Oh, my God, hurry!”
We all spun around, spotting her inside the house, across the kitchen, and looking down the hallway.
She turned her worried eyes back to us. “Where’s the fire extinguisher?”
We all shot off. Running back into the house, I raced through the kitchen, feeling Kai’s hand take mine. We left Damon outside, and I knew that he’d run. A big part of me hoped he would.
Alex stood in the foyer, looking toward the sitting room, and Michael, Rika, Kai, and I rushed up to her, seeing the black drape crawling with flames. A small tree had crashed through the window, glass and rain covering the floor.
“The candles,” Kai breathed. “Shit!”
I glanced at the floor, and sure enough, the fallen tree had knocked the candles onto the floor, causing the drapes to catch fire.
Kai pointed at Will. “Closet!” And all of them, including Michael, ran back down the hallway, swinging open the closet door and diving inside for the extinguishers.
I raced into the sitting room, seeing the flames spread up the curtain, and then I noticed the shanais hanging on the wall next to the window.
“Rika!” I called, running over and grabbing one off the wall.
The heat of the flames stung my eyes, and rain hit my arm as I reached up again, pulling another sword off the wall. I choked on the tears stuck in my throat.
He’d already lost the dojo. I couldn’t let this happen again.
Rika worked with me, pulling everything off the wall and tossing it to one of the couches.
“No!” I heard Kai yell. “Banks, stay back!”
He ran in and grabbed my arm, yanking me behind him. “Put out the rest of the candles!”
The flames spread across the valance, and I rushed over to blow out the other tapers just in case the wind blew any more onto the floor.
Michael and Will ran in, Michael darting his horrified eyes toward us.
“Rika!” he shouted.
And I twisted around. A piece of the fabric hanging above, consumed in flames, spilled down, hanging by threads. She followed his gaze, looking up, and he shot off, hurrying for her. Suddenly, the gold rod broke, spilling down from the wall, and everything went in slow motion. The drapes, ablaze, came crashing down, and everyone reached out for her, but just then, she was grabbed by the shirt, hauled backward, away from the flames, and sent tumbling to the hardwood floor at the center of the room. She crashed onto her back, wincing out of fear or pain, I wasn’t sure.
And I looked up and saw Damon. I hadn’t even seen him enter.
Rika blinked a few times, the wind knocked out of her as Michael dived down and pulled her up.
“Jesus Christ,” he gasped, holding her face. “You okay?”
She seemed stunned, just trying to catch her breath. Then she looked over, and so did I, Damon standing there with his jaw clenched.
Everyone was momentarily frozen, piecing together what the hell had just happened, but Kai turned back to the flames, and pointed the nozzle at the window. He and Will sprayed the extinguisher up, down, and over, the bright, hot flames quickly turning to smoke, Will coughing as the fire was put out.
I exhaled, trying to catch my breath.
They set the tanks down, all of us just stood there, tired, confused, angry, or whatever. I looked over to Alex. She had a hand on her chest, breathing hard, while Michael stood in front of Rika, both of them not saying anything.
Will fell down on the couch, resting his head in his hands, and Kai…Kai turned his eyes on Damon finally.