I grabbed my phone and checked it.
Shit.
He’d called about a dozen times.
I had it on silent.
Something smelled funny in my room, hot. I sniffed the hair straightener, but that wasn’t it. Something smoky or misty was billowing under my door. No, definitely smoke. Had I left the oven on?
I quickly pulled a sweatshirt over my head then went to open the door.
Searing heat scorched my palm as I turned the doorknob.
I jerked back, panicked as I dropped to my hands and knees. Dark smoke billowed into the room, and something orange and red licked at the ceiling in the hall. Fire!
And opening the door just exposed more air.
I slammed it, coughing against the noxious smoke.
With shaking hands, I snatched up my phone and called Maksim while opening my window to look outside.
Sure enough, the west part of the house had flames flickering in windows, but I didn’t see any coming up from the roof. So right now, my mom and dad’s room and part of the kitchen. And from what I’d glimpsed outside my bedroom door, it was heading for me. Dad was gone with Mom at a convention; they’d just left this morning. Ash was already at the dinner, Violet lived in Seattle, and my younger sister Ariel was hanging out with her friends.
It was just me.
Me and the fire.
“Where the hell have you been?” Maksim yelled into the phone. “I was worried when you didn’t answer. I’m almost—oh, shit!”
“Yeah, oh shit.” I started to cough from the smoke billowing under the door into my master suite. “Maks, I can’t open the door.”
“Don’t.” His car pulled up to the gates. Men were everywhere trying to put out the fire, but Dad had only left a dozen or so of them behind, taking the rest with him. Our security was usually so good we didn’t need to worry about things like fires.
It had to have been an accident.
Dad’s going to kill me.
Maks started barking orders to the men; I could hear him cursing over the phone and see him gesturing and pointing at people.
And then he was under my window by the tree stump. His expression was pure calm as he smiled up at me and said into the phone. “Pretty shitty time to cut that tree down.”
I laughed despite the fear coursing through my body. “Yeah, let’s blame the tree.”
“Can’t wait to rescue you and rub that in Scary Dad’s face.”
I rolled my eyes. “Ash and his stupid nickname for Dad.
“Accurate nickname,” he corrected.
“Are you going to stand there or help?” I gulped hard. “The smoke is coming in pretty fast, and I can’t just jump from my window.”
“Sure you can,” Maks said calmly. “You simply toss the phone out, I catch it, and you follow.”
I did the math. “Maks, I’m on the second story; it’s at least fifteen feet, maybe twenty.”
“Listen very carefully, Iz.”
My hands began shaking, causing the phone I held to my ear to slam against my hoop earrings. “I’m listening.”
“Good girl.” How was it possible for his smile to be so damn calming when I was so terrified? “You’re going to slowly climb out that window, put your legs against the brick and then stretch them down. You’re not crazy tall, but it’s enough that I can catch you.”
I frowned. “You’re going to catch me?”
“Accurate.” He said it in such a smooth way. “Are you going to let me?”
“Do I have a choice?”
Something flickered across his face before he whispered into the phone. “Sometimes all we can choose is certain death and hope the people we care about will stay by our side… until the end. Until darkness falls.”
A tear ran down my cheek. “Until my heart stops beating.”
“Toss the phone,” he ordered.
Something exploded behind me, the vibration reaching my feet.
“NOW!” Maksim’s roar was louder than the fire.
I tossed the phone and then slowly crawled out the window, my acrylic nails starting to scrape against the brick then pop off as I tried to dig into the window and stretch my body.
“I’ve got you.” Maksim’s voice held all the comfort I needed. “Drop.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and let go, trying to keep my body as still as possible, picturing myself like a bullet as I fell through the air.
Suddenly strong arms braced me—really strong arms, confusingly strong arms.
I opened one eye and then two.
Maksim was staring down at me, eyes nearly black, void of emotion, his body shivering.
“Are you…” His breathing seemed off. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, yeah, thank you—”
He immediately let me go. I nearly landed on my ass as he sprinted to his car and grabbed something from inside. I shivered and stared up at my home as another part of it went up in flames.
The sound of sirens distracted me as firefighters arrived and took over the scene.
Maksim returned minutes later, looking exhausted. He wrapped an arm around me. His eyes held a pain I couldn’t understand, and dark circles had formed beneath the pretty lashes.