Page 94 of Pawn

No shit …

The door swings open, bobby pins in my grip when my heart stops. Jo’s on the floor, a half-smoked joint to the side of her hand like it rolled right out of her fingers.

“Jo!” Dropping to my knees, my hand comes to her face. My ear by her mouth, I check if she’s breathing. The minute some air leaves her mouth, my hand comes to her cheek, slapping against her skin. “Jo? C’mon, Jo, wake up.” That gets me a murmur, my chest dropping in relief. It’s the best I’ve felt since I got her off that ledge and man, this girl has as much of a deathwish as I do.

Taking my shirt off, I wrap it around her head, protecting her eyes and nose from the smoke, the heat of the building on my skin.

The minute I get us out of here we’re getting out of Eden. Burning down the school might not be something I’m able to get out of on my own. Especially not without my company. Cradling her in my arms, I head for the nearest exit. The smoke is thicker now and I hope Jordan got out okay. I can only make out the emergency lights as I head for the way I came in.

CRASH!

Something collapses from the second floor, right through the first-floor ceiling and it stops me in my path. If I was any quicker we’d both be goners.

Fuck.

Turning around, I’ll have to make a new plan. Good thing I know every exit in this place.

Heading for the boys’ locker room, the heat gets more intense. It makes me choke but I’m gripping to Jo, forcing my feet forward.

Almost there.

A light shines under the door at the end of the hall and I can finally hear sirens from the other side. My eyes sting like I’ve got whiskey in it and there’s a pain in my chest, a tight pull.

“We’re gonna make it, baby,” I mutter, coughing with a wheeze. I don’t know where that comes from. I don’t call girls that shit but if I don’t make it to that door, it won’t matter.

The last bit of the hallway feels like a mile. I’m dizzy, breaths shorter and when I squint, that familiar figure at the door makes me flinch.

“D-dad?”

It makes me freeze in my path, his plaid blazer blurry and I’m starting to feel like I’ve taken one of Isaac’s pills.

He chuckles, crossing his arms and looking at me in that pathetic way he always does. “She’ll kill you, son,” he says in that deep, gruff voice.

“No!” I yell, forcing closer but it feels like a strong force is slowing me down. Making sure Jo is secure in my arms, shirt still around her face, I pull her closer to my chest, hiding her face from the smoke. “You’re wrong! You’ve always been wrong! With her, I don’t need you! I never did!”

His chuckling echoes through the hall. It takes over, loud like it’s on a speaker as I near the door, pushing right through him to the exit. Pressing on the metal with my back, the night sky takes over my vision before a hard thud.

The world goes black.

Then all I see is her.

* * *

Her naked body comes above the water, the lake around her.

It drips off her skin like liquid gold, her hair falling on her arms.

Sultry. Sexy.

Scooping her up in my arms is the only thing I can do before I feel her lips touch mine.

Soft. Supple.

Perfect.

She wraps her arms around me, a beeping in the distance as her laugh lights up the sky above. The sun shines on her head like a halo. Like a crown. My queen.

My everything.

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