Page 87 of Fierce Monarch

On impulse, I threw a text to Nate, knowing it probably wouldn’t do anything.

Cameron’s house is on fire. 4486 TeeTree Road.

I didn’t tell him we were going in; he already knew that. I just had to hope this was a rescue mission and not a recovery.

For once, I was grateful to be at the Celestine. If we’d still been at the mansion, we never would’ve made it in time. We’d blown through every light and stop sign we passed and cut the ten-minute trip in half, planning on the way even without any idea what we were walking into.

Grey and I took the time in the car to get ourselves as prepared as we could be, even working on Dominic while he drove. Damp clothes, gloves, snowboarding goggles left over from last year, and cloths around our mouths and noses. We didn’t have oxygen masks like the firefighters would, so we had to be quick and strategic. We had no room for error here.

Pulling into the driveway was like walking right into hell. The fire roared, and all I could hear under it was the groaning of the wood and the snapping of beams. Some cars were here already and I could hear the distant sirens of the fire engine, but no Cameron. No Aislynn.

The boys and I shoved out of the car, gathered what we needed and headed toward the inferno.

“The fire department and the rest of our men should be here soon. Grey, you’re out here coordinating. Dominic, you’re with me.”

Greyson didn’t argue; he just hooked an arm around my waist and pressed our foreheads together, clapping Dominic on the shoulder to keep him close. “Be safe.”

I didn’t promise to try. He already knew I would. My brain whirled as we got closer to the house, and the heat scorched my skin, so hot it chilled me. That’s not good. “Cameron said Ash was asleep when the fire started, so we’ll head to the east wing and start looking. Work our way down from the top.”

“We’ll be lucky to get up there without the ceilings collapsing,” Dominic said with a grimace.

“Then we’ll be lucky,” I said firmly.

I was almost to the door when he pulled me back. “If we think the house is going, I’m pulling you out, with or without them.”

There was no compromise in his eyes or gentle platitudes of we’ll go back in after on his lips. He was as unforgiving as the fire raging in front of us. Nodding stiffly, I bolted for the door and into the house.

Inside was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Everything was fire and smoke. There was no air, no safety. Just chaos and danger in every corner. The idea that anything had survived felt foolish as the flames curled wallpapers and destroyed curtains.

Refusing to give up, I motioned for Dominic to follow me when we finally hit the third-floor landing. Breathing as shallowly as possible was difficult, and rushing three flights of stairs in the stifling heat had both of us out of breath. The smoke was thick and acrid, seeping into my lungs and making me desperate to cough, to choke, to get the fuck out. But we were so close.

Almost there. Almost there.

Got it.

“Back up,” Dominic barked before I could try the door to their bedroom. I moved just in time to see him heft the ax he’d strapped on before we’d headed in, swinging for the door. The wood cracked near the hinges, and he took advantage, kicking the whole thing down.

The sight of the bedroom engulfed in flames was one I’d never unsee.

Nothing was untouched. The curtains were gone, fluttering to the floor in wisps of fabric, the closet was nothing but kindling, and there on the bed was a person-sized lump.

Tears pricked my eyes, but I blinked them away. There was no room for grief in hell.

“Cameron!” Dominic and I moved carefully, trying to be aware of the floor as we went, but we found nothing. The room was empty. “Cameron Alonso Marcosa, get your ass out here!”

No response.

“Where would they go?” Dominic asked, pulling me farther out of the room. Tears streamed down both of our faces despite the goggles, and my head was getting woozy. We had to get out soon or the smoke would get us before the fire did. “Mari, focus. Where would you go if you were in this?”

I tried to think like my cousin, tried to put myself in his shoes. My soaked shirt warmed to the touch, and I gasped, regretting it instantly when the smoke scorched my throat. “Bathroom.”

Cameron would’ve tried to get Aislynn ready to brave the flames, and that meant water.

Dominic stormed across the room and kicked the door in with no warning. It was a lot easier this time because the frame itself was barely standing. We had to get out. If the foundational points of the house were that easy to tear down, the house was going to fall apart around our ears.

“Here!”

Rushing in, I took stock of my cousin in the bathtub, rocking his soaked wife in his lap. Ash’s eyes were closed, her face a little gray, though I couldn’t tell if that was from the soot or something else. “Is she?—”

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