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“Tyler? What’s up?”

In that moment, something shifted in Nicholas’ expression, the color from his face seeming to drain.

“Are you sure?” It was the next thing out of his mouth as he gently shifted me away from his lap, now rising up to his feet. “Shit. Okay. I’ll be right over.”

Nicholas ended the phone call, already heading toward his bedroom. I was right behind him, concern pooling somewhere in my stomach.

Fuck.

I’d never seen Nicholas scared before. If he was scared about something, it must’ve been a situation that was nearly apocalyptic.

“Nicholas? What’s going on?”

“There’s a huge fire over at an apartment complex on Main,” he answered, already pulling on a more appropriate outfit to fit under his work clothes. “I have to go. They’re calling everyone in. I’ll be back later once it’s handled?—”

“I’m going with you.”

“Parker, that’s not necessary or advisable. It’s much safer if you just stay here?—"

“I’m going with you,” I repeated. “I don’t need to try to put out the fire but if they’re calling everyone in, they clearly need help. Maybe I can assist with first aid if the ambulances aren’t there already?—”

“Fine, fine,” Nicholas relented, “But if you want to come you have to be ready in the next sixty seconds?—”

“On it!” I shouted as I practically dove into the bedroom closet, sorting through my shirts and pants, pulling an outfit together as fast as I possibly could.

I could see why Nicholas had been scared over the phone.

The fire was blazing out of control, huge spirals of smoke emanating from the top windows of the building. It wasn’t a large apartment, maybe twenty or thirty units at most, but they were all stacked on top of each other, trapped in the height of the structure. The smoke alarms were blasting all over the building, too, the sound of it drowning out nearly everything else around us, even the sirens from the fire trucks themselves.

I’d been right about the lack of ambulances, thankful that I’d insisted on coming along with him. As he took charge of a fire hose, the rest of his men lining up beside him, I made my way over to a petrified little girl, seemingly having a coughing fit.

“Just breathe through it, sweetie,” I instructed, as I bent down in front of her. “It’s going to be okay. The smoke just needs to clear out of your lungs but you’re safe now?—”

“Sister.” She coughed again and again, her words barely audible over the alarms and the trucks and everything else all mingled together. “My sister…”

“Your sister?”

“She’s still inside…” She nodded toward the building, her eyes wide when she looked back down at me. “We were playing a game. I think she might still be hiding. Someone needs to get her or she’ll?—”

“Nicholas! Nicholas!” I immediately moved away from her, heading back toward the fire truck, its hose lifted and ready to aim. “There’s still someone inside the building!”

“Are you sure?” he asked, as he looked around the parking lot, apartment renters scattered on the concrete and the grass. “The landlord said he already ordered everyone out and they’re all accounted for?—”

“There’s a little girl who says she was playing with her sister and she might still be hiding?—”

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Nicholas motioned for his men to set down the hose before he pulled a mask and a tank off the truck. “Everyone hold your fucking horses! I’m going in!”

“Wait. You’re—” I could barely speak out of pure shock, the fire clearly burning its way through levels of the building. There probably wasn’t even a safe way to get to anyone inside and here Nicholas was, already determined to run into the flames.

No.

Not you.

Don’t go.

I knew that I couldn’t tell him not to go, no matter how desperately I wanted to. How was I supposed to ask him to send someone else instead? How could I ask him to risk someone else’s life when he was their fearless leader?

If not Nicholas, then who?

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