Page 103 of Scorched

Maggie’s heart stopped only to restart at three times the speed.

“Dad! Please. Think about the girls. Do you really want to leave Hannah and Jessie without their dad?”

Cole scoffed. “Denise keeps them away from me most of the time. Sends them to some friend of hers when I’m around. I don’t think they’ll care whether I live or die.”

“They’ll care. Trust me.” He took a few more steps closer.

“What are you doing?”

“What do you mean?” Declan froze.

Maggie held her breath.

“Boy, you never could lie worth a shit. Stop moving. Enough of this.”

The next few seconds happened in slow motion. Declan shouted for Lee to get her out of the cabin as he ran forward. Her dad grabbed her by the waist and dove out of the house. They hit the ground hard. She didn’t have time to recover before he took a fistful of her dress and pulled her backward toward the truck.

Halfway across the yard, the cabin exploded. Flames shot out the windows and open door, and part of the roof blew off and flames leaped into the night sky through the rain.

“Declan!” Tears blurred her vision as she stared at the flames.

Pieces of the building rained down, and Lee pushed her to the ground, folding himself over her like a shield. She pushed against him. “Dad, please! Let me go! I have to get to him. Please!”

“No, baby. You have to stay here. You’ll never make it past the door.” He held her close as she sobbed into his chest.

Sirens sounded over the roar of the fire, heralding Sebastian’s arrival with his deputies. Lee helped her stand as Seb pulled into the clearing. He shot out of his SUV as it rocked to a stop.

“What happened?”

“Cole blew up the cabin,” Lee said, holding Maggie upright. “He and Declan were inside.”

“What? No.” Seb started forward, but Lee laid a hand on his arm.

“Son, no. It’s too hot.”

Seb glanced back, then looked at the fire. Through her haze, she saw the pain cross his face as he realized he had to leave his friend in that inferno.

“God, no.” He ran a hand through his hair and paced in front of them.

Maggie sagged against her dad, staring at the fire. The pain of losing the man she loved overwhelmed her nerves like a third-degree burn. It left the wound raw but numb. Empty inside, she watched the flames flicker and snap in the doorway. As she stared, a shadow appeared.

She poked Lee. “Hey. Hey, what’s that?” She pointed at the cabin.

Lee turned, and Seb stopped pacing to look where she gestured. Maggie’s heart faltered, and she scarcely breathed. The shadow grew, and she watched a man emerge from the flames carrying someone.

“Oh my God,” Lee breathed.

The three of them ran forward. Maggie couldn’t tell if it was Declan or Cole who walked out. They were built similarly, and towels draped both of them. When she got closer, she recognized Declan’s clothes.

Seb and Lee helped him away from the burning building, taking Cole off his shoulders. Maggie ripped the wet towel off Declan’s head and framed his soot-streaked face in her hands. She ran her fingers over his cheeks and brows and down his nose, reassuring herself he was real. “How?”

“I dove at him, and it knocked us into the bathroom.” He coughed hard, wincing. “Somehow, I kicked the door shut while I had a hold of his hand, but he punched my ribs. I looked up in time to see him grin wildly as he pushed the button. I had just enough time to jump into the shower stall. It put an extra buffer between me and the blast.” He coughed again. “Is he alive? I just wet some towels, draped them over us, and walked out.”

“He’s breathing,” Seb said. “Barely.” He pressed the mic button on his radio and asked for an ETA on the medics.

Declan coughed, but kneeled next to his father, checking his pulse and assessing his injuries. Commotion from his truck drew their attention. Maggie looked over to see Michael pressed against the window, yelling.

“Let him out,” Declan said. He took his keys from his pocket and passed them to Seb.

Seb unlocked the vehicle and walked over, removing the young man from the backseat. Michael hurried forward as fast as Seb allowed and dropped next to an unconscious Cole.

“Dad?” Tears welled in the young man’s eyes. He looked up at Declan, all traces of the angry kid gone. “Is he going to be okay?”

“I don’t know. He wanted to die, Michael. I’m not sure he has a will to live.”

“This wasn’t the plan,” Michael whispered, staring down at their dad. “It was the Archers who were supposed to die. We were going to start over somewhere else. Where no one knew who we were.”

“You could have done that without murdering anyone,” Declan said.

Michael curled in on himself, cradling his broken arm as he quietly cried. Declan stood and tucked Maggie beneath his arm while they waited on the ambulance. He could hear it on the highway. His gaze took in the surrounding destruction, and some of the tension left him. It was finally over.

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