Page 48 of Surge of Fire

Help. I could use that right about now.

She sits me down on the floor, where I turn and lie on my stomach. Then she hits up the first aid supplies scattered on the floor. Her small hands move quickly, using an antiseptic that burns like hell to clean the wound and all the tiny cuts I have from the glass. She then pulls out butterfly bandages and pulls the open sides of the gash together before using the tiny white band-aid-like pieces to close the wound the best she can. When she’s done, she wraps the whole wound with a large white bandage.

I glance down. Blood stains the wrappings, but I feel a little better. I can handle a little bleeding and a little pain.

“Thank you.”

Her smile is genuine. “Of course.”

Except, will this attract the dragon’s attention?He mentioned they’re attracted to smell.

I get to my feet and go find the disinfectants and start spraying two-handed until the room begins to smell like hell.

“What are you doing?” the store owner asks.

I don’t know to explain it, but I try. “I heard the dragons might be attracted to the smell of blood.”

His eyes widen.

“Thanks again,” I say, spraying my clothes with the stinky spray as much as I can before putting the bottle on the ground. “Be careful. And remember to let him out.”

Outside, I get back in the truck, placing my phone on the seat next to me and try to ignore the way my leg hurts when I floor it out of there.Now… I just have to get out of here and call Aydan and Granger.

I can do this. I can survive this.

EIGHTEEN

Evander

I tryto move my arm, but it’s so damn heavy. My head spins, and I try to remember what I was doing. I don’t know anymore, but I’m cold. I’m colder than I’ve ever been. For a while, I tried to stay off the floor, knowing heat can be conducted through the metal floor. I’d put my hands under my shirt and vest to prevent the frostbite from hitting my fingers… but that time had come and gone not long after the people in the gas station had flipped me off and left.

I’m going to die here.

The glass won’t break. Trying to stop the freezer fan by cramming things in it hadn’t worked. My gun is probably right on the other side of the door still, if she didn’t take it with her, but I can’t reach it, so it doesn’t matter. It’s all pointless. Hopeless.

No, I need to survive. I need to find a way out of this.

Shifting my hands, I ignore how numb they are and use one hand planted on the floor to help lift me from the ground. The floor rushes away like I’m falling from the edge of a cliff, andthen I’m standing. The world is swaying. I can’t feel my feet. Before it was just my toes. Now, it’s my whole feet and the lower half of my legs.

If I look at them, they’ll be black.

I try to lift my hand to see my watch, but can’t.Wait, no, it’s already lifted. I’m using it to lean against the wall.I glance to the side and have trouble making out the numbers on my watch, but when I can finally see them, the hands are no longer moving.Right. They’d stopped after I’d been in here for around an hour.

Maybe I should press on the door?

Yes, maybe if I lean against the door whatever is keeping me trapped in here will break. I’d tried it before. Or maybe I hadn’t. Maybe I’d just thought about it. Or maybe it was a dream.Did I fall asleep in here?I don’t know.

Lean against the wall. Right, that was the idea.

Not the wall; the door. Then it should break.

I focus all my attention on the door, knowing I need to, knowing my mind isn’t working right any longer, so doing this is going to require everything I’ve got. My gaze focuses on the door as I command my feet to move.I’m getting closer. I think. So I must be moving.

Then the world is sideways and slow, streaming in a blur around me.

Metal. Cold. I’m lying down. Metal under me. Pressed against my cheek. My breathing feels too slow.Where am I? How did I get here? Why am I so cold?

Maybe my dad forgot me in the snow again.

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