Page 86 of Kings of the Campus

There, in the field behind the burning cabin, we find them. Tessa is slumped on the ground, weak and trembling, her eyesfilled with relief and pain. Devin lies next to her, unconscious, his face smeared with soot.

“Devin! Tessa!” I rush forward, dropping to my knees beside them. My hands are shaking as I check Devin’s pulse, relieved to find it steady, though weak. Tessa reaches out, her eyes pleading for help.

Jace kneels beside her, trying to comfort her. “We’re here,” he says softly, his voice strained with emotion. “We’re going to get you out of here.”

As we work to get them to safety, the realization of how close we came to losing them hits me hard. I feel tears stinging my eyes but push them away, focusing on getting them help. The fire still roars in the distance, but right now, our priority is getting everyone far away from the fire and calling for help. We can’t fit everyone in the car, plus keep Max subdued.

“You get Devin, I’ll carry Tessa!” I yell over the roaring fire. I cough, smoke filling my lungs even this far from the structure.

The two of us pick them up, Jace carrying Max in a fireman’s hold while I scoop Tessa up from behind her knees and back, holding her close to my chest.

The adrenaline surge kicks in as soon as I have Tessa in my arms and I race to the car, carrying her as if she weighed nothing at all.

I lay her in the back seat while Jace lays Devin on the grass, checking to make sure his heart is still beating. He leans in, listening for breath, then looks back at me with a worried expression.

“I don’t think he’s breathing,” Jace says, his face a mixture of fear and anxiety.

“I’m calling for help now,” I say, grabbing my phone from the center console. I punch the buttons, my hands starting to shake as I come down from the adrenaline rush, shock starting to settle in.

I have to fight it off though, I have to stay strong for Tessa, and for Devin. I lift the phone to my ear and wait for the call to connect. “Come on, come on,” I mutter, feeling like everything is happening in slow motion.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

I give them the location of the farm, then explain how Max kidnapped Tessa, and when we arrived to rescue her, found the house on fire. I tell the operator we have him subdued but he’s not secure and we need police, fire, and ambulance right away.

The dispatcher keeps me calm, despite my racing heart, asking questions to keep my attention directed at her. I answer as best I can, feeling numb as I watch Jace start to perform CPR on Devin.

“Hurry!” I beg.

“They’re on their way. You should start seeing first responders arriving within two minutes, Alec,” she says, her voice steady and calm, which grounds me.

“Alec, he’s waking up!” Jace yells. I glance up to see Devin gasping for air, looking around wildly.

My eyes fill with tears as I realize once again how close we came to losing them both. I hate that it took me until this point to realize how much Tessa, Jace, and Devin mean to me. Devin and Jace are like my brothers and I think I’ve fallen in love with Tessa.

I can’t imagine a life without them in it now, and my heart aches when I think about what we could have lost.

“Is there anything else we need to know?” the dispatcher asks.

“Tessa is pregnant,” I blurt out, the fact having escaped me in all the turmoil. “She’s having triplets. Please make sure the babies are okay.”

The dispatcher hums, typing something into her system. “I’ve let the team know, Alec. They’re going to be there soon. We’ll make sure you and your friends and the babies are all safe.”

The first sirens echo across the quiet countryside and hope blooms in my chest. They’re coming. The cavalry are coming.

We’re safe.

Police officers arrive first, guns drawn as they leap out of the car, pointing them at Max who is still on the ground. In all the confusion, he’d managed to crawl quite a distance away but they surround him, keeping him from going anywhere.

The fire trucks come next, several piling up in the area and spilling out a sea of firefighters who get to work containing the inferno as fast as possible. This area is all woodland and fields, so if left unchecked, the fire could devastate thousands of acres and hundreds of people.

The ambulances arrive last and when they pull up, a team comes out to gather up Tessa and Devin, carefully strapping them to boards to whisk them away. Jace climbs in with Devin in the back of the ambulance and I start to get in with Tessa, but they stop me.

“She’s very weak,” the EMT says, giving me a sympathetic look. “We need space to work on her. You can meet us at the hospital.”

I step back, anxiety gripping my heart. Tessa is loaded in and the doors are shut as I watch them take her away from me.

But when I turn, I see the police reading Max his rights as they shove him into the back of a cruiser, other officers already securing the scene for evidence. They can’t get into the house yet, but they’ve cordoned off the areas outside that are part of the scene.

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