Page 83 of Reign of Psychos

“Kyril! Mom!”

“Here,” I croaked, “We’re here.” But it was too late. My vision faded, and I collapsed once again.

41

Thea

Smoke billowed out from the upstairs windows. No flames yet, but the rear of the house was on fire; I could see the orange glow lighting up the hedge maze in the distance.

I sat by the car and watched the open doorway, praying Cassian was safe, and that he’d found Kyril and Ophelia. As much as I wanted to run inside and look for them, I knew he was right. Breathing in toxic smoke would be dangerous for the nugget.

I’d started thinking of the baby as my nugget. Not a chicken nugget, as Eden had thought, but a gold nugget because my little nugget was the most precious thing in my life.

The sound of sirens in the distance gave me a new lease of hope. The firefighters would have breathing equipment. They could go in and find the guys and Ophelia. Blue lights flared through the trees and then two fire engines arrived. Men jumped out. I ran toward them, screaming at the top of my lungs.

“They’re in there! Please help!”

“How many people are in the house?”

“Three!” Lucian didn’t count. He was dead as far as I was concerned. I hoped there were no servants trapped in there, but we’d seen nobody, so I doubted it.

I watched as the firefighters pulled on masks and oxygen tanks, and then two of them headed inside. Every second felt like an eternity. Flames burst from the windows near the pool house.

Still no sign of my guys.

Then a firefighter appeared carrying a woman. I rushed over as an ambulance arrived. “Where are they?” Tears ran down my cheeks. Were they dead? Oh god. How could I go on if I lost them?

Kyril was nugget’s father. He couldn’t die. I refused to accept they were gone. A man pulled me back from the step. He yelled something at me, but I didn’t hear a word he said. Paramedics picked up Cassian’s mother and carried her to a waiting ambulance.

The firefighter dashed back inside.

Seconds passed. My pain turned to anger. How dare fucking Lucian take away the men I loved!

Then a yellow jacket appeared carrying a body, followed by another figure supporting a second person.

I stumbled forward, needing to see for myself they were still alive. Still breathing.

“Miss, you need to stay out of the way,” the paramedic urged when I tried to push past him. “Let us help them.”

A second paramedic tried to give Cassian oxygen, but he ignored her. I fell into his arms, not caring that his face was sooty and he stunk of smoke.

“I thought you were both dead,” I sobbed.

“I thought we were all dead!” he rasped. “Another five minutes and we probably would have been.”

He stepped aside to let me see Kyril. My Russian lay still, his eyes closed. Then I saw the blood.

“What happened to him?”

“Not sure, he was unconscious when I reached him and mom. They both were. The firefighters found us not long after. There was no way I could have carried both of them.”

We watched as the paramedics moved Kyril into an ambulance, an oxygen mask strapped to his face. “He’ll be OK,” Cassian reassured me, his arm around my waist.

I prayed he was right.

Hospital chairs were the worst. I’d tried out a few, and they were all instruments of torture. Not one of them was comfortable for more than five fucking minutes.

It had been 12 hours and then some since the doctors took Kyril and Ophelia away. Cassian’s hand rested in mine. He’d refused to leave me, even though I’d told him I was fine.

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