Page 99 of Revenge & Ruin

I look up at the flames, feeling the guilt close in around me as if the fire is burning me from the inside out. This is my fault.Mybrother did this.

The thought sends me to my knees, and for a moment, everything blurs. All I can hear is the sound of my own heartbeat pounding in my ears.

“Isabella!”

A body barrels into mine, engulfing me in his large, familiar arms. Knocking what was left of my breath entirely out of me.

He pulls me to my knees, grabbing me by the shoulders so that he can examine me closer.

“Are you alright? FUCK ISSY. Are you okay?” Leon has soot in his dark blonde hair; his face is marked with the undeniable residue of fire and vengeance.

And I’ve never hated him more in my life.

“WHAT DID YOU DO?”

He takes a bewildered step back. “This was always the plan. What the hell is going on?”

“THERE’S A PREGNANT WOMAN IN THERE!” I scream, not caring that my anger is leaking out of my eyes as tears as I gesture toward the burning building.

Leon only frowns further. “No, there’s not, it’s just?—”

There’s a scream.

A wholly feminine, blood-curdling scream.

And it comes from inside the house.

“Rocco, NO!”

Leon stills instantly. “No. No. No, no. She wasn’t there. We made sure she wasn’t there.” He shakes his head as if somehow his denial will make it so.

But my attention is captured by Teo once more.

Now, skirting around the edges of the property, Teo has an arm over his face to defend himself from the thrashing flames. “Cassandra! WHERE ARE YOU!”

No. Don’t you dare. Don’t you…

“Teo!” The name is wrenched from my mouth as I watch, too far away to stop him, as Teo dives into the burning building.

I stagger forward out of my brother's now lax grasp, blindly stumbling through the smoke toward the building. To where I last saw Teo.

It’s so hot. The ash gets caught in my throat, and I cough horribly. But still, I press forward, absolutely terrified by what I might find.

The window Teo jumped through is still open…I could just reach forward…

Something yanks me back by the waist, just as the window I was reaching for blows out, shattering across the ground where I had been standing seconds before.

“Teo!” I scream, even as Leon drags me back to safety.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?” Leon roars in my ear.

“Let me go!” I sob as I claw at his arms.

But Leon doesn’t back off an inch. Not until he’s dragged me far enough for the smoke to have subsided.

“You have to let me go. You have to help him,” I repeat over and over. My eyes frantically dart back through the smoke, hoping for a glimpse of someone emerging from the building.

“Isabella, stop,” Leon takes me by the shoulders again to hold me in place. “There’s nothing we can do now.”

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