Page 113 of In the Light of Sin

The fire was going to take everything away from me.

Oh God. Was Joslyn inside the house? Survival instincts kicked in, but fear held my body in its place under my wrecked motorcycle. My mouth was open, my heart racing eyes burning just looking at the house.

I looked to my left arm, feeling fire lick the skin as I roughly brushed it, struggling when the weight of my bike felt like the weight of the men holding me down to pull a tooth out of my mouth or dig their knee so hard in my back I thought they ruptured an organ.

But it wasn’t my closest friends inside the burning house now.

It was my world.

I had to go in there, but I was so fucking afraid. I was slowly losing my mind to the black-out rage that consumed me when I saw fire. I wouldn’t save Joslyn if she was in there that way. I breathed heavily in my nose, blowing it out of my mouth to try to steady my frantic heartbeat. I couldn’t lose to the darkness this time.

Joslyn’s life could depend on it.

I scrambled, getting out from under my bike, my mind going blank as I focused on my mission. My breathing was heavy, adrenaline and fear fueling each step I took closer to the flames. There was still no front door from where I ripped it off its hinges when I dragged Douglas out of here the other night. I passed the threshold, the common area ablaze. I frantically searched where the fire hadn’t touched yet, my eye catching something by the couch.

Joslyn’s hearing aid case. She never went anywhere without it. My heart dropped to my stomach.

She was inside.

“JOSLYN!” I shouted, hoping for a miracle. Smoke filled the air, blinding me, but I’ve been in this house enough to know the layout without having to see it.“JOSLYN!”

I rushed up the stairs, deciding to start high in my search for her since the flames were as bad up here. “JOSLYN!”

The door to her parent’s room was shut. I rushed to it, putting my hand on the doorknob but hissing and pulling back. The handle of the door was too hot for me to open, but I didn’t want to kick the door down. I didn’t want to hurt Joslyn if she was trapped in there.

I heard muffled shouting behind the door, making me feel relief and fear all mixed in one. I guess I didn’t have a choice. Lifting my foot, I launched it underneath the handle, the shouts becoming clear.

“DARIN!” My heart dropped to my stomach. Oh God. Panic set in as my eyes went to the lone door on the opposite side of the room. The fire cackling around it made a path straight into my own personal Hell. They fucking locked her in there.“DARIN!”

She’s been screaming for me. She’s scared and calling out for me. I braced myself, grabbing onto the searing doorknob and prying it open, my eyes drifting to the rocking form on the floor.

Joslyn.

Hunched in of herself, shaking. Her face was buried in her knees as she cried out for me. I crouched down, touching her shoulder as she flinched away and screamed. Her voice was hoarse from the overuse as she threw her hands in front of her in an attempt to protect herself. I grabbed both of her wrists, and she instantly recognized my touch because of my deformed left hand. Her eyes opened, her usually green eyes hazed-looking from the wayward fire and glossy from the fearful tears falling from her eyes. Her skin and clothes were almost covered completely in soot. A sob escaped as she got on her knees before she launched herself at me, holding onto me so tightly she was almost like a second skin.

I wrapped my arms around her waist, clinging her to me. My face went into the crook of her neck. Her floral scent, combined with ash, made her smell like a scorched flower. But she was alive.

One of my hands left her waist, trailing my trembling hand to her dusty hair with the fear I couldn’t shake. Images of me being too late plagued me.

I could fail anyone and not give a fuck. But Joslyn? I could never fail her.

The flames crossed the boundary of the closet. Joslyn screamed as the ceiling started to fall in. I cursed, standing up with her still clutched to me like I was her lifeline. Tremors wrecked her body, and I turned and did my best to get us out of the closet unscratched.

I frantically looked around at the fire spreading rapidly. Soon, there would be nowhere it didn’t touch. I only had marginal time to get us out of here. These fuckers put her upstairs in her parents’ closet for a reason. If she got out, they wanted to make it impossible for her to make it out of her alive.

My teeth clenched, the vein on my forehead throbbing as I raced out of her parent’s room, careful to keep Joslyn close to me and away from any crackling fire. It was getting more difficult to see as smoke filled the room, my nerves beginning to fray as I was losing what little hope I had in the first place.

Fuck! Keep calm, Darin. It’s just fire. This shit isn’t about getting yourself out alive, it’s about getting Joslyn out.

This is your mission. Don’t fail this time.

My eyes flicked to my girl, who was still trembling, trusting me to get us both out of here alive. She would rely on me to break the new faux wall she put up. I lowered her gently to the floor, needing both my hands to navigate through. I made sure my hand was circled tightly around her wrist, half afraid if I let go, she’d burn up along with the place she grew up.

I dragged her through the living room, desperately trying to navigate as the fire was spreading rapidly. It was on the furniture, the strewn papers, the bookshelf, and it was beginning to climb on the walls onto the ceiling.

I heard creaking as my head turned up at the ceiling, eyes wide with panic as the wooden beam supporting it was beginning to collapse under the weight. I frantically looked behind me at Joslyn. She couldn’t hear anything that was going on. Thank fuck I had my hood on so she didn’t see my face as I pulled her forward, pushing her in front of me as the beam fell apart, crashing on the floor, her scream audible over the crackles of the flames.

But if it came between me and her, I’d always choose her.

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