Page 101 of Ace of Spades
Weston leaps from his horse, throwing me Lark’s reins before taking off in the direction of the burning bunkhouses.
“Stay there!” he yells back at me as I dismount, frantically looking around before spotting a nearby ranch truck. I manage to drag both horses behind me, haphazardly tying their reins to the grille guard before racing in the direction that Weston took off.
“Weston!” I scream as I watch him disappear into the burning building, lifting my arms to shield my face from the heat as the doorway that he entered through collapses in a flaming heap.
Panic fills my veins, my body threatening to shut down as I force myself to keep calm and think rationally.
“Over here!” I yell at the top of my lungs, waving down one of the trucks carrying a water tank to come help extinguishthis section of the building. Approaching the pile of rubble, I attempt to move aside the beams blocking the doorway, wincing as the hot wood scorches my bare hands.
“Shit,” I breathe, dread coiling in my belly as fear threatens to take over. I needed to think, I needed to figure something out, and fast.
Untying the bandana from around my neck, I wrap it around my hand, running over to one of the first-floor windows and not wasting a single moment as I throw my entire weight into a punch that shatters the glass in one go.
Smoke blasts through the opening, the hot air barreling down my throat as I struggle to breathe. I use the bandana to clear the jagged bits of glass around the window frame before tying it back around my face, taking in a lungful of air before climbing through the opening.
“Weston!” I try to yell, the sound muffled by the roaring of the fire around me. My heart beats so fast that I think a heart attack might kill me if this fire doesn’t, but I force myself to push forward, rounding the bed and making it out into the hallway.
Looking both ways, I feel a tug in my gut to head toward the right, my feet taking off in that direction. I keep a steadying hand against the wall, my head already feeling heavy from the intake of smoke.
Rounding the corner, I spot Weston descending the stairs, his arms holding up a wheezing Dakota and an unconscious Chance.
“Weston!”
I race to him, taking the steps two at a time as his eyes find mine, widening in horror.
“I told you to stay put!” he yells. “Get out of here, it’s going to collapse!”
“Exactly, so let me help you!” I argue, slipping my arms around Dakota as I take over her weight, throwing her arm around my shoulders as I drag her down the stairs.
“This way,” I scream over the flames, my throat raw. “The door collapsed, I broke a window in one of the bedrooms!”
We make it down to the ground floor and back down the hallway that I came from, a shriek escaping my lips as the ceiling of one of the bedrooms collapses behind us.
I count each door we pass, my legs trembling beneath me as we finally reach the bedroom with the broken window, flames eating away at the curtains on either side.
“Hurry!” I yell, checking to make sure that Weston is still behind me as I continue to drag his sister along, the adrenaline in my veins the only thing keeping me standing.
I manage to get to the window first, practically shoving Dakota out before turning back to help Weston, wrapping Chance’s limp arm over my shoulders as we carry him between us.
“Here!” Rafe yells from the window, reaching inside to grab Chance from us as the three of us manage to drag him out the window.
“Go!” Weston shouts, pushing me through next as I land on all fours, Rafe helping me to my feet before shoving me away from the burning building.
I’m panting desperately as I turn back around, my lungs begging for air as I watch Weston climb through the window, relief flooding through me at the sight of him making it out to safety.
“Chance!” a feminine voice screams, and I turn to find Dakota crawling on all fours to where the man in question lays, Rhonda dabbing at a bleeding wound at his temple.
Weston manages to make his way over, a slight limp in his step as his wild eyes assess me for injuries, his dark hair damp with sweat.
“Please,” Dakota sobs, crawling over Chance’s unconscious body as she weeps into his chest.
“What happened?” Rafe asks, getting to his knees beside Rhonda to examine the head wound.
“I was trapped in one of the upstairs bedrooms, he kicked down the door, but then a falling beam hit him in the head and he went down,” she cries. “Please, he has to be okay!”
“Don’t be crying over me, now, sunshine,” Chance groans, his eyes cracking into slits as he lets out a dry cough.
“Chance!” Dakota weeps, wrapping her arms around his neck as he fights to lift one of his, wrapping it around her middle as he pulls her into him, the two of them entwined as she smashes her lips to his.
