Page 166 of Down Knot Out
“Cover your mouth with your sleeve.” I help her position her arm across her face. “And close your eyes if they hurt.”
In the minutes since I entered Quinn’s room, the hallway has filled with thick, black smoke, and I tell myself I’m only imagining that the floorboards feel warm beneath my bare feet.
Quinn whimpers, her breath coming in quick, frightened gasps.
“Hold tight,” I whisper into her hair. “I’ve got you.”
Blake appears through the haze, dressed only in his boxers, his hair wild around his face and a towel wrapped around his nose and mouth.
“I’ve got her.” As he scoops the little girl from my arms, her pink nightgown balloons around her legs. “Go out through the garage.”
“Why aren’t the sprinklers coming on?” I tilt myface up toward the fixtures, but I can’t see the ceiling.
Blake shakes his head. “There’s no water. Holden’s gone to check the shutoff valve.”
My stomach sinks. “What about Grady? He’s still downstairs!”
“Dominic’s gone to wake him.” He shoves me toward the door. “Go!”
As I stumble away, the sprinkler system finally kicks on with a groan and a metallic hiss. Water blasts from the ceiling, soaking me to the skin in seconds. The shock of it steals my breath, but relief follows. It’s too late to stop all the damage, but hopefully it’s enough to put out the fire, and the Homestead can be saved.
We move toward Dominic’s office, Blake’s free hand around mine pulling me forward. We pass Nathaniel emerging from the hall closet, arms full of emergency supplies.
The office door seals behind us, and for a second, the world stills. There’s less smoke in the office, the solid, airtight door having kept out the worst of it.
The staircase creaks beneath our weight, water dripping from our soaked clothes. Each step sends pain shooting through my bare feet as the roughwood scrapes my bare soles. I grit my teeth, focusing only on getting to safety.
We stumble outside, and the sudden chill raises goosebumps on my arms. I gasp in the night air, sweet and clean despite the smoke billowing around us. Holden leads us away from the house to where Dominic and Grady wait, soot-streaked but alive.
Blake lowers Quinn to the ground, and she turns to cling to me, coughing and crying. I sink to my knees, holding her tight, my body shaking with cold, relief, and terror as I stare at the Homestead.
Smoke billows out of the north wing’s shattered windows, but the fire hasn’t spread farther. Flames roar through the guest rooms and attic, licking toward the roof, but the central structure remains standing. For now.
Dominic looks around. “Everyone out?”
I count heads. “We’re missing Holden?—”
I cut off as he jogs around from the side of the garage. “Water’s back. I opened the main valve. The sprinklers should hold it in the east wing.”
“Wait!” Quinn pulls away from me. “Where’s Sprinkles?”
Blake curses, spinning toward the house. “Did anyone get him out of his room?”
No one answers, and my heart plummets as Iscan the yard, hoping to see the giant Newfoundland somewhere in the shadows.
Quinn lifts her tear-stained face to Blake. “Sprinkles is still inside?”
Horror cuts through me, and I hug her closer, unable to form words of comfort.
Holden’s face sets in grim determination. Without a word, he turns back toward the burning house.
“Holden, no!” I reach for him, but he’s already moving, sprinting back through the open door into the wall of smoke and flame.
“Holden!” I scream, lurching forward with Quinn still clutched in my arms.
Dominic’s arms lock around my waist, pulling me back from the blazing doorway. The heat radiates in waves, blistering hot even from yards away.
“He can’t go back in there!” I scream.
