Page 173 of Iris
I’ve raced down the back streets, past the chaos of people shouting and running for safety. It’s darker here, the billowing smoke blotting out the sun and creating a false night. My heart gallops, hard. Lungs burn and the fumes make my eyes water.
Right as I turn the corner to where the Black Briar sits, there’s a loudboomand the street quivers beneath me. Bottles explode and the bar goes up in a ball of flames in front of me. The door hangs off, the windows shattered, and through the haze of the flames, I can see the shadowy outline of a little stuffed owl laying in the middle of the floor.
Delores.
Absolute terror seizes me.
“Emmie!” I scream. “Emmie!”
Throwing the hood of my cloak over my head, I wrap the corner over my nose and mouth and rush in.
Straight into hell.
“Emmie! I’m coming!” I snatch Delores and tuck the stuffed animal under my arm. Making sure to stay low, I move as quick as I can, checking the booths and any prime kid hiding spots. The heat is heavy, the flames licking the walls.
I run up the stairs, screaming her name.
She’s not here. I reach her room. The door’s shut.
I slam against it, panic biting deep.
I’m crazed, half blind, and my lungs can’t get air.
“Emmie, I’m here!”
I slam into the door.
Again and again.
It splinters and a whoosh of heat and flame rise up behind me.
Stumbling in, I dread what I’ll see… A little girl, on the floor, cowering? A little girl, dead?
But the room is empty. She’s not here.
“Emmie!”
A flaming piece of wood falls, narrowly missing me and forcing me to jump back.
It blocks the entrance.
Trapping me in the room.
CHAPTER
FIFTY-FOUR
Killian
The roof caves in and flames erupt.
Emmie’s with Freya, sitting in the truck at a safe distance across the street. They got out the second the smoke detectors went off. I’m relieved they’re safe, but the pain in my chest is still at a lethal level.
“There’s someone still in there!” a nearby Shade yells as they tug a garden hose closer to the bar. “A girl! She ran inside!”
“Icy!” Emmie screams with tears in her eyes. Freya holds her tight to her chest, trying to soothe her. “Someone needs to get Icy!”
I look at the Black Briar. The scene is too familiar, and it roots me to the spot.
