Page 99 of Twisted God

“I promise. Grayson, I love you. Be careful.”

I limped through to the dining room, as quickly as I could. I tried not to look out of the windows as I walked, but I was very aware of the dancing flames growing; the smoke already penetrating through into the house.

A lifetime passed while I waited there, desperate to know where my husbands were. Eventually, Ethan appeared, his face darkened with what looked like soot.

“We need to move, firefly. I’m not going to lie, it’s a mess out there. I don’t know what she used to start this, but the fire’s spreading really fast. I don’t think we can wait for Thomas. We need to get outside.”

“What if she’s out there, waiting?”

“Then Gray and I will deal with her, but we can’t sit here, waiting to die.”

A cry ripped from my throat at the mention of dying. “I can’t lose you. Either of you.”

“And we can’t lose you either, so we need to move. Take this and wrap it over your head. I’m going out first because she might not be as interested in me. Then you and Gray will be right behind you. Hopefully, by the time we get outside, Thomas or the fire trucks will be here. Can you do this, princess? Can you use everything you have to find the strength to walk out of here… and fast?”

“Lead the way.”

He handed me a dripping wet sheet. “Put this over your head. We need to protect that bird’s nest,” he joked, but his voice was strained, and I saw the fear in his eyes.

“Eth. Are you more worried about the fire or what we’re stepping outside into?”

“I don’t know, princess. I honestly don’t know.”

He helped me pull the sheet over my head and I shuddered as its icy wetness leaked in through my thin pyjamas. Grabbing my hand, we walked silently out into the hall where I was hit with the heat and smoke, suddenly grateful for the soggy sheet wrapped around me.

“Gray, let’s go now,” Ethan cried, and Grayson appeared, looking as disheveled as Ethan.

“Here, we can’t go out there unprotected,” he announced as he handed us both a kitchen knife. “Hide them and let’s go.” I slid it under the strap of my sports bra, the cool steel of the blade settling against my skin.

Gray grabbed my hand. “It’s going to be really warm, firefly, but we will have you out in no time. I promise.” Placing a quick kiss on my lips he pulled the wet sheet over my head, restricting my view of what was going on around us.

“Let’s go” Ethan shouted, the heat suddenly becoming unbearable. “Fuck, the door handle is too hot to touch. Give me a minute.”

We only stood there for a moment, but the heat burned my lungs, and the smoke stole my breath. I pressed my hand tighter into Grayson’s, praying that Ethan would open the door.

“Got it. There are flames everywhere, so we need to run for it. Ready? Let’s go.”

I felt the flames licking my body, the wet sheet the only thing keeping them from me. Ethan stepped through first, dragging me hard behind him until I felt the cool night air embrace me. The next few moments happened in slow motion. Grayson’s hand was in mine, and I yanked hard to pull him through the flames just as an ear-piercing crack echoed through the night.

Presuming it was Hazel with a gun, I pulled the sheet from my head, ready to fight her with my bare hands if I needed to. As I turned to find the source of the noise, I was met with the sight of the ceiling of our entrance hall collapsed, huge flames licking up the side of the building where it used to stand. It was then I felt his absence. Grayson wasn’t there. My hand was empty and so was the space behind me he should be filling. He’d vanished.

“Grayson?” I screamed. “Eth, where is he?”

Ethan was suddenly next to me, screaming Gray’s name too as we watched the flames engulf what used to be the front of our house. I pushed my hand to my chest, forcing myself to keep breathing, even though I feared my heart would stop. That’s when I sensed someone behind me, close enough that I could feel their breath on my neck.

“Oh no, did you lose one of your husbands? He would have burned in the flames of hell eventually anyway, so I guess this is fitting justice.”

I span around to find Hazel behind us, gun in hand, pressing it to the back of Ethan’s head.

“Shame you didn’t die like I’d planned. All that trouble. All that effort to take you and you ruined it. You ruined it and you took Amos. I could have ended your pain, Ivy. But now you have to be the one to feel it. To lose both your husbands. Your sin is too great to let it continue. I have to end you all.”

An explosion blasted out into the air, showering us with shards of hot, broken glass, the fire flaring into the night sky. Hazel looked up, basking in the carnage she’d caused. Seizing my moment, I pulled the knife from my bra and rushed her, thrusting it into her shoulder as she screamed, dropping the gun.

“Eth, help him. Find him. Please,” I screamed over the noise of the fire.

Ethan ran back towards the flames as I bent down and grabbed the gun, pointing it at Hazel.

“Bitch, you will not take them from me. Do you hear me? You do not get to hurt any of us again.” Breathlessly, I kept the gun on her, my hand shaking.

---