Page 38 of Mine To Possess

Our coffees arrive and Amelia picks hers up and takes a sip. She winces as she swallows it.

“Oooo… hot,” she says.

“Did you expect it wouldn’t be?”

She makes evil eyes at me, and we both laugh.

She blows thoughtfully on the surface for a moment and takes another sip.

“Do you want children?” she asks.

That was so left wing I never expected it. Only Amelia would ask such a question before she has even had sex with someone. I think of the child that died in Lisa’s body. The pain is still there, but I won’t spoil tonight for her. “Why? Are you selling some?” I ask lightly.

“Viktor,” she warns.

“To answer your question seriously. If God is kind enough to give them to me, I will take them when they come.”

She smiles mistily. “That’s beautiful. I’ve always wanted identical twins, but seeing as there are none in my family, it’s unlikely.”

“How many do you want?” I ask.

“Four,” she says, then winks cheekily. “And maybe even more than that so we’d better get started quickly.”

After the words are out, she realizes what she has said, and I see her wait awkwardly for me to cringe or mentally withdraw from her.

“Makes sense,” I say lightly. “We don’t want to still be changing diapers when we’re fifty.”

Relief that I didn’t make a big thing out of her teasing chatter and run away screaming floods into her face. Her smile is warm with gratitude. “Unless they are our grandchildren,” she jokes.

“I call dibs on not changing any diapers once my kids are old enough to do it themselves.”

“Nice try,” she says.

I shrug. “It was worth a shot.”

Amelia laughs, a happy carefree sound. “Actually, I agree with you. Grandparents are not there for the hard thing, they’re there to spoil their grandchildren rotten behind their children’s backs.”

“Here you will find no disagreement from me.”

“I think…”

Amelia tails off mid-sentence when the sound of a large explosion rocks the restaurant. The swing doors of the kitchen fly open, and a ball of flames and smoke explode out into the dining area. She turns to look in the direction of the sound, her mouth hanging open in shock as the tablecloths on the tables nearest the kitchen catch fire.

The flames take hold so quickly, we’re both still in our seats, staring in shock at the sudden carnage. The smoke fills the air, and I can feel my throat and eyes stinging.

I jump to my feet.

“Come on. We have to get out of here,” I say, taking Amelia’s hand in mine and pulling her out of her seat.

All around us, people are screaming and shouting, jumping up from their seats and stampeding towards the doors. A fire alarm blares out, only seeming to add to the chaos.

21

VIKTOR

Even as I try to head to the entrance, I can see we’re trapped. There is a wall of fire between us and the nearest exit.

I scan around, trying to see a way through the wall of flames without being incinerated. Through the haze and smoke-filled air, I see people rushing for the exits. On the other side of the wall of flames a woman falls down, but no one stops to help her, and I have to look away too. She’s probably going to end up trampled to death, but I can’t get through to her. There is nothing I can do to help her.

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