“Heather.” Percy put a hand to her shoulder. “Heather!”
She shook her head, her pulse fluttering.
Cursing, Percy moved about the room. There was a rattle and another curse.
This is it, Heather thought. They were going to die. She would never see her friends again, never be able to tell Percy just how much she’d come to care for him. The fire would claim them, just like a fire had claimed her parents.
Her mind’s eye filled with memories of that horrid day—the charred skeleton of her childhood home, the scent of smoke permeating the air, the screams of her parents and the staff as they burned…
A shiver racked her frame, and tears prickled at her eyes.
“For fuck’s sake,Heather!” Percy shouted, his face appearing before her, his hands clutching hers. “Do you not smell the smoke? We mustgo!”
She blinked, and he huffed a breath, turning on his heel and pulling her along with him toward the door. He tugged it open, and smoke billowed in.
Heather’s throat all but closed up as terror seized her.
Percy cursed, then peered through the smoke-filled corridor. He coughed, closing the door again.
“The fire has reached our floor,” he said urgently. “We must take the window.”
We’re going to die.
He turned and pulled her to the window, tugging the curtain aside and throwing up the sash.
“You don’t mean f-for us to scale the side of the building, do you?” Heather asked, aghast.
“Just to the rooftop.” Percy stuck his head out the window and looked up. “This roof connects to the next, and there are adequate footholds in the woodwork and the holes in the siding?—”
“But how will we get down from the other roof?” Her voice had gone shrill with panic, but she could do little to contain it.
We’re going to perish. You’ll never make it home, her inner voice repeated. More people screamed, and Heather’s heart constricted.We can’t make it.
“Listen to me.” Percy gripped her shoulders and brought his face to hers. “We’re going to be fine, as long as we escapenow.”
Now. But the fire…
“Now, Heather.”
Bendingout the window to peer up at the roof through the rapidly diminishing light, Percy swiftly mapped out potential routes in his mind before turning back to Heather.
He bit back another curse. She was fading in and out, one moment conscious of her surroundings, and the next lost in her panic. He’d seen this sort of terror, was fully aware of howdangerous it could be. And now was no different. He needed Heather tofocus.
Smoke billowed through the cracks around the door, rapidly filling the air and growing denser toward the ceiling. If they didn’t escape now, the air would become unbreathable, and they would, indeed, perish.
Worry churned in his stomach as he watched the emotions play over Heather’s face. Evidently, she was afraid of fire. It would explain her desire to keep the lanterns unlit in his cabin. It was a fear, however, that they hadn’t the time to politely navigate. He would have to take matters into his own hands, her feelings notwithstanding.
“I’m sorry, Heather, but we cannot prevaricate.” Without another word, he lifted her in both hands and set her bottom on the sill. “Hold fast, here and here,” he instructed, guiding her hands.
He reached after her, starting with one foot and securing a holding, before letting his body follow. The siding was dry and slightly crumbly, but it held his weight. Once he had entirely stepped out on the ledge, he guided Heather.
“Come along. Step just there,” he urged. “That’s right. Now step to that hole and test it with your weight.”
She did as he bade, her fingers trembling and her breaths coming rapidly.
“You’re doing so well,” he said encouragingly, side-stepping along after her.
“There they are! Just there!” A shout rang out in the street below them.
