Glass shattering somewherein the house woke me from a dead sleep.
Flinging the covers off, I leaped from the bed and grabbed my rifle off the far wall, then kicked the bedroom door open wide as I took a single step into the hallway.
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I scanned the distance for any sign of the intruder. I already knew who was here, and if I caught either of them, I’d put a bullet in each of them and then kick them out of the house to bleed out on my grass.
With measured steps, I continued down the hallway until I reached the living room. It was trashed. I didn’t need the lights on to see that my things had been slashed and my TV busted.
I swung my rifle to the left as a rustle caught my attention. Rushing to the kitchen, I fired a single shot at the figure running past the large picture window. With a cry, he fell through the glass and tumbled out into the night.
“Goddamnit,” I hissed.
I only took one step toward the back door when something hard hit the back of my head, sending shocks of pain through my skull. I hit the floor, my cheek taking the brunt of the fall.
In the fading darkness, I saw boots stomping out the back door and into the night before everything went black.
The acrid scentof ammonia filled my nostrils as I choked on the thick smoke filling the air, causing my lungs to burn with every breath I took.
My eyes burned as I peered through the haze of flames and smoke, struggling to remember where I was or what had happened. Rolling to my side, I dug my nails into the wood floor, dragging my way toward the front door that seemed miles away.
Every strained gasp of air set my lungs on fire, but I fought through the pain even as the growing fire licked closer to my body. The entire place was surrounded, not a single inch of the exterior walls left untouched. If I was going to get out of here, I had to do it fast.
The ceiling creaked above me as beams shifted in the rafters. With a single glance at the ceiling, I knew I had minutes before the whole thing came crashing down around me.
“Get moving,” I coughed out, trying to motivate myself when my body was begging to rest.
My head ached and the room doubled in my vision, but I kept pushing, kept hoping that I could make it out in time. With renewed strength, I clawed at the floor, grasping anything I could to pull myself further along. I was getting close, and soon, I would be out of here and breathing fresh air.
A sharp snap from above sounded just as a beam landed on my lower back, crushing me under its weight. Crying out, I shifted my weight, desperately trying to break free from the burning rafter, but it was too heavy.
The fire burned against my bare skin, sending pain signals to every inch of my body. I tried to roll, to push the wood off me, but it was too heavy, and I had no leverage to wedge underneath it.
Panting from the exertion, smoke filled my lungs, sending a waveof agony through my body. I was going to die here, and there was nothing I could do about it.
Bailey would never know how I truly felt, or that I had planned to make it all right. My secrets would die along with me, and Bailey would always think of me as the man who broke her heart.
My eyes grew heavy as the fire made it impossible to breathe. With no way of escaping, I rested my head against the heated floor and watched as flames licked against the walls of my house. It would all be over soon, and the pain would be gone.
“Get that side!”
My eyes slowly opened at the sound of the voice. I recognized it, but the last time I’d heard it…
The weight on my lower back and legs vanished in under a minute. I was free, but still unable to move.
Michael kneeled in front of me, the urgency on his face stark. “Stay with me, brother.”
With dizzying speed, he had me up on my legs, and he was hauling me out through the flames burning at the frame of the front door. Stumbling down the steps, the fresh air burst into my lungs, sending waves of relief through every cell of my body.
I collapsed on the ground as Michael’s arm slipped from under my shoulders, and then he rolled me over, pressing his hands to either side of my face as he forced me to look at him.
“Are you okay? Talk to me, Liam!”
A harsh cough ripped from my body as I sucked in a large gulp of air. Sitting me up, he clapped me hard on the back, forcing the air into my lungs.
“Fuck, stop hitting me!” I snapped when his hand hit a particularly nasty piece of scorched skin.
“Why the fuck is your house on fire?”
He wasn’t a hallucination. He was really here, on my property, saving my ass from burning inside my own house. I gripped his arm hard, staring at him in amazement.
