Wild eyed, Kenji lifted Jiro and slammed him into the concrete floor. Jiro’s agonized scream pierced the flames. Kenji pounced, his hands wrapping tightly around Jiro’s throat, as he leaned in, using his weight to crush Jiro’s throat. The life was draining out of him, and his flailing arms were slowing with each passing second.
“No!” I screamed, running toward them, but a wall of flames erupted in front of me, cutting off my path. I tried another direction, but fire blocked me at every turn. “Fight back, Jiro!” I screamed. “Fight for us!”Fight for me!
Just when I thought I would lose him, Jiro managed to land a solid punch to the side of Kenji’s head. The impact disoriented him, and his grip loosened. Jiro bucked him off with a burst of strength and rolled away, narrowly avoiding a surge of flames that erupted where he had just been lying.
I pushed forward, ignoring the heat searing my skin. Reaching Jiro, I patted at the flames on his pants, extinguishing them. I grabbed his arm and tried to pull him to his feet. His burned legs buckled beneath him, and he was too heavy for me to lift alone.
“Come on, Jiro,” I pleaded, my voice struggling. “We need to move!”
“You can’t help him,” Reina taunted from somewhere beyond the flames. “You’re weak, Akiko. Just like your father.”
Her words stung, but I refused to let her break me. My eyes flicked to Kenji, and my blood turned to ice. He had one of the flamethrowers from the first challenge in his hands, its nozzle pointed directly at us. A manic grin spread across his face as he adjusted the fuel canister.
“I’m going to roast you two alive,” he roared.
Adrenaline surged through me, giving me the strength to move Jiro to my other side. I flipped a table over and pulled him down behind it just as a stream of fire shot toward us. The table deflected the flames, but the heat was unbearable. My skin prickled with pain, and the wood began to char beneath the relentless assault.
The flames stopped momentarily, and I risked a glance over the table. Kenji was adjusting a valve on the canister, preparing for another attack. My heart pounded as I realized the table wouldn’t survive another blast.
Then, out of nowhere, Chef Sakamoto had somehow managed to free himself from his captors and was charging across the room with an ear-piercing warrior cry. He slammed into Kenji, tackling him to the ground. The flamethrower hit the floor, and the canister ruptured, spilling fuel across the concrete. A massive fireball erupted, engulfing them both.
“Kenji!” Reina’s scream pierced the air, but there was nothing anyone could do. Kenji’s body was a blur of flames as he thrashed wildly, his screams echoing through the inferno.
The fire spread rapidly, licking at the walls and igniting the floor where the other canisters were lined up along the room’s edges. The basement had become a ticking time bomb.
“Jiro,” I said. “We need to get out. Now!”
I hooked my arm under his and helped him to his feet. Each step was agonizing for him; with his burned legs, he could barely support his weight. We were close to the stairs when Reina appeared, blocking our path, teeth bared. Before I could react, she punched me hard in the face.
My knees buckled, sending me to the floor, dazed. Reina was on me instantly, her hands clawing at my throat. “You can’t escape!” she shrieked, her voice wild with rage. “I forbid it!”
Fueled by panic and rage, I swung my fist, hitting her square in the jaw. She fell off me to the side but kept a firm grip on my uniform. I hit her again and again, pouring my fury into every blow. The flames around us crept closer, the heat singeing my hair, but I couldn’t stop, even when she let go of me. I began to hack from the thick smoke that gathered, but I continued to strike her.
A strong hand gripped the back of my uniform and yanked me away. “Akiko!” Jiro’s voice broke through my rage.
He pulled me to my feet, and together, we stumbled toward the stairs. Just as we reached them, a deafening explosion rocked the basement. The blast wave knocked us down, but Jiro pushed me forward, shielding me with his body as debris rained down around us.
Somehow, he managed to get us up the stairs, each step a battle against the rising smoke. We burst through the door into the foyer, but the fire followed us, spitting out and consuming everything around us. We made our way to the front door and burst into the cool night.
We collapsed on the front steps of the mansion, gasping for air. Behind us, the entire house erupted in a massive explosion, the force igniting the nearby library and pagoda. The flames reached skyward, a hellish beacon against the night.
“The whole compound will be in flames,” Jiro said, coughing as he pulled me to my feet. “We need to get out of here.”
We ran toward the bridge that spanned the moat, the twin steel doors ahead our only escape from the burning hell consuming the compound. Sparks shot through the air like frenzied fireflies, igniting everything they touched. The fire surged, leaping from one cherry tree to the next with terrifying speed.
We hurried over the bridge, and Jiro slammed into the doors, pushing, but they wouldn’t budge.No, no, no. This can’t be happening.I joined him, throwing my weight against the door, straining against the immovable steel.
The dorm roof suddenly caught fire, flames climbing higher by the second. The crackle of burning wood and choking smoke surrounded us. Heat clawed at my skin. If we didn’t escape now, the inferno would consume us.
I shoved my shoulder against the door with everything I had, and suddenly, I wasn’t in the compound anymore. I was a little girl at the pier, desperate to follow my father into a building he had just entered. His voice echoed in my memory:Push, Akiko. Good things await on the other side.
Hearing his words fueled me. I wanted so much to reunite with him, to tell him that I had survived the impossible.
The steel door groaned and shifted. Jiro and I pushed harder, moving it inch by inch until it finally swung open just enough for us to slip through. As we stumbled outside, explosions echoed from the mansion. I glanced back over my shoulder. Through the roaring flames and billowing smoke, I swore I saw a figure standing in the doorway of the burning mansion. But it was impossible to tell if it was real.
CHAPTER FIFTY
My bedroom door opened, and Miki stood in the doorway, wearing an oversize T-shirt. She flipped the light on, and I groaned, pulling the comforter over my head.
