He was dressed like some medieval character, his face blacked out, but not so that it disguised the grim determination as he moved on Brodie, pinning him against the far wall.
As they struggled, it was impossible to take a clear shot, as Brodie said once more, “Get them out.”
“No!” I protested as Munro grabbed hold of my arm, his other arm around Lily.
I refused to leave Brodie.
I might as well have been shouting into the wind as Munro pushed me toward the doorway and then toward the stairs.
“No!” I shouted again, but there was only his grim expression as he forced me down those stairs, then to the ground floor.
“Don’t you dare leave him!” I screamed at Munro.
“His choice, not mine… Think of the girl!” he replied.
Lily had barely roused, no doubt from the ether used to subdue her. And then…?
Those photographs in the dark room told what her fate would have been if we had not found her. But she was safe now with Munro.
When I would have pushed past him and returned to the stairs, his hand tightened.
“His choice, miss. Ye must accept it.”
There was a loud crash from inside the studio as we reached the street. Flames could be seen through that bow window at the back of the studio in the direction of the dark room.
Fire? And a warning that slipped back from days past when we had first met with the chemist, Mr. Brimley.
Ether was highly flammable and extremely dangerous, and now fire?
I glanced over at Munro. His expression was grim as he supported Lily.
I ran toward the studio…
The explosion threw me back into the street, clouds of flames following as Munro grabbed me and pulled me farther away as shattered glass rained down onto the street. Then the fire turned back on itself like a ravenous beast that filled the hallway and then spread.
I stared up at those upper rooms, as fire reached the third floor. Briefly, sickeningly, I saw the two men struggling.
“Come away, miss,” Munro pulled me back from the heat of the fire that had now engulfed the entire main floor of the studio.
“I ain’t never seen nothin’ like that,” Lily managed to say, the words as wobbly as she was.
“No!” Through my tears, I refused to believe that Brodie wouldn’t somehow manage to get out. And I never cried!
The alarm had gone out and there were distant sounds of the fire brigade. There would be little left by the time they arrived.
“Miss…!”
I felt Munro’s hand on my arm. There was something more but I didn’t hear it over the roar of the fire, the shouts of people nearby as they came out into the street, and the clang of the bell as the fire brigade arrived and began their efforts to prevent the fire from spreading to the adjacent building.
“There was something I wanted to tell him…” My throat was tight from the smoke and something more, as people swarmed around us.
And those damnable tears!
I wanted to scream…! I wanted to run back in there!
Damn you, Angus Brodie!
I went to Lily and wrapped my arms around her. She was safe, in spite of herself. Dear girl, she did remind me of me…
