She paces back and forth. Looking for something. Anything. “There’s too much evidence,” I say. She shuffles through the house, then walks out the door.
I hold my breath, waiting for her to return, but there’s silence. No more incessant pacing and inane ramblings. She better drive fast because after Logan comes in and gets me, he’s going to go after her.
The back door opens again, and she storms in with a big red gas can like it’s filled with the solution to all her problems. I filled it up yesterday at the gas station. I was supposed to mow the lawn. Funny how tasks like cutting grass seem so absolutely pointless when you’re watching your life flash before your eyes.
Defeat creeps in, and I swallow down my fear.He’ll be here any minute.
She lifts the can, sloshing it back and forth, and sickening fumes quickly fill the space. Don’t panic, don’t panic.
Think.
I still have a lot to learn when it comes to home ownership, but one thing I do know is that gasoline is an outside toy. From everything I’ve heard, even looking at gasoline vapors the wrong way is enough to ignite them. Fuck, that damn extension cord is only a few feet away. Logan said it wasn’t safe with my electrical.
There are no open windows, and with each second that passes, the fumes become more noxious. Any one of these outlets could spark and seal our fate. Hell, the static charge from the way she’s zipping around the floor, sloshing her gas can of absolution like she’s the Jackson fucking Pollock of insurance fraud, might be enough to barbecue us both. My main concern is that damn cord Logan rigged up for the microwave. Microwaves aren’t meant to be plugged into extension cords because of the fire risk.
The can sounds nearly empty when she turns to me. I can see it in her smug smile.She thinks she won.Piper bends over and puts her face in front of mine. “He’ll forget about you eventually.”
Never.
“See, that’s where we’re different, Piper.”
I’ve never been more terrified in my life, I’ve never come so close to facing my own mortality, but she’s wrung enough fear from me, so I’m not giving her an ounce more—I’ll be damned if I die without my words ringing in her ears from now until eternity.
“You’re forgettable. But me? He can’t forget me. How can he when my face is permanently inked on his arm? He’ll think about me every day for the rest of his life. You might kill me, but seeing me on his body will haunt you for the rest of your miserable existence.”
She seethes in front of me, her veins bulging. Straightening her back, she spills the gasoline onto my clothes, and I try to back up in my chair. The vapors near the collar of my shirt alone are suffocating.
Piper grabs my jaw with one hand, squeezing my cheeks together to part my lips. I twist and squirm away from her, but she grips me again, harder this time, pushing my head back. I thrash as the caustic gasoline enters my mouth. It tastes likeacrid chemicals and hot steam, burning my tongue and robbing me of oxygen. I squeeze my eyes shut and kick with everything I have, trying to throw myself sideways to tip over in the chair.
I’m forced to swallow some to keep from inhaling it, and it coats my esophagus like acid. I can’t tell if it’s on fire or not. Breathing is impossible as the vapors shoot down my throat, blocking any air from getting to my lungs. She better fucking finish the job if she wants to live after this.
The front door explodes open, and the blur of a black T-shirt and his inked-up arm sprint past me. Piper is thrown into the wall, her head bounces off it with a sickening crack, and she crumples to the floor, lying motionless. Logan bends over, immediately starting on the zip ties. “She has my ring,” I croak, coughing and gagging. My shredded throat makes my voice hoarse as the chemicals burn my insides. It’s agonizing. Nausea quickly sets in, and my stomach roils. I gag again, spitting to the side.
“Forget the ring,” he says, splitting the zip ties with a pocketknife.
I extend my arm, reaching for her the instant one of my wrists is released. “I can’t!”
My other wrist releases, and I scramble over her still body, stealing my ring back just as Logan tugs me away. She wasn’t going to take this from me. I shove the ring onto my greasy finger, coated in gasoline and blood. He scoops me into his arms and heads for the back door.
I’m not sure if it’s just the fumes making me hallucinate, but I swear I hear my dad’s voice.You have the same spark as your mom. She didn’t just light up faces when she walked into a room, she lit the whole damn house on fire.
I hear Dad telling me it’s okay to let go, stop carrying the house I’ve clutched so tightly since he died. Dad doesn’t live hereanymore. It’s time for me to say goodbye and start my new life, a life that fate doesn’t decide, but one that I choose.
Logan is almost to the door when I spot the orange extension cord draped from the overhead microwave hanging down to the floor and around the corner in my living room. I dart my arm out to snag it in my elbow, and then I wrap it around my palm twice and clasp it as tight as I can. Logan barrels out the doorway with me, and the cord rips from the shoddy electrical outlet with the quietest little pop.
A snap. Aspark.
I hear it before the door closes behind us.The whoosh.
A warm breeze hits our back as we step into fresh air that’s no longer heavy with fumes and chemicals. The clean air soothes some of the burn in my chest.
He spins around, taking a few steps backward as the flickering orange glow climbs the walls of a house that’s no longer a weight for me to carry.
Lifting my chin, I meet his gaze to find him already staring at me. He knows what I did, he saw me reach for the cord. He peers into my soul and claims me exactly as I am. His heart pounds faster, railing against his chest as he marvels at what I’ve done. The desire in his eyes is ravenous—this time I didn’t hide my darkness, I chose to wield it.
With Kelly in my arms, I sprint down the driveway toward her neighbor’s house. Casper flies down the street like a bat out of hell, with Thor in the passenger seat. They arrived less than two minutes after me. My driving was a bit more reckless than theirs on my way over.
They see Kelly in my arms and slow, so I signal them to keep going. An incinerated body in a burned-down house is going to raise some suspicions, so Thor needs to be as far away as possible from this.
