Trevor’s words cut off when I yank open the door and smoke billows out.
“What the fuck?” My brother yanks off his suit jacket, dropping it to the floor as I step into the gray mass of ash and soot.
Somehow, the servers are still running, and the glow from their activity lights cuts through the smothering cloud choking the air from my lungs. I reach out, trying to find a wall to use for guidance. When my fingers brush the surface, I move as quickly as I can, following it in the direction of the storage room.
If we can locate the source of the fire, maybe we can put it out before?—
The wall disappears from beneath my fingers as I trip over shit piled on the floor. Dropping lower to the ground, I manage to get into a less smoky spot so I can see what the fuck is going on. The debris gathered around my feet includes chunks of drywall and twisted metal, shreds of flaming paper, and…Fuck!Is that blood?
Crawling forward, I find the ragged edges of a hole in the wall between this room and the storage space.
“Jesus Christ.” Trevor hits the floor right beside me. “We’ve got to get in that room.”
I’m one step ahead of him, already scrambling through the hole, doing my best not to slice my skin and on any sharp edges. I end up having to do a sort of tuck and roll, but finally I’m in the storage room.
And the whole fucking thing is on fire.
The heat in here is almost unbearable, and it takes everything I have not to let my mind shut down. To keep it from snapping back in time.
“Mariah.” I scream her name as loud as I can, but it comes out raspy and choked thanks to the smoke burning my lungs.
I crawl until I run into something that seems like a giant shelf.I follow it to one end, circling around with Trevor right behind me. The fire is out of control in the area close to the hole, but it seems less aggressive the further away I get.
When my hands begin sliding through a foamy sort of residue, I understand why, and it means I’m going in the right direction.
“Mariah.” I yell again, this time managing a little more volume thanks to the slightly better air quality.
“Titus?” The sound of her voice brings an amount of relief I’ve never felt.
“Stay right where you are. I’m coming.” I move in the direction her response came from, reaching the spot where Mariah and Maren are huddled together, still clutching the fire extinguisher they fully unloaded. I grab her, pulling her close for just a second. “Everything is going to be okay. I’m going to get you out of here.”
She nods, eyes wide as her hands cling to me. I start to drag her along, but she resists.
“We have to help Maren too.” One hand leaves my shirt to reach for her friend, and I stop her.
“Trevor is right behind me. He’ll get her out. I promise.”
Backing up my claim, my brother shoves his way past me, going straight to where Mariah’s friend is. He all but scoops her small body up in one arm and turns to me. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Trevor stays hunched over but is moving quickly, and I hope it means he’s got a better path out than the one we took in.
When he hefts Maren against his chest and straightens, I do the same with Mariah, pulling in the last bit of decent air I can find before pushing back into the cloud of smoke and flame.
This time, we go up the other side of the shelving and angle in the direction of the hall instead of the server room. I hear the slap of plastic against glass as Trevor smacks his key card on the sensor. There’s a heavy sound of the metal handle twisting and then a sudden gust of cooler air as the door opens. I rush out behind him, sputtering and coughing as I drop to my knees.
Trevor slams the door closed behind us and goes downhimself, gently laying Maren on the floor before bending at the waist and catching himself on his hands. A group of security guards come racing toward us, each armed with a fire extinguisher. They take the same path we did, entering through the server room one after the other. The last one props the heavy metal entry open.
I keep Mariah in my arms as I roll to my ass, slumping against the wall at my back as I gasp out, “Why the fuck aren’t there any sprinklers in there?”
Trevor hacks out a ragged sounding cough before lifting his head. “Seriously? That’s what you’re worried about right now?”
His skin is darkened with soot and I think a little of his hair is singed. His suit is definitely ruined, and his reputation is going to take another hit when people find out he rescued a woman from a burning building. But he’s alive, and I’ve never been happier to give my brother shit in my life.
“You really want a bunch of water pouring on your servers every time someone pulls a fire alarm?” He crawls toward me, plopping onto his ass as he continues dragging in air. “And technically, the storage room doesn’t require sprinklers because of the square footage, plus the construction makes it nearly impossible for an accidental fire to start.”
Maren scoots in beside me, looking more pissed than scared as she takes Mariah’s hand. “Well that wasn’t an accidental fire.” She leans to glare around me, pointing an accusing finger at Trevor. “Your fucking assistant started it.”
In all the chaos and my rush to get to Mariah, I’d all but forgotten about Trevor’s assistant coming back here. “Where is he?” I might not be in the best of conditions right now, but I still feel pretty fucking confident I can beat that guy’s ass.
