PROLOGUE
VICTORIA
I REMEMBER THE fire…how bright and hot it raged on like an unstoppable force, illuminating the night and burning everyone I ever loved to ashes.
Gripping the locket tightly in my hands, I pray as hard as I can that Arlo made it out safely. Somehow, someway, I know he did. He could climb the tree in his backyard faster than a lemur. He runs the fastest at school too, always daring everyone to try to outrun him.
"He's fast," I whisper to myself. "He made it out. He made it out," I chant.
It's a cold January night, and fresh snow had blanketed the neighborhood sometime while I was sleeping. I don't know exactly what woke me up. Maybe the fire. Maybe intuition.
All I know is that, when I looked out my window, the Rossis' home next door was engulfed in flames.
Tilting my head up, I watch the snowflakes fall from above, only to be instantly incinerated by the heat of the scorching fire before they can reach the ground.
Some of the neighbors are gathered on the street with me, but they don't speak to me. They know better. My father would have anyone's head if they looked at me wrong. But I know enough from eavesdropping that someone called nine-one-one a while ago.
I can hear the sirens in the distance, but they’re not getting here fast enough. If they don’t hurry, everything will be gone, including the Rossis…including Arlo.
I take a step towards the house, half tempted to run inside just to see if I can help get someone out, but I wouldn't even know which path to take. Dark smoke billows out of every window, broken glass covering the ground.
I clutch my necklace tighter. The locket, which Arlo gave to me on my tenth birthday a couple of months ago, contains a picture of him and me.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I try not to think about how that might be the last gift he ever gives me. He loved to give me gifts, even if it wasn’t a special day. He’s my best friend. Myonlyfriend.
"Please be okay. Please be okay. I can't lose you too," I whisper into my cold, clenched hands.
When the firetrucks finally arrive, the firefighters get to work trying to douse the flames with thick streams of water from their heavy hoses. But the fire has a life of its own, and it refuses to be tamed, crawling higher and brighter towards the dark sky as if being fueled by an underground demon.
An explosion sounds, and I barely have time to blink before I'm thrown to the ground from the blast. My nightgown feels heavy and wet as I hoist myself back up, afraid to look away from the fire, afraid to miss something important.
The Rossi family has lived next door to us since I was a baby. Arlo became my best friend when we were infants, holding hands in the crib, never wanting to let the other go. I know that because I've seen pictures of us together and because of the stories my mother used to tell.
But Mama is gone now. The car accident took her away from us only a few months ago. And Mrs. Rossi, who is like a second mother to me and comforted me through Mama's passing, might be gone now too.
Tears fill my eyes when I think of losing the Rossis. They have been more like a family to me than my own.
When Mama was alive, all her and Papa did was fight. I was always stuck in the middle. Always having to choose which one I loved more, but never wanting to.
The Rossis didn't fight. They seemed happy. The perfect family.
Arlo was lucky. His older sister Sara was lucky too. They just didn't know how much so.
"Victoria," my father's stern voice sounds from behind me. "You'll catch your death of cold standing out here in nothing but your nightgown."
I turn and look up at my father, and he seems unaffected by the fire. How is that even possible? Shivering, I ask him, "Did they get out, Papa? Are they okay?"
His face crinkles into an evil sneer as the flames reflect into his dark eyes. "Get back to bed. Now," he demands.
Never one to disobey my father in fear of the consequences, I rush back to our house and run straight to my room. But I don't get back in bed like Papa wanted me to. No, I draw the curtains back and watch the house next door burn to the ground.
And when the firemen have done their job and there's nothing left but rubble and ashes, I look for the raven-haired boy who owns my heart and soul.
But he's not there.
And I fear I'll never see him again.
CHAPTER 1
