Theo headed for the stairs, still carrying Aria, and Cobb followed, still holding most of Matteo’s weight as his head lolled to the side.
Theo was just about to take a step onto the stairs when there was a loud crack above us.
“The roof!” Cobb pointed just as one of the huge beams cracked in half and fell, right where we were standing. We all scurried out of the way as the beam crashed into the landing and billowed out sparks that stung my skin as I skittered backwards.
“Tibby!” Cobb yelled as I tried to get my bearings. My pack had managed to land on the side where the stairs were, while I had not been so lucky. I’d been so preoccupied with avoiding the beam that I’d made the wrong choice and, effectively, cut myself off from the main exit of the lodge.
Theo’s panic hit me like a ton of bricks, and I had to shut down our bond in order to keep control over my own rising panic. I got to my feet and stood helplessly watching them from the wrong side of the beam.
“Go to the balcony in your room,” Cobb instructed. “I’ll meet you there!”
I nodded and turned on my heel, heading back into the hallway and into my bedroom. The room looked just as it had when I’d left it earlier, well, except for one thing.
The door to my nest was hanging open, and the inside had been engulfed in flames, which was odd because the rest of the room had yet to catch on fire. As far as I knew, the fire had started downstairs...so why was my nest on fire like this?
My nest now resembled the entrance to hell rather than what had been my safe haven over the past week.
I was so engrossed in staring at it, that I almost didn’t hear the squeak of the door hinge behind me as the door to my bedroom was closed.
“Hello, Tabitha.” A voice came from behind me and I turned, a sick feeling already churning in my gut, “long time no see.”
CHAPTER 43
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Jamie Jordan lookednothing like the little boy whose grandmother had taken him away all those years ago. His previously blond hair had been dyed black and looked oily, his nose looked even more twisted than what his ID photos showed, and there was also none of the sweet friendliness in his brown eyes that had been so present when he was a child. Nothing remained of that little boy and, instead, in his place was a grinning maniac with dark pools for eyes.
I could tell that he was clearly on some kind of drug, judging by how blown up his pupils were and how his hands shook at his sides.
“Jamie....” I held up my hands in front of me, like I was some kind of lion tamer. “You don’t want to do this. It’s me, Tabitha. We were friends when we were little, remember?”
Jamie took a step towards me, “In addition to all, take up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
Ephesians 6:16. A personal favorite of Hezekiah Jordan’s, in fact it had been painted on the walls of the meeting house, but there was one problem with it...the flaming arrows? Those had been anyone who went against his words. Oftentimes people who were just trying to make living in our compound work, even if they didn’t totally believe all of the bullshit that Hezekiah was touting.
“Jamie, I’m not one of the evil ones.” I still wanted to see if I could get through to him, I couldn’t help but still see the child in the way that his shoulders hunched and how his eyes shifted back and forth like he was waiting for a monster to come and get him.
