A few people shake their heads. The same young woman who saw Ellie responds, “I think everyone on the first floor got out. I’m not sure about the second floor.”
Liam and I exchange a look.
“We should check it out, right?” Anxiety eats at me although I manage to keep my voice steady. “We need to find Ellie anyway.”
Liam hesitates, and I don’t blame him. We’re not firefighters. We don’t have gear or oxygen. Running into a burning building isn’t exactly safe even for a shifter.
“I can go up on my own,” I offer.
He scowls. “No, that’s not happening.”
“Okay, well if you’re coming with me, we need to go,” I grate out. “If Ellie is up there we don’t have much time.”
“I agree,” he says grimly. “Let’s move.”
We run across the street and push through the front door. The foyer is thick with smoke, the air heavy and gray. Visibility drops to a few feet. The heat is worse than I expected, pressing against my skin, building as we move deeper. I pull my shirt over my nose and mouth but it barely helps. My eyes sting and water as I scan the space. Through the haze, I can just make out the staircase.
“Ellie!” Liam shouts. “It’s the police. Are you up there?”
A voice from above, thin and strained. “Yes, I’m here.”
We take the stairs two at a time. The second floor hallway is bad. Smoke rolls along the ceiling in dense waves. The fire is concentrated at the east end, I can see the glow of it through the haze, hear the crackle and pop of old wood giving way. The heat radiates from that direction, intense enough that I feel it on the exposed skin of my face and hands. We need to find Ellie because we can’t stay here very long.
Thankfully, we locate Ellie near the middle of the hallway, leaning hard against the wall. She’s got a fire extinguisher in her hands that looks like it weighs half as much as she does. Her eyes are streaming and she’s coughing, but there’s a stubborn set to her jaw that doesn’t surprise me one bit.
“I tried to get ahead of it,” she wheezes. “But the damn thing’s in the walls. Spread too fast.”
“We need to get you out,” I say, taking the extinguisher from her. “Can you walk?”
“I’m not leaving yet,” she wheezes between coughs. “Let me stay a few more minutes.”
“Nope.” Liam slips his arm around her. “Come on, Ellie. Let’s go. You’re tough, but you’re not invincible.”
She grumbles but she doesn’t fight him.
“Is anyone else up here?” I ask, the heat and smoke making me feel nauseous.
She shakes her head. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Okay, come on.” Liam coughs. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
I lead the way back down the stairs, checking that the route is still clear. The smoke in the foyer has thickened and the visibility is worse than when we came in. I keep one hand on the wall, moving quickly but not rushing. Rushing leads to mistakes.
We get Ellie outside just as the first fire truck pulls up, brakes hissing on the wet road. The cold air hits my lungs like a slap and I cough hard, bending at the waist. Ellie is coughing too, but she tries to wave off the female paramedic who approaches her with an oxygen mask.
“I’m fine,” she rasps. “Go help someone who needs helpin’.”
The paramedic gives her a scolding look and ignores her protests, slipping the oxygen mask over her head, and leading her away from the building.
With Ellie safe, I get back to work. Liam and I split up. He coordinates with the fire crew while I manage the civilians. Branches from the burning pines keep falling, so I set up a perimeter using our SUV and some cones from the trunk, keeping bystanders and a few curious tourists at a safe distance. A woman is crying about her cat still being inside. I talk to her, get the details, and relay the information to the fire crew. An older couple needs blankets and I pull some from the emergency kit in the SUV. One man keeps trying to get past me to go back inside for his laptop. I block his path firmly.
“Sir, I understand,” I rasp.Trust me, I do. “But no one goes back in until the fire crew says it’s safe.”
“But my whole life is on that computer—”
“It’s a computer. It can be replaced,” I say gruffly. “You’re not going back inside.”
He gives me a dirty look, but he stops trying to get past me.
