“Amos, do something!” Beth cries. She presses herself against the wall, face taut with fear. The stairs are blocked off with a line of fire, and the small room is getting hot fast.
“Cover your nose!” I call to Gemma. She’s already having a hard enough time breathing as it is. I yank my left arm again, crying out in pain as my skin tears. Gemma takes a bowl of water from the floor next to her cot and throws it at the fire. Water isn’t going to put out an oil fire. It needs to be smothered, and Amos is standing there like a deer in headlights with the blanket still around his feet.
The fire pops and sizzles, growing again. The stairs are moments away from being engulfed, and when that happens, we’ll all be goners. Amos takes Beth’s hand and pulls her away from the fire. If they can get out, they’re going to take that chance and leave us down here, tied up like worthless animals. They’re going to let us die.
“Smother the fire!” I yell over the crackling flames. “Do it now before the fire gets out of control.”
Amos flicks his eyes to me, debating if he can trust me or not.
“It’s not fucking witchcraft. It’s science!” Dammit. That might be the same thing in his book.
Beth takes the blanket and tosses it over the spilled oil, covering the lantern. It floats to the ground, and for a brief moment, the fire dies down. But it’s not enough, and a second later, the blanket starts to burn.
Smoke fills the small room. My heart races, and for the first time since waking up in this stupid place, I’m scared shitless. I’m going to die of smoke inhalation and then I’ll be burned to a crisp. What a fucking way to go.
But then the root cellar doors are torn off, and a large, dark shape descends on us, large black wings spread out behind his body. Jacques’s eyes meet mine, and he leaps over the fire. Beth screams and scrambles away, going closer to the flames just to avoid Jac. She looks at me, finger pointed at my face. I return her terrified look with a grin.
“You wanted the devil…here he is.”
