Page 119 of Sweet Oblivion

Fuck.

I shake my head and break his hold. “She’s in there. And I’m going to find her.”

He looks between the shop and the apartment.“You go upstairs, and I’ll check the shop.”

I nod and run one way, and he goes the other. The stairs are already cloaked in a haze of gray smoke as I hit the first step at a run and take them two at a time. Desperate to get to my wife.

The metal is already hot to the touch as I fly to the top and try the knob.

My stomach drops. It’s unlocked. She’s here.

I hit it with my shoulder instead of fucking with the red-hot knob and stumble inside when it cracks open. Smoke stings my eyes, hanging heavy in the air. “Lane!”

Nothing.

No answer. No movement.

Smoke hangs low across the ceiling, thick enough to sting my eyes and claw its way along my throat. Growing thicker by the minute. Closing in on me. Getting closer to the floor.

She has to be here.

Tunnel vision kicks in, and I don’t hear anything. Don’t see anything. I’ve got a solitary mission to find my wife.

The living room is empty. The table still set with the fruit bowl in the center. The one my girl never put fruit in.

“Delaney!” My voice rips my throat raw, smoke choking me as the floor shakes beneath me. I look around, dragging my shirt over my mouth, and drop lower, forcing air inthrough the smoke and panic. I make my way to the bedroom. Empty. The bathroom. Empty.

Fuck... I run to the kitchen. Please, baby. Please be in the kitchen.

I hit the edge of the room and freeze.

She’s on the floor, shoved up against the counter beside a box. Her hair is spread across the tile, blood pooling beneath her. And fuck, there’s so much blood. Too much blood.

Tori is there, curled against her chest. Her face tucked under Delaney’s. Her eyes wide and locked on mine. Like she’s scared. Like she’s been scared to leave her human.

No.

This isn’t happening.

It can’t be.

I’m on my knees before I feel myself move.

“Bambi...” Her skin is too pale under the soot dusting her face. A bruise is blooming along her temple. Her lips are parted. And she’s still. Too still. “Come on, Lane.”

I run my fingers along her neck, desperate to find her pulse beating beneath my touch, where it belongs. But it’s not. There’s nothing.

That can’t be right.

I flatten my palm over her chest, desperate to feel the rise and fall.

Still nothing as my world splits open and narrows to the tiny point of a pin.

I’ve got to get us out of here.

The floor vibrates beneath us, and I don’t know how much longer we have before it goes.

Carefully, so fucking carefully, I lift Lane in my arms and grab Tori’s leash. “Come on, girl. We’ve got to get out of here.”