I turned and shielded her body with my own as I carried her through the flames, feeling the fire bite at my back, my shoulders, my arms. Didn’t matter.
The next few seconds were a blur.
Running. Night air filling my scorched lungs, each breath a fresh kind of agony. Putting distance between us and the inferno until I was next door.
I laid her down on the neighbor’s lawn, the grass cool and damp beneath her.
She was too still. Too quiet.
“Harper.” My voice cracked. Broke. Came out as something closer to a rasp than a word.
I pressed two fingers to her throat.
For one agonizing moment, nothing.
Then … a faint pulse. Light as a butterfly wing against my fingertips. And then the most beautiful sound in the world.
A cough.
I dropped my forehead to her chest. A sob ripped through me, followed by a coughing fit so violent, I nearly collapsed beside her. Even though I knew she wasn’t out of danger, even though the effects of smoke inhalation could stretch far beyond the next few minutes, the knowledge that she was alive hit me with the force of a tsunami.
Tears leaked from my eyes, and I didn’t try to stop them. They carved tracks through the soot and ash coating my face.
I lifted my head, cupping her face between my hands. Her skin was covered in patches of black smoke residue. So was mine. We probably looked like we’d crawled out of hell together.
Because we had.
Her eyelids fluttered open.
“Stay still,” I commanded, my voice rough.
Her unfocused gaze drifted around, taking in the sky, the orange glow of the burning bungalow. Finally, her eyes landed on my face.
Slowly, I must have come into focus.
Because her lips curled up. Just slightly. Just enough.
But one second later, her eyes went wide with horror.
Staring at something behind me.
Something hard slammed into the back of my skull.
And everything went black.
61
HARPER
No.
I tried to scream, but the sound that came out was weak. Childlike. Pathetic.
I tried to raise my arm, as if that could stop what was unfolding in front of me, but it was useless. My body was too far gone with smoke inhalation, weak from poison and my attempts to survive.
All I could do was watch as Silas brought the rock down and slammed it into the back of Knox’s head.
And then, to my horror, Knox crumpled to his left, and his eyes closed.
