Prologue
Palmer
Seven Years Ago
Theairhurt.Astinging, acrid smell invaded my dreams until it wrapped around my throat and choked me.
My eyes flew open, and watered almost immediately. Something was wrong.
Everythingwas wrong.
It was hard to orient myself, to think through the pain of my surroundings attacking me. A muffled wailing pressed against my ears. I turned my head, searching my dorm room for anything to help this all make sense, but tears were already streaking down my face. Everything was dark and foggy.
No, not foggy.
With a jolt of adrenaline, it snapped into place.
I tore off the noise-canceling headphones I’d fallen asleep wearing and winced as the screeching alarm assaulted my senses at full volume.
Fire.
I rolled off my bed onto the floor, grabbing for the sweatshirt I’d discarded there earlier. The heat sank in and sweat prickled, but I slipped on the hoodie anyway, covering what skin I could. There wasn’t time to find pants, though.
My dorm room darkened by the second, the smoke like a storm cloud descending upon the space where I slept. I pulled my sweatshirt up over my mouth, but it did little to keep out the horrible stench of burning chemicals and smoke. I wiped at my eyes, but that didn’t help either.
I glanced toward the only window in the room. The building was old and it didn’t open all the way, but the urge to breathe in a lung full of clean air almost made me crawl over to it.
I decided not to.
I had no idea how long the alarm had been going off, and it was getting hotter by the moment. The smoke grew more dense, even with my door shut. But if I stayed here, I would be trapped.
The stairs.
I needed to get to the stairs. This room was three stories up, and even if I smashed that window open, I wouldn’t be able to get out. The fall would kill me.
My entire body was coated in sweat. My heart rammed the cage of my ribs so hard it hurt. I reached for the half-full bottle of water on my nightstand and poured it over my head. I didn’t know if it would help anything, but I wanted any relief from the burning and radiating heat.
Blinking through the droplets of water clinging to my lashes, I crawled.
The knob was warm when I touched it, but not hot. I paused a beat, glancing back to the window one last time before I gritted my teeth and opened the door.
A rush of heat and smoke poured in, and my lungs spasmed. A fit of coughing hit me, followed by a wave of pure fear.
The stairs. Get to the stairs.
I peered out into the hall, but even low to the ground there was barely any visibility. The smoke was thick and black, smothering out all light and air.
There was no sound but the blaring alarm and the crackling and popping of the fire eating away at the building. But there were no flames—only smoke.
I had no idea where everyone else on the floor had gone. It felt like I was the last person left in the universe as I crawled out of my room.
Though I couldn’t see, I had traveled this hall countless times. I knew by memory where the stairway was. It wasn’t far from my room. At least, it had never seemed far before. But as I crawled, my chest pressed to the floor, it might have been a world away.
The smoke thickened with every inch I managed, and I squeezed my eyes shut. They were worthless anyway. Tears slipped from between my lashes as the floor beneath me grew hotter, too, scalding my skin.
I pulled my sleeves over my hands to protect them, trying to lean most of my weight on my forearms. I couldn’t ruin my hands. If I ruined them, I was basically worthless.
Almost there. I had to be almost there…
