I gasped and jumped back, lifting my foot. Another dead butterfly lay crumpled on the tile.
For a long moment, I simply stared at it.
Where was Phantom finding butterflies in the middle of winter?
A flicker of unease slid through me, but my head was already too crowded with thoughts of Roman, of last night, and of things I wasn’t ready to unpack.
With a small sigh, I crouched and carefully swept up the brittle remains with a paper towel, trying not to look at them too closely before tossing everything into the trash.
Outside, dawn continued to creep in. Inside, my heart was tangled and confused. I couldn’t allow myself to get attached here. That was my promise. My vow.
But it was becoming so much harder to keep. Every time Roman got close to me, every time Hailey looked at me with her sweet, trusting eyes—that promise felt like it was burning away.
It would be nothing but ash soon.
The kitchen was suddenly too small and tight, as if the walls were inching closer with every breath I took.
I needed space.
Without really thinking, I shoved my feet into my boots and yanked the back door open, stepping out into the frozen morning.
The bitter air sliced into my lungs, but the pain helped.
I dragged in another breath. Then another. Each exhale misted in front of me, white and trembling. The cold cleared my head enough that the panic loosened its grip.
It was going to be fine. I wasn’t falling for anyone. I wrapped my sweater tighter around myself and scanned the backyard for Phantom.
I didn’t see him, but his tiny footprints led toward the tree line.
Then my gaze tracked up, and my stomach dropped so violently I swayed.
Smoke, thick and black, rose into the dawn-lightened sky like a harbinger of destruction.
For a split second, my brain refused to process it. The world tilted as the smell hit me a heartbeat later. A burning, acridstench dug its claws into my mind, ripping me back through time.
My vision blurred as memories crashed forward without warning: heat pressing against my skin, flames licking at walls, smoke stealing oxygen from my lungs.
Dizziness washed over me so hard I nearly went to my knees. I gripped the railing of the back porch, knuckles whitening.
I forced myself to breathe.
In.
Out.
The smoke was close. Too close. I blinked hard, forcing myself to focus past the trees.
The smoke rose from beyond them, from about where the Hearthstone office building stood. And Phantom’s little footprints were headed straight for it.
My breath left me in a broken gasp, and without thinking, I started to run. My boots pounded the frozen ground, snow crunching beneath each frantic step as my heart slammed against my sternum.
This could not be happening.
But the closer I got, the less room there was for denial. Dark smoke rolled upward in heavy waves.
I stopped short on the slope downward, slipping as the building finally came into view. A wave of heat rushed over me, and I forgot to breathe. The modern glass windows were smeared with soot; smoke poured from somewhere inside, but I didn’t see any visible flames from the back.
I needed to call Roman.
