“Exactly,” Jasper said. “I just have to hope the golem holds up and no one touches it in the meantime, otherwise, my mother’s friends are going to have a pile of mud on their floor, and that’s not going to make a good impression.”
“I would think not.” I giggled, then gave them a wave. “I hope you guys have fun on your date tonight. I’ll see you later!”
I rushed off toward the royal carriages. Going into Dolinska as a queen meant I had to take a lot of guards with me. A simple trip to town had now become a three-act play. Towman acted like a terrorist was hiding behind every bush as he walked in front of the royal carriage in his griffin form, eyes scanning for any sort of trouble.
“Don’t you think he’s a bit paranoid?” I asked Arthur. We were close to the restaurant now. I could see it out the carriage window.
“Better paranoid than oblivious,” Arthur said. “He’ll spot trouble a mile away—”
Arthur’s words were cut off as the carriage rocked to the side. The alicorn pulling it screamed, and the carriage tipped over, smashing against the ground. Arthur and I cried out as we fell against the wall of the carriage, my head in a daze.
My ears rang with the sound of an explosion. With horror, I looked out the broken window and realized smoke was rising in the air.
“Your highness!” Towman was there in an instant. He opened the carriage door that faced the sky, and reached in a hand to pull me out. He yanked me free of the carriage, then rescued Arthur. I took a few deep breaths, wondering where the explosion had come from.
My breath caught in my throat. I forgot to breathe as I realized my mother’s restaurant was on fire, one side blown out. Bricks lay scattered in the streets, and glass from windows scattered the cobblestone. Arthur’s eyes contracted, and his hands bunched in his hair as he watched our mother’s restaurant become devoured by flames. I took a shuddering gasp.
“Your highness, you must stay within the safety of the guards—your highness!” Towman screeched.
I didn’t hear him, for Arthur had already transformed into a wolven, and I had launched myself onto his back. The guards gave chase, but Arthur was faster, and we soon left them behind.
Arthur ran toward the blazing building with determination, giving a couple of whimpers. Employees and restaurant patrons alike ran out ofEvonna’s Place, screaming in terror as flames continued licking up the sides of the building.
Arthur burst through. The temperature around me swelled as we entered the fiery structure. The restaurant was already full of smoke. It made it hard to breathe. My lungs began to burn. I started hacking, trying to get the smoke out of my chest.
“Mom!” Arthur shouted, looking from this way to that. “Mom!”
I slid off Arthur’s back, and bunched up my long dress skirt to put it over my mouth and act as a filter for the smoke. It still felt like I was choking. I forced myself onward as I pushed tables and chairs out of the way, crying, “Arthur, the kitchen!”
Arthur scrambled to my side. There was a massive fallen beam in front of the kitchen door that I could not lift. With his shifter strength, Arthur put his shoulder against the beam, and pushed it out of the way.
I put a hand on the door, but it was strikingly hot, and burned my skin. I gasped and brought my hand back, but Arthur charged on through it.
The kitchen was going up faster than the rest of the place was. The flames here were so large, I thought I might pass out from the heat.
Then I saw her. A limp figure, lying on the ground with her red hair cast over her face, flames licking up her clothes.
“There she is!” I yelled. I staggered forward and put my arms around my mother’s body. Her hair shifted backward. Nausea welled in my gut as I realized half of her face was burned, charred skin mixing with welts and blisters that were blooming all over her body.
It took all my strength, but I lifted my mother onto Arthur’s back. He began carrying her out. I went to follow, but before I could, I heard a crackling in the ceiling.
“Emma, get back!” Arthur cried, and he jumped forward. I had to lunge out of the way as part of the ceiling came down. A piece of concrete separated from the rest, and hit me directly on the head.
“Emma!” Arthur wailed, but his words were like sand in my ears as I collapsed to the floor. My lungs sputtered as I continued to inhale the smoky air, and my head welled with unimaginable pain.
I felt my eyes roll backward and the heat increase just before I fell into darkness.
I smelled sanitizer,and heard the soft beeping of a monitor as my eyes slowly opened. My head was wrapped with some kind of bandage— my chest ached, but my throat sucked in clean air, as if my body longed for it. Relief pressed in on me like a soft, warm blanket.
From far off, I heard a lovely voice. “It’s all right, Emma. Towman and the other guards got you out. You’re safe.”
“Ethan.” My grip tightened on his. I just now realized I was holding his hand. I slowly came to the surface, my foggy thoughts becoming clear. The room came into view, a place filled with monitors and machines.
I didn’t recognize it, but assumed I must be at Dolinska Medical Center, the closest hospital to the—
I gasped as I sat up. The effort nearly made me pass out again. My head spun. I retched, but nothing came up. Ethan placed a hand on my chest, pushing me back down.
“Emma, you must stay calm. You inhaled a lot of smoke,” Ethan said gently.
