Page 87 of The Ashes of Summer

He backs toward a steel door set into the wall. A door he never mentioned. A door that wasn't on any map he drew.

Of course it wasn't.

My legs are moving before I decide anything. The floor tilts under me. Every step lands heavier than the last, the gas dragging at my arms, my lungs, my thoughts—but the anger keeps me upright.

The gap narrows. The door starts to slide.

"NO—"

He freezes. Half a second. Something cracks across his face—pain, regret, I don't fucking know.

Then the gap disappears. The steel slams. Locks engage somewhere inside the mechanism, and the sound of it goes through me like a round to the chest.

I hit the door with everything I have. It doesn't move. I hit it again. Again. Nothing. It doesn't even rattle in the frame.

Behind me somebody's shouting my name. Carter, maybe. It reaches me like it's coming through water.

The corridor tips. I plant a hand on the wall and force myself up.

Summer. Find Summer. Everything else comes later.

The edges of my vision go dark. My arms are too heavy. My lungs are too heavy. Even the thoughts are going.

And the last thing that surfaces isn't the map or the door or Kurt's face. It's her, in my kitchen, bare feet on the tile, hair everywhere, rolling her eyes at me because I forgot whatever it was she asked me to get.

An ordinary morning. A stupid, ordinary morning.

I'd give every year I have left to have it back.

My knees hit the concrete.

She's here. She's finally here—one floor away, maybe two—and I'm going out before I can reach her.

The last thing I see is that steel door.

I am going to burn this fucking place to the ground.

Chapter 29

They’re Here

Summer

The bedroom door slams open hard enough to rattle the walls. One of the guards is through it before it's finished swinging, breathless, wild around the eyes.

"Boss—"

Jackson's head snaps around. And the man looks panicked. Actually panicked—not the nervousness everyone in this house wears around him, but real fear.

"They're here."

Every muscle in my body locks.

What?

The guard swallows. "Sheriff Darnell. Some other fed-looking fuckers." His breathing roughens. "And Kurt's with them."

My heart stops.