The smoke stung my eyes, hanging in the corridor like a thick mist as I swooped in through a window.
Flying down the hall, dodging under the smoke and away from the flames, I couldn't help but feel transported back in time. To that moment when Luke's bomb had rocked the basement. I'd been only semi-conscious then, still recovering from the punching I’d received, but even in that state, I'd understood what was happening, that smoke was starting to fill the building, that I needed to get out if I wanted to survive...
And I'd decided to just stay where I was instead.
The secret I'd tried to tell Sage. That I hadn't even tried to escape...
I swallowed the thought down, because I hadn't died in the basement, and I hadn't died on that roof, and I sure as hell wasn't going to die now either.
Not now that I finally had something—someone—to live for.
A bark came from my right, making me stop. Drizzit. It had to be! I swerved in the direction of the barking, and now I heard coughing too.
"Can anyone hear me?” That was Elena's voice, coming from the door just down the corridor. I headed there as quickly as my wings would take me, then shifted back to open the door and storm into the room. Smoke wafted into my face, making me lift my arm in front of my nose. Once my eyes adjusted, I was greeted by a sorry sight. Half the floor of the room had caved in. Elena hadn't fallen through the hole, but she was barely hanging on to the edge of it, her feet dangling in the air. There were flames below her, about to roast her feet.
Drizzit barked at me again, spurring me into action. Carefully, I made my way over to the woman, hoping that the floor wouldn't give in once more. At least not before I could reach her. The wood groaned under my feet. A sound that made my stomach churn.
Keep going,I told myself.This is Jared's family.
And maybe not only Jared's... if Jared truly loved me. Maybe I could be part of this family too, one day.
But I had to save Elena first.
Thank God for vampire strength. Thank God for Jared's blood coursing through my veins.
"I got you!" I promised as I kneeled in front of the Elena, gripping her arms. "Come on." I pulled and she scrambled to climb up. After a few seconds of effort, I managed to lift her enough that she could get up on the floor next to me. She exhaled in relief, then started coughing. I offered her my hand. "Come on. Let's get out of her."
Next to me, Drizzit barked his agreement.
Elena took my hand at the same time that she shot me a questioning look. "Fire hurts vampires," she said.
"I know."
"Then why—"
"Because you're family."
She opened her mouth again, maybe to question what I said, but then she closed it again and simply nodded.
Oddly enough, I had never felt so accepted in my life.
Maybe I wasn't coven-less after all.
If we made it out of here alive, anyway.
