"She's breathing. That's three. Call went out to an ambulance. We need to get Len moving now."
"I've got him. You get Sterling. Parker can wait for the ambulance. These two need to go. Rest of the team will find him. He's not going to make it off the property."
"Come on baby, you're okay. Open those eyes for me. Parker. Come on."
I knew that voice. Knew all those voices. But this one, bossy, domineering, and underneath, utterly terrified. Nash. My Nash.
This time, my eyelids cooperated. My voice a croak, I managed, "I'm okay. Tyler hit them. Locked us in. Fire." I blinked rapidly, a sudden swell of tears stinging and clearing my vision. Nash came into focus, his face streaked with soot, eyes shattered.
"Parker." He dropped his forehead to mine. "Thank god," he breathed into my hair. "Thank god."
Pulling me into his arms, he stood, ducking his head through the doorway. "I'm taking you out of here. An ambulance is on the way."
"The fire?" I asked, shocked to see that, except for the haze of smoke in the air, the attic looked much the same as it had when we'd come in searching for Shadow. Someone had opened the windows and fresh air was rapidly clearing the haze of smoke.
"Only at the door. Thanks to Savannah sticking fire extinguishers all over the place, it didn't get very far."
"Put me down," I said, pushing at Nash's shoulder. "I'm fine. I just need a sec." Nash set me gently on my feet, his arm around my waist to steady me. I wasn't going to argue. My knees were wobbling more than I wanted to admit.
"It was Tyler," I said. "He lured us up with Shadow and locked us in. He hit Sterling and Len in the head, knocked them out." I glanced around wildly.
"Griffen and Hawk have them. An ambulance is coming for you, but—"
"Len was bleeding a lot," I said, glad he and my sister were on the way to the hospital. "I don't need an ambulance." As if my body took exception to my rash statement, an inhale caught on my ragged throat and sent me into another coughing fit. Nash's arm wrapped around my waist, holding me steady as my lungs heaved.
"The hell you don't. Let's get you downstairs."
"Where's Tyler?" Another voice cut in. Bryce?
When the coughing fit eased enough for me to stand, I turned to see my cousin Bryce, streaked with soot, his golden hair a tangled mess, his blue eyes stark with shock and pain. "Bryce?" I croaked. "Why are you here?"
"Parker, I'm so sorry about the dumbwaiter. I never meant–I didn't know he wanted to hurt you. I thought he was just messing around." Bryce swung his head from side to side. "Did he leave after he set the fire?"
"Funny you'd be the only one to wonder about me," Tyler said, stepping through the haze of smoke, the gun in his hand pointed at Bryce. "I thought you were an idiot, and most of the time you are, but you have your moments."
"Tyler, what the fuck are you doing?" Nash asked, angling his body to shield me.
Curling my fingers around his belt for support, I took my place at his side. If we were going down, it would be together.
"He wants to kill us," I said, my eyes on the barrel of the gun pointed at Nash. "He thinks if he can get us out of the way, your mother will love him best."
"Are you insane?" Nash asked his brother, tightening his arm around my shoulders and trying to push me behind him again. I stayed where I was. "You can't think you'll get away with this. What are you going to do with our bodies?"
Tyler rolled his eyes, shaking his head as if wishing for patience. "I can set more than one fire, and this time, the calvary won't be here. Hawk and Griffen are racing for the hospital. The ambulance will take a while to get here. Much longer than it'll take for me to shoot you, shove you in the closet, and get that fire going again. All that fabric lying around in there will go up in seconds. By the time they find you, there won't be anything left but your bones."
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Bryce shrieked. "You said we were going to play some pranks, get back at Parker and your brother. You can't shoot them! You can't–"
Tyler's eyes narrowed. He shifted the gun a few inches to the right and pulled the trigger. It was loud, so much louder than I thought it would be, the air in the attic pulsing from the shot, my ears ringing. Bryce went down, red blooming across his abdomen, his eyes and mouth wide with surprise.
I dove for him, pulling off the cardigan I wore over my tank top and wadding it into a ball to press to Bryce's midsection. He groaned, his head rolling against the floor, but his eyes didn't open.
"I wouldn't bother," Tyler drawled, sounding completely unconcerned that he'd just shot his friend. When I risked a glance, it was to see him grinning down at us, his eyes lit with surprised glee, maybe even joy.
"No need to save him," Tyler went on, his voice oddly light-hearted. "You'll all be dead soon enough. It's what you deserve. And I'll get what I deserve. The life I used to have."
"What life?" Nash asked, his voice devoid of emotion. "What is it you want, Tyler? What do you think you'll get out of this?"
"The life I had before."
