Much worse.
I force my mind back through the path I took.
Wall.
Landing.
Stairs.
Turn.
Front door.
Finding the stairs is easy.
Trusting them is harder.
I want to run.
Every part of me screams to run.
I don’t.
I can’t see a damn thing. For all I know, half the steps are burned through. I test each one with my boot before putting weight on it, one arm locked around Livy, the other skimming the wall.
Slow and steady.
The smoke glows orange by the time I reach the first floor.
Fire moves on both sides of me now. It crawls along the ceiling. Rolls over the walls. Snaps and breathes like something alive.
For one terrifying second, I lose the layout.
Everything is heat.
Smoke.
Noise.
The house is no longer a house.
It’s a maze trying to kill us.
I stop and think.
Then a stream cuts through the smoke from the right.
White spray. Hard pressure. Beautiful as salvation.
I almost laugh.
“Foster!”
Maverick’s voice.
I turn toward it.
Another hose stream punches into the fire, knocking flames back from the doorway. Through the smoke, I catch shapes outside.
