Run.
The smart thing to do was run.Get out.Get away from here.Get help.If he didn’t tell the firefighters where Daniel and the others were being held, they wouldn’t know to rescue them.The smart, responsible thing to do would be to go now, while he could still navigate the staircase, and let the professionals deal with this.
Fire snapped.Flames licked their way up old wallpaper.The glass on a light fixture cracked in the sudden heat, and shards tumbled to disappear among the flames.
Tean was so sick of being scared.He was sick of being hurt.But he was even more sick of being scared of being hurt.
Run.
He took a step back.An old joist creaked underfoot.He had a sudden vision of the house like a box of kindling, all the aged wood going up cleanly, like it had been meant to burn.
Run.
He took another step back.
His parents.
His siblings.
The wedding.
Run.
Tean took a deep breath—or tried to.The air was too hot now, and the smoke made him dizzy.
Run.
His heel found empty air above the first step.
He was sick of it.He was sick of himself.But one thing you learned, if you spent enough time around Jem Berger, is that you didn’t have to be who you were.You could be anybody you wanted.You could be better.
He ran.
Forward.
Hurtling into the flames.
37
Reed had the gun pointed at Jem.
Jem was backed into a corner.He might be able to get Zeb’s knife.But could he get it before Reed shot him?Even if he got the knife, could he get to Reed before Reed put a bullet in him?
The flames were growing, spreading out where the paint thinner had puddled near the two jerry cans, licking their way across the floorboards and up the walls.The room was uncomfortably hot already, and in a few minutes, it would be unbearable.
Tean.Where was Tean?
And Reed was still standing there.The gun wavered.His hand drifted.The wolf mask wasn’t sitting straight anymore, and only one of the man’s eyes was visible.A concussion, at the very least, on top of the injuries Jem had given him out at Direwolf Ranch.
The decision wasn’t even conscious.Part of Jem just knew he needed to move, so he moved.He threw himself down, grabbed the knife, and rolled.
A gunshot rang out.
Pain turned Jem’s vision white.It took him a moment of ragged breathing before he could see again, before he could figure out where he was.Curled up under one of the dinner tables.He couldn’t see Reed anymore.The crackle of the flames made it impossible to hear the other man’s breathing.
“You’re making a big mistake,” Jem said, pitching his voice to carry.“You should be running.The police are going to be here any minute.”
Nothing.
