Page 97 of Mountain Void

He didn’t particularly want to die. But the thought of her and the boy dying—that was the truly unbearable thought.

Lorenz forced himself to think past the pounding in his skull. Pelletier was one man. Armed, but only one man.

He knows we’re inside.

What would he expect us to do?

“He will expect us to run out the front door. He’ll be waiting for us.”

Waiting for me, specifically. To take me out.

“What are you thinking?”

“I go out the back, circle around , and surprise him.”

The fire crackled louder. The smoke under the door grew.

“No.” Her voice shook. “I’m not going to let you gamble with your life.”

Lorenz looked at her—committed her beauty to memory.

Then he crouched beside Théo, his ribs and his head beating to the same painful rhythm.

“I want you to stay with Charlie, Théo. Take care of her until I tell you to move, okay?”

The boy nodded rapidly. “You can trust me.”

Lorenz forced himself upright again.

“You’re hurt,” Charlie said. “You can’t fight him like this.”

“Good thing I’m not planning to.”

Her small hand came to rest on his chest, and he wanted nothing more than to stay still—just like this—but the crackling above them warned him that time was running out.

Lorenz crossed to the back door. He wasn’t sure he could move the armoire. He’d barely been able to drag it into place in the first place.

He shouldn’t have worried. Charlie and Théo stood beside him, lending their weight to help.

“On three.”

One. Two. Three.

Together, they pushed until he could just about squeeze out.

“Are you sure about this?” Charlie asked. Her eyes were already watering from the smoke, which rolled thicker now, darkening the air.

Théo coughed hard against Charlie’s chest, kicking Lorenz into action.

“Stay down, both of you, until I call you.”

He slipped through the narrow gap beside the armoire. The cold evening air struck his face, sharp and brutal after the heat building inside the hut.

Snow crunched softly beneath his boots, the sound barely noticeable among the crackling of the fire. The hut was burning from three sides. He had mere minutes before it reached this door.

He stopped, listening for movement.

Could he risk getting them out now?