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It was hot.
Too fucking hot.
Raising an arm, I shielded my face when I went to open my eyes and was met with an assault of light and heat. Then the smell of the smoke, dancing around the inside of my throat and into my lungs yanked me back into the waking world, and I sat up, clutching my head when pops of light danced before my eyes.
For a horrifying moment, panic gripped at my chest when I thought Ray had left me inside the building when she had set it alight. But I was on the street, the rough gravel of the road under my palms as I steadied myself, and the flames licked at the building through the now-shattered windows. The heat was unbearable even from this distance, and my eyes followed the pillar of smoke as it disappeared into the night sky. It wouldn’t be long before the emergency services arrived. That, right there, being one hell of a smoke signal.
Despite the heat, Ray stood much closer to the flames than me.
With a sickening sensation in my stomach, I realized she was probably used to the heat.
I had been faced with my own mortality enough not to need a slap in the face of the existence of an afterlife. There are some things I didn’t want to think about, and where I’d end up after I died, given all the things I had done, was one of them.
When I started coughing, Ray spun on her heel, and smiled wide when she looked at me. She came and sat next to me, yanking on my arm when I tried to move away from her.
“Sit, you need to rest for a moment.”
“Why? Because you choked me until I was unconscious?”
She smirked. “Yeah, exactly.”
We watched the building burn for a minute. Like the most fucked-up date ever. I wanted to do something, but what could I do? Turning, I studied Ray for a moment. She had a look that almost reflected tranquility on her face as she sat, mesmerized by the flames.
“Do you know why they call me Ray?” she asked without looking at me. I shook my head but didn’t respond. When I didn’t say anything, she turned to me, positively beaming. “Because I brighten your night,” she said with a dramatic flail of her wrist toward the flame.
What.
The.
Fuck?
“Have you been waiting for me to ask so you could tell your little lame joke?”
“Yes, but you’re grumpy for some reason, so I had to set up the punchline myself.”
“You choked me!”
“And you stabbed me, so I think we’re even now. No?”
My eyes flickered to her wrists. “Where are the handcuffs?”
Ray nodded toward the building. “In there, do you want them back?”
“Funny.”
“Oh, lighten up, Ilsa. What do you have to be so gloomy about?”
Losing my job, my livelihood, the part of me that made me feel worthy of a family that didn’t otherwise accept me. Having my ass kicked by a demon. Being stupid enough to go after a demon in the first place. Then being aroused by said demon. Believing in demons at all. And finally, the injury that ruined my leg and career.
Glaring at her, I shook my head.
Then I heard it.
“What the fuck was that?” Ray asked. All humor was lost from her voice, and she sounded scared.
As I scrambled to my feet, my leg gave out underneath me, and slapping Ray’s hand away when she went to grab my arm to help, I shushed her when she complained. Straining my ears again, I know what I heard, but I prayed I was wrong.
Screams.
“Ray, someone is in the building.”
The adrenaline was surging in me again, and Ray took a step backward from the flames, shaking her head. “That’s not possible, I checked and double-checked. There was no one in there.”
Running toward the building, I recoiled when a supporting pillar collapsed, followed by a shower of sparks blasting through the front door. Scanning the area, I pivoted when the scream echoed out again.
Not this building, the one next to it.
The flames had spread.
“Help me,” I cried, turning back to Ray. She hadn’t moved, her eyes wide, still shaking her head. “Ray!” Clapping my hands gained her attention, then I pointed to the building behind me. “We have to save them.”
Without checking to see if she was following, I raced to the adjoining building, shouldering the door until it gave way and immediately dropping to my knees. The place was full of smoke, blinding and choking. But through it, I could hear someone calling for help, and it drove me forward.
Removing my top, I wrapped it around my nose and mouth and squinted, constantly blinking against the blinding tears caused by the smoke.
“Where are you?” I called, moving the moment I heard a response.
Rushing past the front counter, ignoring the burn of my eyes as the smoke pummeled into my face with every step I took, I made my way to the back of the building.
A kitchen, ovens, large steel counters.
A bakery, some unfortunate soul had been here late, prepping for the next day.
When I found him, I cursed. With the collapse of the shared wall, an industrial oven had fallen, and his leg was trapped beneath it.
“Help me,” he coughed out, trying desperately to prise himself free. I tried, God knows I tried, but the damn thing was too heavy. All too soon, I could see it in his eyes, the resignation, knowing he wouldn’t get out of there alive. Cursing again, pain tore through my body as I tried once more in vain to shift the heavy equipment.
His eyes, I had seen that look, and I wasn’t going to accept it. Not again.
But the oven wouldn’t budge.
Ready to give up, I sunk to my knees. The smoke was overwhelming. If I didn’t get out of this place soon, I’d die with this man. This isn’t how I saw myself going out, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave him.
I felt her presence before I saw her, and as Ray brushed past me, her face was clear as though the smoke didn’t bother her at all. With a heave, she lifted the oven off the trapped man, and I scrambled to help him out from underneath. Looping our arms around each other’s shoulders, we began to move out of the building, each limping on opposite legs.
Tutting, Ray came in front of us. I tried to scream at her to move, but smoke filled my mouth and lungs, and I began coughing again. Crouching, Ray lifted us each onto a shoulder and stomped out of the building acting like the only inconvenience to her wasn’t the weight of two adults on her shoulders but the interruption to her night.
Carrying us across the street, she dropped us together onto the pathway against the building opposite. Ray and I held each other’s gaze for a moment before she tilted her head, the approaching sirens her calling card to leave.
“I didn’t want to kill anyone,” Ray said, resignation heavy in her tone. She cast a sorrowful look at the man lying next to me, his injured leg, his face covered in ash and clothes burned, with eyes closed and breathing shallow.
When we locked eyes again, I frowned, trying to figure out what she was thinking. “Ray, you need to stop this.”
She bit her lip, looking between me and the empty street behind her. I knew she would run, and there wasn’t anything I could do to stop her. Saving this man’s life trumped chasing her. Besides, she had proven herself hard to pin down when she didn’t want to be, and I started to suspect I was out of my depth. Weren’t there people trained to do this? Demon bounty hunters or something? Where do I even find them? My internet search history would look like that of a crazy person soon if I weren’t careful.
