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The heat of the fire licks at my skin as I get closer, and I can hear the groan of timber as it succumbs to the intense temperature and collapses into the raging inferno. My lungs burn. My heart aches. But I have to do something.
God, if you let him live, I promise I will do better. I’ll become a nun. I’ll repent my sins. I’ll do whatever you want me to. Just please don’t let him die.
And then they appear out of nowhere. Two men silhouetted against the flames as they run out of the burning cornfields.
My heart jumps to my throat—it’s Ares and Jack.
I run toward them, not stopping until I collapse into Ares’ arms. “Oh, thank God, you’re safe.” I don’t even realize it, but I’m crying. “Are you okay?”
Jack keeps walking. But I’m barely aware of him or the burning barn and the glowing embers floating in the air around us. All that matters is that Ares is alive.
I reach up to touch his face, desperate to feel him.
“Little one…” he whispers.
I gasp out a ragged cry. “Are you hurt?”
He drags my hands to his lips. “I’m not hurt.”
A sheen of sweat and ash coats his skin, but he doesn’t appear to be burned.
“I saw the roof collapse…”
“I kicked a hole in the wall, and we escaped into the cornfields before the ceiling caved in.”
I drag his face to mine and press my forehead against his. “Please tell me you’re okay.”
“I’m okay. But you shouldn’t have come. What were you going to do, run into the burning barn and save me?”
“If that’s what it took.”
He looks furious but amused at the same time.
“You’re pissed at me,” I say.
“You put yourself in harm’s way. Of course, I’m pissed at you.” He clutches my hands. “Baby, if anything happened to you—”
“I feel the same way. That’s why I’m here.”
He shakes his head.
“You and your fucking logic,” he mutters.
He wraps his arms around me.
“Who did this?” I ask.
“The Three.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
Doc interrupts us, “I’m gonna need to check Ares out.”
“I’m fine,” Ares says gruffly, not willing to let me go. He grasps me tighter to his powerful body. Not because he needs me close but because he knows I need him close. “I said I’m fine.”
“Get her home,” Jack calls out to him.
