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“It’s my Toyota,” I said through a thick throat. “Some fucker set it on fire.”
Valentine swore, Ben silent where he was presumably on another line.
All I could see was the flames.
Then reality rushed in. I lifted my gaze to Ariel. “Shoes, and something to cover your mouth from the smoke. We’re going to need to run.”
Wide-eyed, she nodded, darting into her bedroom.
“Callum’s outside,” Ben returned. “It’s just your car, nothing else around it and no one in sight that he can see. The fire brigade’s on its way, but he says to leave the tower by the exit into the great hall. Don’t go outside. It could be a trap. Callum’ll meet ye in there.”
Ariel emerged with her boots on, plus a bag in her hands, my jeans, and two scarves.
I dragged the jeans on, and we jogged down the stairs to the entryway, the scent of burning strong in the cooler air.
Smoke seeped in around the exterior door.
My car had been parked right outside the tower.
Ariel shoved a scarf into my hands, and I held it to my face, not stopping. The acrid fumes stung my eyes until they watered.
Ariel fumbled to open the internal door that led down a corridor to Castle McRae.
The key turned. But it wouldn’t unlock.
If a second explosion went off, we were sitting ducks.
She tried again then smacked it with her hand, switching her anxious gaze to me. “I think it’s jammed.”
She coughed, choking on the fumes, and I nudged her aside.
A whoosh came from outside, then another boom.
It shook the stones around us, and I ducked, crouching over Ariel, protecting her with my body.
The tower around us was ancient. The stone blocks that made up the walls thick and heavy. If it fell, we’d be crushed. No way to survive.
I should be panicked. All I knew was I needed to get Ariel out of there.
But nothing fell. I jumped up.
“Come on!” I yelled at the door, wasting precious oxygen. Then I shoulder barged it.
Again, I put all my weight into it.
A third time, and it gave. I fell through.
Ariel scrambled after me, helping me to my feet.
She booted it closed behind us, and together, we sprinted down the narrow corridor to the great hall.
Callum was approaching from the other side, the huge man’s forehead creased in a frown. He wasted no time, guiding us across the echoing space to the staircase that ran up the internal wall. Two others, carrying fire extinguishers, jogged down the stairs, passing us to run out of the huge oak front door.
At the top, we entered a corridor with other apartments that families lived in, then up another set of stairs to the solar—the apartment Callum shared with his wife.
“Go inside. Lock the door. Keep your phone on,” he ordered.
“Are we in danger?” Ariel asked. “Will the walls hold?”
