Page 192 of Chaos

He doesn’t have time to tie her up somewhere, the only foolproof way to ensure she won’t follow him into a burning building.

God, he wishes he’d made some.

Ruin has barely slowedto a canter before I dismount, my feet hitting the ground hard before I take off at a run towards the smoking, flaming barn.

Hot on my heels, I hear Finn yell, and I glance over my shoulder to see him gesturing angrily towards the house. “Call for help.”

I start to protest only for my own name to cut me off, a bark of it and a gruff, “I’ll get the horses.”

By himself? “You can’t—”

“Do not argue with me.Go.”

A frustrated noise scratches my throat, but I do as he says, speeding up as I swerve away from the smoking barn.

The front door slams against the wall as I burst through it. I almost break my damn neck as I take the stairs to my bedroomtwo at a time, almost dropping my phone more than once as I grab it off my dresser and frantically dial every number I can think of. Only emergency services answer, and I suppose that’s going to have to be good enough because I don’t have time to keep trying everyone else.

I barrel back outside only to come up short at the sight of the barn, not just smoking now, but on fire. One deep calming breath, and then I’m sprinting across the yard, hollering for Finn, choking on the smoke billowing out of the open door, almost getting bowled over by the horse that suddenly tears out of it—Daphne, I recognize, breathing a sigh of relief that’s quick to catch, so short-lived it barely even forms at all, because there isn’t any time for relief.

Coughing even harder the deeper I move into the barn, I holler some more until finally, someone hollers back. “Get out of here, Lottie.”

“You get out of here,” I retort, shrugging off my flannel to use as a barrier between my palm and the heated metal latches I fumble to slide free. My heart races, so much smoke stinging my eyes, but I force myself to calm the hell down, force my damn hand to stop shaking so I can get my horses out of here. “What the fuck happened?”

Face grim as he tries to wrangle a terrified Bowie out of her stall, Finn jerks his head towards the loft above us. Despite the oppressive heat, I feel all the color drain from my face as I tilt it towards the towering wall of flames licking the roof, fed by the hay bales stored up there.

As the bolt finally slides free with a screech, I just about manage to dodge Grace’s horse, Velma, as she escapes with a loud squeal. “How?”

“I don’t know.” With a grunt, Finn manages to wrench Bowie free, slapping her on the rear so she tears out of the barn. “Did you call 911?”

“No, I ordered pizza,” I snap, moving on to Shaggy next, clicking my teeth in an effort to draw my brother’s horse out into the aisle. “Of course I fucking called 911.”

Undeterred by my attitude, Finn frees the horse of the very woman he asks about next. “Lux?”

“She didn’t answer.”

“Go call her again.”

I choke a little more as the audacity of man aids the smoke thinning the air. “I’m a little busy, darling.”

“I don’t want you in here.”

“I don’t wantyouin here either so shut up and let me help, and then we can both get the hell out—watch out.”

With a gasped cry, I launch myself at Finn, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and frantically yanking him towards me. Not even a second later, an unholy crack stops my heart in my chest as a flaming rafter drops from above, the force of it throwing us both backwards.

A dull ache echoes across my back as I land hard, Finn hitting the ground right beside me. But it’s nothing compared to the pain that lances my very fucking soul when a sharp, panicked neigh pierces my ears.

Nor my own sharp panic when I realize it’s coming from the other side of the raging wall of flames separating us from the back half of the barn—when I recognize that young, equine tone.

Finn moves, but I’m faster. I’m on my feet before he’s even sat up, keeping low as I sprint towards the gap between the floor and the burning wood.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” he yells in my wake, nevermind the fact I’ve already dared.

If he hears me shout back at him to get the others out, I don’t know. If he listens, I don’t know that either. I do know that he lunges for me. I know that fingers glance the small of my back, so close to grabbing me, but I dodge just in time.

Right into the path of an errant flame.

I cry out when it licks at my bare shoulder, gagging as the acrid scent of burnt flesh fills my nostrils. Finn screams something incomprehensible, something so loud and so angry that it overwhelms the horrible, crackling screech of fire, that it almost overwhelms me, but I persevere. I fight my way through the thick smoke, coughing and swiping at my eyes as I follow the distressed noises to the lone occupied stall.

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