Page 84 of A Cowboy's Claim
And her.
Their eyes locked.
The children would be safe with him. She turned and plunged back inside.
19
Smoke curled from the roofline of the community center—thick, black, rising fast.
A crowd of kids clustered near the fire lane. Noah, Hailey, Lucas, Addie—all there, wide-eyed, tears threatening.
“Doctor J went back inside!” Noah cried, pointing. “Grace is still in there.”
Declan’s gut turned to ice.
“Jinx,” he called, already heading for the door. Jinx skidded up beside him out of nowhere, as always, fast and full of attitude. “Stay with the kids. I’m going to help Syd.”
“I’m coming too.”
“No, you’re not.” His voice left no room for argument. “Make sure the fire department knows Sydney and Grace are still in there. The truck is close—I can hear them.”
“But—”
“Jinx.” He turned and hit her with the full weight of his big-brother stare. “That’s an order. Watch them.”
Her lips pressed into a thin line, but she nodded. “Go.”
Declan took a deep breath, ducked low, then stormed through the open door. Smoke rushed around him like a wave, heat roaring behind it. The building groaned above him as flames clawed their way across the ceiling. He pulled off his top shirt, pressed it to his mouth and nose, and pushed forward into the haze.
“Sydney!” he bellowed. She was here, somewhere, and she’d be fighting. He had to do the same.
Nothing but the sound of crackling wood and the distant whine of sirens.
He moved through the hall, squinting past the smoke. Heat built fast, turning the air sharp and punishing. Ahead of him the stage blazed like a bonfire, the curtains long gone, the frame glowing orange.
An explosion split the air—deafening, violent. Declan ducked, shielding his head as bits of ceiling hailed down.
A scream tore through the smoke.
“Help!”
Declan shoved forward, following the voice.
He found Grace halfway under a tangle of uneven mats and fallen gym gear near the stage stairs. A bent metal bar lay nearby. Her elbow was scraped and red, and she was coughing hard.
“Sydney—she pushed me out here when something exploded,” Grace choked out. “She’s still up there!”
Declan’s chest twisted with fear. Of course she’d gotten the girl clear first. Time was flying, but he moved decisively, scanning the stage even as he struggled to shift the debris off the girl. He’d get Grace out as quickly as possible, but he could use her help at the same time.
The heat was worse now, and the fire danced as if it was hungry for more.
“Point to where you were,” he commanded Grace as he lifted the final pieces of wood off her legs.
She lifted a hand, and for a moment, he couldn’t see anything but flame—until he spotted movement through the smoke. A dark figure. Slumped.
“Sydney!”
She didn’t answer. Just shifted a little, dragging herself to one knee. Her other leg was tucked strangely under her, and even from a distance, Declan could see she wasn’t getting off that stage alone.
