Page 23 of Bite the Power
Eli's hands fumbled with the satellite phone, his scientific composure cracking. "Bjorn? It's Eli at the research station. We need patrols here immediately. Someone's been circling the building."
Tessa continued scanning the perimeter through different windows, her analytical mind cataloging every shadow and movement. The Arctic wind howled around the station's corners, but underneath that natural sound, she caught something else—the faint crackle of...
Oh, shit.
Faint gray tendrils curled under the entrance door like ghostly fingers seeking purchase. The acrid smell hit her nostrils a heartbeat later.
"Eli, get to your bedroom window at the back of the station. Now!"
"What?" He looked up from the phone, confusion written across his weathered features.
"Fire!" Tessa pointed at the door where smoke now billowed more visibly. "Someone set the front of the station on fire. Get out through your bedroom window and run!"
Eli's face went white. "What about you?"
Tessa was already moving toward the small utility closet where she'd spotted the fire extinguisher earlier. "I'm going to try to contain this before we lose everything."
"Tessa, that's insane! The research can be replaced—you can't!"
She grabbed the red canister, its weight solid and reassuring in her hands. "I'm not letting five years of your work burn because some asshole wants to play games with us."
Grandmother always said I was too stubborn for my own good.
"Go!" she shouted as Eli hesitated. "I'll be right behind you!"
The smoke thickened rapidly, transforming from wispy tendrils into choking clouds that burned her lungs and made her eyes stream. Tessa pulled her thermal shirt up over her nose and mouth, but the acrid fumes still clawed at her throat.
Orange light flickered through the front windows now, and she could hear the hungry roar of flames consuming the station's exterior. When she foolishly tried the door handle, searing heat bit through her palm.
"Shit," she gasped, peering through the window. Fire licked up the front wall like demonic tongues, fed by whatever accelerant the arsonist had used.
The research files.Five years of Eli's meticulous data collection spread across the kitchen table behind her—irreplaceable observations that could help prove their sabotage case. Without conscious thought, Tessa began stuffing the papers into her field gear backpack in the corner, her movements quick and efficient despite the smoke burning her eyes.
Flames crept under the front door, racing across the linoleum with unnatural speed. Whoever had done this knew exactly how to make a building burn fast.
Move, Tessa. Move now.
She slung the heavy backpack over her shoulders and sprinted toward her bedroom, where the window offered her only escape route. The smoke grew denser with each step, her lungs screaming for clean air.
Three feet from her bedroom window, her boot caught on something—maybe a loose floorboard, maybe her own panic-clumsy feet. The weight of the backpack threw off her balance, and she tumbled forward, her left leg sliding between her bed and the heavy oak dresser with a sickening thud.
Pain exploded up from her ankle like lightning, white-hot and nauseating. She tried to pull free, but the narrow gap held her leg like a vise, and any movement sent fresh agony shooting through the joint.
"No, no, no," she panted, tugging desperately at her trapped limb. The angle was all wrong—she could feel the bones grinding together, definitely sprained and threatening to break completely if she forced it.
Heat pressed against her back as the flames reached the station's back area. Smoke poured into her bedroom, thick and black and deadly. Her vision began to blur, consciousness flickering like a candle in the wind.
This is how I die. Trapped like a rat because I was too damn stubborn to run when I had the chance.
Tears streamed down her face—whether from smoke or terror, she couldn't tell anymore. Her grandmother's voice echoed in her fading thoughts:Sometimes courage and stupidity look exactly the same, girl.
The bedroom window seemed miles away now, an impossible destination. Her lungs burned, each breath a struggle against the poisonous air. Darkness crept in from the edges of her vision.
I'm sorry, Eli. I'm sorry, Melanie. I'm sorry...
Suddenly, strong hands gripped her ankle, working it free with swift movements. Before she could process what was happening, powerful arms lifted her against a broad chest, carrying her toward the window with purposeful strides.
The last thing she saw before unconsciousness claimed her was a flash of golden hair and ice-blue eyes filled with a fury that could have frozen the flames themselves.
