Page 68 of Ashes of Us
Piper wouldn't lose him.
That was all that mattered.
The darkness at the edges of my vision spread, creeping inward. Someone was calling my name but the sound was getting farther away, like I was sinking underwater.
I let go.
CHAPTER 27: PIPER
The pounding on my door pulled me out of sleep.
I sat up, disoriented. My apartment was dark except for the streetlight filtering through the window. The clock on my nightstand read 9:47 PM.
The pounding came again, harder this time.
"Piper! Open up!"
Maya.
I stumbled out of bed, still in the clothes I'd worn to dinner. I'd come home, collapsed onto the mattress, and apparently passed out. The breakup, the weight of everything… it had all caught up with me.
I unlocked the door and Maya burst in, face flushed, breathing hard.
"Why aren't you answering your phone?" she demanded.
"I—what?" I looked around for my phone. Found it on the counter, dead. "Battery died. What's wrong?"
"There was a fire. A big one. East side, residential." She grabbed my shoulders. "Daniel was there."
My stomach dropped. "What?"
"He's okay… I mean, I think he's okay. Josh texted me—I know, I know, we're not seeing each other anymore, we're justtexting and…” She stopped mid-sentence and shook her head. “Whatever, that’s not the point. He heard it from his crew. Off-duty EMT went into a burning building, got trapped. They got him out but… Piper, you need to go."
"We—" My throat tightened. "We broke up."
Maya's mouth opened. Closed. "You… what?"
"Tonight. At dinner." The words felt heavy, unreal. "He's moving to Portland."
"Oh." She hesitated. "Oh shit. But… you still need to go. He almost died, Piper."
She was right. Breakup or not, I needed to know he was okay.
"Where?" I asked, already grabbing my keys.
"Maple Street. 2847. There's still fire trucks everywhere."
I was out the door before she finished the sentence.
The smoke wasvisible four blocks away.
I parked behind a line of emergency vehicles. The street looked like a war zone: fire trucks and ambulances stacked bumper to bumper, lights strobing red and white. Police tape fluttered in the wind. Neighbors stood on the sidewalks, phones raised, faces lit by the glow.
The house itself was a black skeleton. Still smoking, collapsed in on itself. Firefighters were hosing down hot spots, the water hissing as it hit the rubble.
I got out of my car and started toward the chaos, looking for Daniel among the uniforms. There were so many people—paramedics, firefighters in turnout gear, police officers directing traffic.
My eyes scanned the crowd, looking for him. For Daniel.
