Michael just smiled and grabbed Will by the neck, pulling him into a hug.
Will tensed like he was shocked, but after a moment he exhaled. “Came for me after all, huh?
“Always,” another voice said.
I looked as Damon stepped through the smoke, laughing as he dipped down, pressing his forehead to his best friend’s.
A woman came up, her blonde ponytail draped over her shoulder, the top of her head covered in a black ski cap.
Erika Fane?
“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” she said and then looked over my shoulder, calling, “Alex!”
Alex rushed forward, brushing past me and crashing into Rika’s arms. “You made it,” she breathed out in a laugh.
Erika nodded. “Worried?”
Alex chuckled. “No. Course not.”
Everyone started to rush out the door, but Alex and I hesitated, looking back through the smoke, toward the back of the house.
“Wait,” she shouted. “There’s more back there!”
Everyone rushed back in the house, but the fire had drifted down the hall, splintering off toward the kitchen and then right, toward the pool.
We rushed up to the flames.
“Emmy!” Will yelled.
“Emory Scott?” I heard Damon say. “Alex, you didn’t tell us she was here.”
But no one had time to explain.
I peered through the fire, trying to see a way past, but I couldn’t find a path. We couldn’t leave them there to burn.
Alex and I tried, stepping left and right and trying to get through, but strong arms pulled me back.
“Take her,” Will ordered.
The next thing I knew I was being swept into someone’s arms and over his shoulder, and I screamed, trying to thrash my way free.
I could walk.
“And don’t put her down,” Will growled. “She likes to not cooperate.”
Motherfucker!
“Lev!” someone called.
And then I heard someone say David and murmurs mentioning Aydin and Misha.
Where were we going?
We left the house, rain splattering my body as the foyer grew smaller and smaller in my vision and more of the house came into view.
The fire reached the upstairs windows, an orange glow filling the rooms behind the curtains, and I stared as far into the foyer as I could the farther away we got, hoping for Aydin to make it.
Waiting to see a glimpse of him.