In the Arms of the Beast (Kings of Hell MC 5)

He hissed out a curse word when one of the levers got stuck, so he dislodged it within two attempts. What next? The saw. It still wasn’t moving.

He couldn’t deny there being a bit of stress related to the burning sap, but the materials that made up the machine had been tested, and they shouldn’t react with the acid. He was fine.

The switch that operated the circular blade worked. As in, it wasn’t stuck like the lever, but it also did nothing, and Beast looked Magpie’s way, spreading his arms wide. This really wasn’t his day. Like that one time his doctor decided he needed a ECG after getting shocked by electricity, and the machine wouldn’t work for ages.

He cleared his throat, focused on dealing with this obstruction. He and Laurent only had so much time as a child-free couple, and he refused to waste it on this shit.

Beast moved the switch back and forth when a strange smell filled his nose. I was like hot metal and sugar, but then sparks erupted from the console, and he shut his eyes, nudging the door.

Only it wouldn’t open.

A cold sensation trailed down Beast’s back before clawing itself into his flesh when he pressed the handle down and shoved, just to find his way out jammed.

Beast’s anger was replaced by a freezing sensation in his limbs when the heat inside the cab grew at an alarming rate. With his head empty, he glanced at the console and spotted blue flames licking the surface so close to his flesh he climbed on the seat, overcome with the need to be away from the fire.

He grabbed the door handle and jerked it back and forth in a desperate attempt at opening the door. He wasn’t even in pain, the sparks jumping off the console had barely grazed his skin, but his mind was already thrust into a world in which the whole cab filled with flames like his mom’s car had.

Beast would never forget her screams, and a part of him was grateful that she was unconscious and not suffering anymore when he pulled her limp, burning body out of the car. He’d been so set on saving her he hardly remembered any pain through the adrenaline that had pumped in his veins. The pain came later, when he lay in a hospital bed wrapped in bandages like a mummy.

And now it was back, burning his skin from the inside out and putting all his senses on high alert. The flames were already reaching out to him with their sharp fingers, and the cab filled with the stench of burnt meat.

Beast’s heart worked so fast he could hardly breathe, and when slamming his fists and elbow into the window ended in pain rather than freedom, he sought something he could use as a hammer. But there was nothing. Nothing.

He was suddenly up against the one opponent he wished to never meet again—flames clawing at him from the console, toxic air filling his lungs and making it impossible to breathe.

He hadn’t even realized he’d been screaming before someone smashed the window from outside, letting in glorious fresh air and extending a bloodied hand to him.

“Get out! Get out!” Magpie yelled, and somewhere in the background, Beast recognized more yelling, but he had no idea who it was. He didn’t know if it was the fumes or if his eyes were losing their focus, but everything beyond his immediate proximity was a thick blur. The heat was rising fast, and when he made the desperate attempt to slide through the broken glass, the pieces left behind bit into his hands.

“Help!” he choked out, grabbing at Magpie, who struggled with Beast’s much greater size. Something large dashed toward them amidst the chaos, and before Beast could have added two and two together, he was flying, with a stone-hard, hot arm pressed to his chest.

Ground was no longer under his feet, but that meant the fire was away from him too. He coughed, trying to rid his throat of smoke, and when he finally looked up, he saw what he’d already suspected.

Jake in his horned gargoyle form held Beast under one arm and Magpie under the other, and as the three of them flew into the air, the cab burst in flames, some of which exploded through the broken window. Beast could neither think nor breathe, feeling searing pain crawling all over his body, consuming all that was left as if he were still trapped inside the vehicle.

When his feet touched the ground, his knees were too weak to keep him upright, and he collapsed, burying his face in the undergrowth to smell its earthy scent, and convince himself that he wasn’t on fire. That he’d been saved in the last seconds before his life could have come to an abrupt stop, yet again.