The Knight (Endgame #2)(53)

“He came back for her, but the fire moved so fast. Maybe it was the open walls, I don’t know. But the ceiling started coming down on us. He pushed Mom out into the hallway before a flame blew through the room.”

My heart stops. “Oh my God.”

Any trace of the cool, calm businesswomen has been replaced by a heartbroken girl. “I tried to get him out, but he yelled at me to go. I’m so sorry.”

I take the steps two at a time, faster than I’ve ever moved through the house. I see what Charlotte meant, the cascade of flames that have consumed the wall. Is he already dead inside? Already burned?

“Gabriel,” I shout.

I don’t hear anything, but there’s not a chance in hell I’m leaving him here. With a deep breath, as if I’m about to plunge into dark water, I jump over the flames—praying that the floor isn’t weak enough to send me crashing down to the first floor. I stumble and fall, a large gash on my forearm making me cry out.

And then I see him. Gabriel, held down by a beam across his chest, fighting to push it off.

His eyes widen. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Saving you.”

“Get out of here, Avery. Right now.”

“I’m not leaving without you.” But the beam is too heavy for me to lift—clearly, because he would have been able to remove it himself. “On the count of three.”

Even though he looks furious with me, he says, “Three.”

I force all my weight into it, all the grief and rage and love I have for Gabriel. He struggles too, his breath coming harder as the beam pushes down on him. Are his ribs broken? My arms quiver with the force I’m using, but the beam barely budges.

Smoke swirls around us, filling my lungs. I cough, shoving uselessly against the beam.

Gabriel manages to grasp my arm. “Avery, listen to me. It’s too late. Go outside. Wait for the fire department.”

I shake my head, eyes stinging with smoke and tears. There hadn’t been any sirens outside. “After the looks we got at the courthouse from the cops? With my family’s reputation in this city? I don’t think they’ll be rushing to my address anytime soon.”

“I don’t give a fuck,” Gabriel says furiously. “You need to go.”

And like the fire brought down the walls around us, like the marble chess piece smashed into the Sheetrock, I can see right through to the heart of him. To his doubt and his power. His love, the kind that makes him do terrible things.

“I’m not leaving you.”

He must see the determination in my eyes because something like panic crosses his. “You once told me that if I care about you at all, to tell you the truth. And I did, Avery. I did it, even knowing it would bring us here. It would endanger you.”

My heart clenches. “Yes.”

“And now I need something from you. If you care about me at all, leave. Now.”

I kneel at his side, placing a kiss on his cheek. “I care about you, Gabriel. And that’s why I can’t leave you here.”

Then I pick up the small table, knocking the chess pieces to the ground. I shove the circular edge under the end of the beam, creating a lever. The wood in the table cracks but the marble chess base holds steady, lifting the wide beam by an inch.

Gabriel grunts, his expression impassive, but I know the pain must be intense. It will only hurt him worse as I push the beam farther. It’s the only way to save him.

Using the carved base of the table, I deepen the angle beneath the beam. I push down with all my strength, able to use my weight pressing down on the lever. The beam shifts with a creak while Gabriel swears profusely, sweat slicking his skin.

The beam slants more sideways, but Gabriel looks deathly white, unable to slide the rest of the way out. And even if he were able to move to the side, the beam would follow him down to the floor.

A pop from above is the only warning before the ceiling rains down on us. I throw myself over Gabriel’s face, shielding him.

“It’s too heavy,” he says, teeth gritted. “Go. Now.”

My mother risked everything for a man who played her. I should be wary of sacrifice by now, but this is one I have to make. “No.”

“Avery,” he says, words coming sharper, shorter. He can’t breathe well. “If you don’t leave now, I’ll never forgive you. I swear to God, I’ll never speak to you again.”

“But you’ll be alive,” I say, moving beneath the beam’s end. It’s higher now, after the table did its work. “Isn’t that what you told me? The ultimate victory? I’m not going to let you be the martyr, Gabriel.”

It isn’t martyrdom I’m worried about and we both know it. It’s him—Gabriel Miller in all his wild, fierce glory. Maybe my mother and I are fated to fall in love with dangerous men. I just hope that mine won’t destroy me, too.

I shove against the beam with all my might, panting at the effort.

Someone appears at the door, cursing at the lick of flames. Justin.

Gabriel speaks through obvious pain, the evenness of his voice forced. “Get. Her. Out.”

“I’m not leaving until he does,” I tell him. “So you might as well help me.”

Justin glances from Gabriel to me, his expression solemn. Then he jumps into action, pushing off his suit jacket and joining me beneath the beam. Together we manage to force it higher, maybe an inch, enough for Gabriel to draw in a rough breath.