Toxic (Denazen #2)(66)

It was useless, but I would have lunged for her if not for the insane giggle that filled the stairway. We all turned at the same time. At the top of the stairs, coming down one step at a time, was Fin.

I’d seen some crazy shit since my life had detoured onto the path of The Surreal Life, but this took the cake. With every step, Fin left behind a smoking, charred patch. Tufts of gray drifted from his feet, which were bare, and the linoleum surrounding him on either side shriveled and shrank away.

He caught me looking and giggled again. “Checking out my tippy toes? Shoes have no love for me now. The air bites and bitches and bleeds until they run away screaming.” Hopping down from the last step, he did a little twirl, ending with an elaborate shimmy. He tapped the side of his head, hopped forward, and said, “Boomboomboom! It’s a mess in here. All fire and brimstone and creepy-crawly critters fighting to take a big bite.”

“Jesus, Fin…” Obviously he’d passed the showing signs stage and had entered the all-out crazies. I knew we should be running, but my limbs just wouldn’t respond. I was transfixed by the sight of him. Was this going to be me? Lost in a haze of power and insanity?

Was this where Layne Phillips had been heading? A small, sick part of me wondered if Denazen had done her a favor. If there was no cure once it got to this point, it would be cruel to leave it alone. Right?

“Jesus doesn’t buy crackers, Dez. He doesn’t even shop. You should know that. You of all people, with your weird hair and creamy skin. I’m where the hotspot is now. Take a bite of immortality and chew it up good.” Fin lifted his right hand and waved it in our general direction. Tiny flames sprang to life, swirling up and twirling into a tight ball. With a flick of his finger, he sent it rocketing at us, scattering us apart.

Kale shouldered me aside, and Jade dove to the left. “Get down!”

The smell of acrid smoke and burning hair filled the small space. Jade screamed and swatted frantically at the strap of her dress. A tiny flame puffed out.

Fin giggled again and advanced several steps. “I used to want to nail you, Dez—now I think I’d rather watch you burn in the pretty, pretty fire.” He stopped midstride and stomped his foot, hysterical laughter bubbling from his lips. “You’re so hot, after all!”

From the middle of the landing where he stood, a brilliant light began to form. It flickered between his open palms and pulsed with a life of its own as it increased in size. We were at least four feet from him, and the building heat was enough to make me squirm.

“I have a present for you, Dez. It’s gonna burn your britches and swallow you whole.” He held the blazing ball out. “Nine lives won’t save you this time, bitch, but you’ll look pretty with charred edges!”

What would that blazing ball do to us if we were still here when he let go of it?

Kale dragged me by the sleeve of my dress, his other hand clasped in Jade’s. We crossed the threshold of the stairwell door as the fireball touched down. The ground convulsed, and the wall behind us exploded. No time to look. Down the hall and around the corner. Into the lobby. Another boom, and a definite rise in the air’s temperature. Shattering glass and a deafening roar. Then, for a few minutes, silence. Like someone had slammed the mute button but left the movie playing.

Five steps forward, and the floor shook again, sending us all off balance. The pressure of Kale’s fingers around my arm was gone. I thrust my hands into the smoke to find him, but it was pointless. I was alone.

Like the fire safety movies they show you in grade school instructed, I dropped to my knees and followed the wall to what I hoped was the nearest exit. Several feet later, I rounded the corner of the lobby.

The smoke was everywhere, stealing all the good air away and replacing it with a foul, burning cloud. In the far corner, the edges of Rosie’s desk were burning. The stacks of paper she kept so meticulously stacked and organized shriveled, bursting into mini infernos and creeping closer to the coffee pot she kept on her desk. There was a pop, the first sound since the explosion, and the glass pot shattered.

“Kale?” I screamed, but the word didn’t quite make it past my lips. Coughing. There was too much coughing. Continuous spasms as my body shook and rebelled against the pungent air. For some reason, it brought the memory of my first drink to mind. The skin-searing burn as the alcohol slid down my throat. It’d been like swallowing sandpaper. A shot of Goldschl?ger at a warehouse rave. It was right before Alex and I became official. He’d dared me to do it, saying there was no way I could handle it. I’d never been one to walk away from a dare.

Lost in the thick smoke in front of me, a girl screamed. Another voice—Kale’s—I was sure of it, called out my name, but he was too far. Impossible to find.

Instinctively, I tried to take a deep breath. Major mistake. It resulted in another, more violent round of body-shaking coughs. My eyes stung, and my chest ached. Burning to death. Was there a worse way to die? I couldn’t go out like this. It was weak.

Pathetic.

Hell, no.

I braced my hands against the wall and used it to pull myself upright, refusing to give up. Off the ground and running. The door. I was in the middle of the room. Safety was only a few feet away. I could find it with my eyes closed. What was a little smoke? Behind me, the flames roared, consuming everything. Like fiery parasites, they ate through anything in their path.

Gone. It was all just gone. Swallowed by gray.