Vice(73)

As I predicted, there are dozens of dead bodies on the lawn. I don’t see their faces, don’t recognize who they are. I hurry past them, my focus directed toward the house and the people who still remain inside. Fernando is nowhere to be seen. I enter through the open doorway, straining to hear or see anything, but the entire lower floor is choked with smoke, and the only sound to reach my ears is the crackling roar of the fire that’s taken hold.

Where would she be? Not on the second floor. The fire must have started early on, before I hit the alarm, so it’s unlikely she would have gone up there. Not when the smoke was obvious. So downstairs, then. Not Fernando’s office. Not the kitchens. Not the—

It hits me all of a sudden. The library. Of course. She said that’s where she used to go when she was little to escape her father. It makes sense that she would go there to hide from him now, when everything is disintegrating into madness. I cover my mouth with my arm as I run down the hallway, heading in the direction of the library at the other end of the house. Left. Right. I have no idea where the f*ck I’m going. I know I’m heading north, though, and the library overlooked the northern most aspect of the lawn, so I have to be getting close. People rush by me in the hallway, nothing more than dark shapes headed in the opposite direction, out, toward the main entrance, choking and coughing as the smoke settles on their lungs. I ignore every single one of them as I continue to hunt.

“Natalia!” My shout is deadened as soon as it leaves my mouth. “NATALIA!”

Shit. Please let her be safe. Please let her be safe.

I open door after door, not finding what I’m looking for, only smoke and more smoke. I can’t breathe. My eyes are stinging, running like crazy, and my lungs are on fire themselves. My body is telling me that I need to leave immediately, but I can’t. I refuse. Until I find her, I will not leave this house. I should have told her what I was going to do, but really what good would it have done? I didn’t plan on there being a f*cking fire. I didn’t know I was going to be running blind through the house, screaming her name, unable to find her.

I try three more doors.

Nothing.

And then, as I’m really beginning to lose my shit, I try to open a door and it won’t budge. I throw my weight against it, and still it remains firmly closed. It’s not locked, though. I can feel a little give before it jams, which means it’s probably been blocked with something.

“Natalia?” I holler as loud as I can.

A muffled cry comes from the other side of the door. There’s a scraping sound, and then the door opens. She’s there, in that beautiful green dress, though it’s ripped now, and she’s tied her hair back into a ponytail, out of the way. A dark smudge of soot marks her cheek. She looks wild and panicked. She rushes me, throwing her arms around my neck. “I thought they’d killed you,” she sobs. “I thought my father found you or something. I didn’t know where you were.”

“Shhh, it’s okay, it’s okay. I’m right here.” She feels so small in my arms. So vulnerable. She would have found her way out if I hadn’t come for her, I’m sure of it, she’s capable of fending for herself, but damn. Knowing that I have her in my arms is the sweetest f*cking relief. I kiss her temple, pressing my lips against her skin, and then I set her down. “Come on. There’s no time.” I sound like my sister, but it’s the truth. Somehow, the fire is contained upstairs right now, but it won’t be forever. And once the ceilings start to collapse…

I take her by the hand, dragging her out of the room.

“I thought I’d find you two together.”

Ahead, hidden by the smoke, a figure stands, blocking the hallway. He’s taller than Fernando. Broader than him, too.

Harrison.

He stalks forward, and the first thing I notice is the gun in his hand, which is pointed directly at my head.

“You’re a piece of work,” he snarls. “I knew you were full of shit. I f*cking knew it.”

I step in front of Natalia, holding up my own gun. “Get out of the way, Harrison.”

“What the f*ck, man? You seriously think asking me to move is gonna do the trick?”

“Actually, no.” I lunge forward, ducking as I grab for his gun. Maybe he thought there’d be further preamble to this fight, but I’m not one to hang around. He seems surprised that I’ve just flown at him. He reacts quickly, but I’ve already got hold of his wrist, and I’m forcing his arm upward, so the gun is aimed at the ceiling.

Harrison lashes out with his free hand, striking me in the throat. For all the shit I’ve given him about being hired help instead of military, the bastard knows how to hit. It feels like my windpipe has been crushed. Pain blinds me for a second, but that’s all it is…a second. I don’t release his wrist. He’s expecting me to back off, to let him go so I can recover myself, but this isn’t my first time at the rodeo. I’ve had practice at this, and I’m pretty f*cking good at it.

I headbutt him, smashing my forehead against the bridge of his nose—the strongest part of my head against the most sensitive part of his. I know I’ve broken bone when he yells out. He grits his teeth together, but he doesn’t release his gun, either.

Natalia’s somewhere behind us. I clench my hand into a fist, driving it into Harrison’s ribs as hard as I can, trying to move him out of the way. I’m successful. He staggers to the right, his body slamming into the wall.