Page 84 of Inked Temptation
ChapterEighteen
Killian
The car slammed into the ice, screams echoing through my brain as everything happened so quickly. I turned to see Danielle, her eyes wide, as we scrambled to try to get out of the car. Danielle worked her seatbelt, trying to get the lever, but everything was hazy. She put her hand up to her head, blood pouring down from a wound.
But that wasn’t right. Danielle hadn’t moved. She had hit her head on the side of the car, the airbags not deploying, and she hadn’t moved.
That much I remembered.
And I hadn’t heard a scream, not after we hit the ice.
Water filled the car, but there were no screams, nothing, just ice and cold and nothing.
Heat blasted against my face as someone gripped my arms.
“Killian.”
There was a bark, then another, a frantic wail, and I looked down at Cora, then at Archer, and cursed under my breath. “The house is on fire.”
“I know. Are you with me?”
He looked at me then, his gaze earnest, and I nodded. “I’ve got you. You have to get out of here.”
“We can’t. This door is locked, the doorknob’s hot, but we’ll try the other door.”
“Get Cora.”
“I’ve got her. We’ve got this.”
Smoke billowed around us and I coughed, leaning Archer towards me as the house began to shake. The house was still under construction and we were on a hill. If we weren’t careful, the whole damn thing was going to fall down on top of us.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” I shouted over the sound of fire and snapping wood. I pulled a towel out from underneath the rack, slid it over Archer’s head, and pulled Cora towards me.
“We’ve got it. Let’s go!”
Archer nodded, fear in his gaze. I was right there with him.
We wore no shoes, thin pajamas, Cora was barking, and all I could do was try to get us out of here.
I pressed my hand to the other door that went to the sunroom and felt no heat.
The door was locked from the outside and I cursed under my breath.
“It’s locked.”
“But the lock is on the inside!” Archer coughed.
I cursed again, then slammed my shoulder into the door.
“Stay back, hold Cora.”
Archer nodded, then lifted Cora up because she was shaking on her three legs. I tried to suck in a breath, then rammed my body into the door, once, twice, over and over. The door splintered, and I swallowed hard before pulling them behind me.
“Watch out for the shards.”
Archer coughed again. “I’ve got Cora. She’s safe.”
I needed to make sure they were both safe.
