Page 196 of Pretty Ruthless Monsters: Complete Series

“Stay close,” Quinn says. “We do this fast, or we don’t make it out at all.”

The basement stairs creak under our weight as we descend blindly into the smoke-filled darkness.

“Jasper?” Quinn calls out, her voice muffled by the wet rag. “Damon?”

A weak cough answers from somewhere to our left. We follow the sound, doing our best to stay low where the smoke is thinner. The basement is a maze of storage areas and old furniture, with some of it already starting to burn.

“Here,” a voice croaks. Through the haze, I make out two figures. Damon is on his feet, supporting Jasper, who is trapped under what looks like a fallen shelf unit. Blood is running down the side of Jasper’s face, and his leg is bent at an angle that makes my stomach clench.

“Fuck,” Killian mutters, already moving to help. Above us, something crashes, sending vibrations through the ceiling. Dust and debris rain down, making us all look up.

“The whole fucking place is about to come down,” Nico says. “We need to get the fuck out.”

Together, we manage to lift the shelf off Jasper. He screams when we move him, but there’s no time to stop or to even take it easy on the poor guy. I take one side while Killian takes the other, and we start the brutal task of getting him up the stairs.

The walk back up to the ground floor feels like it takes forever, although it can’t be more than a minute or two. The smoke has gotten thicker, making it almost impossible to see, and heat is pressing in from all sides.

“Stay with me, man,” I grunt to Jasper as he groans. “We’re almost there.”

“I can’t—” Jasper coughs violently. “My leg?—”

“Shut up and keep moving,” Damon snaps. It’s easy to hear the fear in his voice, but I know from plenty of past experience in shitty situations that the best thing to do—the only way to stay alive—is to keep a calm head and keep moving forward.

We’re halfway to the front door when there’s a loud crack from above. Quinn looks up, her eyes widening. “Let’s move!” she shouts, leaping forward just as part of the ceiling gives way.

“Quinn!” I yell as debris rains down. Through the smoke, I see her dive clear of the falling beam.

“I’m good!” she calls back, coughing. “Keep going!”

Killian and I rush forward with Jasper as debris rains down on our backs. The impact sends fresh waves of pain through my chest, but I grit my teeth and keep moving. There’s no time for anything else.

“This way!” Nico calls from somewhere ahead. “The front door is still clear!”

“Fucking hurry!” Killian shouts. “That main beam is on fire!”

I close my eyes against the smoke and put one foot in front of the other, praying that nothing else falls in our path. Jasper has gone limp between me and Killian, which makes him harder to carry and probably means he only has a few more minutes to live without some help.

“He’s not breathing right,” Killian grunts as we struggle forward.

“Just get him out,” I say. “We can deal with that outside.”

Finally, just as I’m questioning whether we’re going to make it, we stumble out into the cool darkness, gasping and coughing as we drag Jasper to safety.

The wail of sirens is getting louder and louder as we collapse on the pavement. Finally, the fucking fire department shows up, but it’s probably too late for Blood and Ink. The building is fully engulfed now, with flames shooting through the roof.

“Someone call a fucking ambulance!” Quinn shouts, dropping to her knees beside Jasper.

“We already did,” one of her people calls back. “They’re three minutes out!”

Enigma members swarm around us, with a few of them helping to get Jasper laid out flat. His breathing is shallow, but he’s still alive. We all are, thank fucking god, although my lungs feel like they’re full of broken glass.

“Everyone get back!” a firefighter shouts, pushing through the crowd. “Clear the area!”

“Like hell,” Quinn snarls, but I grab her arm.

“Let them work,” I say. “There’s nothing else we can do right now.”

Another firefighter approaches us. “Is anyone else inside?”

“No,” Nico answers, his voice rough from the smoke. “We got everyone out.”

“You people are lucky to be alive,” the firefighter says, shaking his head.

“Yeah, real fucking lucky,” Killian mutters, watching the flames consume the building.

Quinn stands a few feet away, her face streaked with soot and her eyes reflecting the flames. I can see the weight of everything settling on her shoulders as her people gather around, looking to her for guidance.

“Quinn,” one of her guys approaches. “What do you want us to do?”

“Take a head count,” she orders, nodding toward where he lies. “Double check everyone is safe and accounted for.” Her voice is steady, but I can hear the strain underneath. She’s holding it together by a thread.

We move back as the firefighters work, joining the crowd of Quinn’s people who’ve gathered across the street. The cat we rescued earlier is still safe in the car, probably scared shitless but alive—pretty much like the rest of us.

The ambulance finally arrives, its lights painting Quinn’s face in alternating red and white as the EMTs load Jasper into the back. She hasn’t moved from her spot or taken her eyes off the building. Like the rest of us, all she can do is stand here and watch while her world burns down.

“Jasper will pull through,” I tell her, moving closer. “We’ll all pull through.”

She doesn’t respond. She just keeps staring at the burning building. She’s covered in soot and ash, and there’s a small burn on her arm that probably needs treatment, but I know better than to mention it right now.

“Quinn.” Cabby approaches with a grim look on his face. “We saved some of the cash from the office, but everything else…” He trails off, gesturing helplessly at the inferno.

“The books?” she asks quietly. “The client records?”

“Most of it is gone.” Cabby’s voice is strained. “Everything is just… gone.”

Her jaw clenches so hard I can see the muscle jump. More of her people drift closer, their expressions ranging from shock to anger to fear. They’re looking to her for answers, for direction, for some kind of hope to cling to.

“What’s our next move?” someone asks. “Are we hitting back at whoever did this?”

“Yeah,” another voice chimes in. “Just say the word. We’ll make the bastards pay.”

I’ve been watching Quinn’s face, and I can see the exact moment something inside her breaks. But instead of crumbling, she seems to harden.

“There won’t be a next move,” she says, her voice carrying over the murmur of voices. “Not for Enigma.”

A shocked silence falls over everyone listening.

“What do you mean?” Cabby steps forward first, the color draining from his face. “We can rebuild. We can?—”

“No.” Quinn cuts him off. There’s a steely determination in her voice that tells me her mind is already made up. “I’m disbanding Enigma. Tonight. Right now.”

“You can’t do that!” someone shouts from the back. “This is our family!”

“That’s exactly why I’m doing it.” Her voice almost breaks, but she pushes through. “Look around you. This isn’t just business anymore. This is personal. They’re burning down our world, and I won’t—” She swallows hard. “I won’t watch anyone else die for my fights.”

“They’re our fights too,” Cabby says, but he’s just wasting his breath.

There’s nothing that’s going to change Quinn’s mind on this. Not tonight, anyway.

“Not anymore.” Quinn shakes her head. “I’m releasing all of you from the obligations you’ve made to Enigma. Take the money we saved, split it, and get out while you can.”