Page 164 of River of Deceit

Except Asch pounding on my door, telling me to come out.

Fuck, maybe we could have gone out the window. It hadn’t even crossed my mind. But we’d helped Holden escape. He wouldhave been stuck in there for longer if we hadn’t gone down the stairs.

The firefighters and EMTs arrive, and they set up a triage area to check us all out. Holden ends up needing help to move, and I can see the concerned looks on the paramedics’ faces.

I go to the firefighters, to the woman shouting orders into a walkie talkie. She pauses when I approach.

“My… my girlfriend might still be inside,” I say, after a bout of coughing.

The fire captain gives me a concerned look. “You should get checked out by the EMTs.”

“I’m fine,” I say, even though I’m probably not. “But Pandora?—”

“Pandora? That’s your girlfriend?”

I nod. “Yeah. I mean, maybe she’s there. She was in the room with me, but she was gone when I woke up. I don’t know how long we were napping. Maybe she went to the bathroom. Or maybe she left. I don’t know. I don’t see her out here. She’s white. Average height, like you. Long brown hair. Wearing jeans and a black t-shirt.”

The fire captain grimaces. “Okay, I’ll tell my crew to keep an eye out for her. Now go get checked out. You sound like you inhaled quite a bit of smoke.”

I take a step backward, and I’m surprised to find River and Asch there.

“Pandora was with you?” River asks in a strange tone.

“Yeah. She wanted to…” I start coughing again. “She wanted to fuck. And said you should stop the hot-and-cold thing.”

Asch looks between us. “You really should get checked out, Blaze,” he says, and for all that he’s worried about me, I’m not the only one coughing and looking rough around the edges. “If she was gone when you woke up, I doubt she was in there.” He pulls his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll call her.”

“Give me that,” River says, grabbing Asch’s phone before he can do more than unlock the screen.

Asch, covering his mouth as he starts to cough again, doesn’t protest as River taps a few times until the line starts ringing.

No response.

“Maybe she doesn’t want to talk to Asch,” I say. “Call her from your phone, River.”

River hands Asch’s phone back to him, grabbing his own. “I don’t think she’s going to pick up for me.” He pauses, then says, “Then again, she’s been trying to text me.”

He hits the call button, but this time, it doesn’t even ring. It goes straight to voicemail.

“Hey! If you’re River, I’ll call you back. If you’re Blaze, why are you even entertaining a voicemail, just come chase me down. If you’re Asch, send me a dickpic. Everybody else, fuck off.”

“When do you think she recorded that?” Asch asks, coughing again. “Fuck. Come on, let’s get checked out.”

He takes my wrist and pulls me to the triage zone. River follows us, scowling at his phone.

“Is it new? I’ve never listened to her voice mail before,” I say. I’d have laughed if I’d heard it, and probably sent her a dickpic of my own to see what her reaction was.

“She always answers when I call,” River says, shaking his head. “I don’t know.” He exhales slowly. “But she’s not in there,” he says with more confidence than I feel.

“Are yousure?” Asch asks.

River nods. “She?—”

The paramedic clears his throat. “Sir?” He gestures to Asch first, and Asch lets himself be led away.

River turns to me. “She’s safe. She’s reckless, but she’s all about the number one: herself.”

“About herself?” I furrow my brow. “She stabbed Declan becauseof that chick. The one we found passed out in Zayden’s bed at the welcoming party. I think her name was Carly.”