Page 217 of Sinful Like Us

Yeah, that’s not making me feel any better.

To slow my heart rate, I take a few deep, measured breaths, and I smell something…

I sniff the air.

My pulse shoots back up, and I narrow my gaze on the door.

Filmy lines of smoke billow underneath and spill into the room.

I’m on my feet in a split-second. “Jane.” I tug on my drawstring pants, then I jostle my fiancée. “Jane!”

She flinches awake. “What, Thatcher?” Panic strikes her eyes as I leave the bed to cross the room and swing open the closet.

“Oh my God.” She sees the smoke pooling inside, and while I grab the fire extinguisher behind a shoebox, she hurriedly puts on panties and my black crewneck. And she glances at the wall. “LUNA! WAKE UP!”

Her cats—our cats.They barrel to the front of my mind.

I sprint out. Smoke skates across the second-floor landing and narrow staircase, stinging my eyes. I cough into my bicep and yell up towards the attic, “MAXIMOFF! FARROW!”

The fire isn’t coming from their room.

I slam a fist on a second-floor bedroom. “LUNA!” She’s a heavy sleeper. Could take more than that to wake her—but I rundownstairs to stop the fire.

Heat is pouring from the first floor. The cracking sound is as violent as the sweltering temperature, and I enter an absolute fuckinghorrorscene. Fire spreads to the ceiling, eats the floorboards, attacking the wood foundation, and it tries to crawl up the brick walls.

Pink loveseat in flames, but the kitchen—the kitchen isengulfed, maybe in seconds. I extinguish the living room, protecting the front door exit.

“BANKS!” I yell at the adjoining door.

My brother.

SFO.

They’re asleep in the other townhouse. The door opens, and Donnelly almost blows back. “Shit.” He’s been crashing on security’s couch. I remember Akara spent the night here too. He hasn’t moved back to the gated neighborhood yet.

I throw the empty extinguisher, abandoning the task.

We can’t put out this fire.I spot a gray cat cowering beneath the rocking chair, tail on fire. Sweat drips off me as I run and snatch up Licorice, putting out the flames with my hand. Fur singed.

Donnelly shields his nose and races towards the staircase like he’s going to find someone.

I yell back at him, “Wake Akara, Quinn, Banks, and Tony! Get them outside!” Licorice claws up my chest, and I pull the frightened cat down.

Donnelly coughs, stops, and reroutes back into security’s townhouse.

Farrow runs down the stairs. “Fuck,” he curses at the sight and winces. Cringes.

The heat is un-fucking-bearable. My eyes sear from smoke, lungs burning. “Less than two minutes before it’s upstairs!” I yell. If the fire barricades Jane, Maximoff, and Luna, we’ll need to exit a window. I point to the front door, the better exit.

The clock is set.Less than two minutes.

Farrow nods and eagle-eyes something on my six. “Go.”

I trust him. I don’t wait to look at what he sees. I leave Farrow and sprint back upstairs. Back to the people we’d give our lives to protect.

Jane is already on the phone with the fire department and corralling Ophelia into a cat carrier. Her eyes widen when she sees Licorice’s singed tail.

“He’s fine.” I shove him in with Ophelia.