Finally, the wood cracked. Yes! She dropped the vase and kicked one of the iron spindles out of the balustrade. Seizing the spindle, she ran back to the wall beside the door and used it to break open the plaster and expose the wiring beneath.

“Hold on, baby,” she whispered, trying her best not to breathe the toxin in. Still it burned and hurt her throat. She could only imagine how much worse it must be on Darling who was trapped on the other side.

Maris helped her tear out the plaster. “We’re not going to make it. He’s probably already dead.”

She refused to believe that.

They had to get to him. The alternative was unacceptable.

She jerked the wires out and started reworking them. “Don’t you dare die on me, Darling Cruel!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. “I swear I’ll follow you into hell to beat you if you do!”

It seemed like eternity had come and gone before the doors finally parted. Even so, they only opened an inch, then stopped. Working together, she and Maris continued to tug and push until they pulled them farther apart.

The smoke was so thick, it was hard to see. But as she started forward, her foot grazed something hard. Looking down, she saw Darling sprawled on the floor, just inside the doorway.

As she reached for him, Maris was there. He grabbed Darling by the arms and pulled him free of the room. Then he bent down and picked him up to carry him toward the reception hall.

Coughing, she ran behind them as the guards and firefighters finally came rushing toward them.

None stopped to check on their governor. Or asked about his condition.

Maris laid Darling down on one of the sofas, then pulled the mask off Darling’s face. “Darling?”

His features pale, he didn’t respond. Her heart stopped beating as terror filled her. Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead…

Maris placed his hand on Darling’s carotid to feel for a pulse.

Zarya saw the agony in Maris’s dark eyes as he looked up at her.

“We’re too late.”

Darling came awake to the bitterest taste imaginable in his mouth. It was so foul that before he could stop himself, his stomach heaved.

“Right here, sweetie.”

Someone rolled him to his side and held a trash can for him while he purged his body of the toxin. It wasn’t until he was finished that he realized it was Zarya who helped him.

“Leave him on his side for a minute.”

Darling’s vision swam to the point he couldn’t see anything, but he recognized Syn’s voice while someone, Zarya he hoped, stroked his hair with a gentle hand.

“It’s all right, buddy,” Syn said comfortingly from a short distance away. “We’ve got you.”

Darling squeezed his eyes shut. “Where am I?”

“In your room. Can you see anything?” Syn asked.

He shook his head. “Eyes won’t focus.”

“That’s probably not helping your nausea. Hang on.”