Nothing short of fear gripped me, because yes, I was afraid to die.

“Wait. I still”

“Ah, I can tell you are. I’ve been debating how to do this. I could let you stay down here. Eventually you would slip away, either from hunger or the cold, but that seems unnecessary and cruel.” He shifted and moved his arms.

I saw it at once. It was the only thing I could see.

Theo held a gun in his right hand.

Instinct took over. I kicked out wildly. Instead of hitting his hand, my leg smashed into the side of his face. Startled, he recovered all too quickly. Rearing off the damp cement floor, he swung the gun around, pointed right in my face.

I didn’t want to die in this cold, hellish place. Not before I got to tell my mom and Olivia goodbye. Not before I told Hayden that I loved him

His finger moved to the trigger, and I knew I was going to die, for real this time. “Nothing personal.”

“Please! Wait” My voice cracked with panic. “Don’t do”

A bright reddish, yellow spark blinded me, and I waitedwaited for the inevitable feeling of metal tearing through flesh and bone.

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Except the pain never came, and the screams tearing through the cellar weren’t mine.

Mr. Theo spun away from me, falling to the floor as flames engulfed the lower half of his body. Transfixed by the disturbing dance, I watched until he dove into a puddle large enough to extinguish the flames. He didn’t move after that.

“Ember?”

Hayden stood at the bottom of the stairs. He looked roughtorn sweater, dark splotches staining the front. I think there was a hospital bracelet on his wrist. What looked like dried blood covered half of his face and his hair was matted to his forehead.

But he was, in that moment, the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

He was at my side before I could even respond. His expression held a striking mix of terror, pain, and relief. Hayden grasped my face. I didn’t even care that it hurt. “Ember, oh God, Ember, please say something.”

I started to cry and blabber at once, telling him things I was sure he already figured it out while he shrugged out of his sweater and tried to tuck it around my shoulders. Beyond him, I saw Kurt in his cowboy duster poking at Theo with his booted foot.

“Holy shit,” Kurt muttered, shaking his head. “Isn’t he an English teacher at the high school?”

Hayden peered behind me and swore violently. “Kurt, get over here. Em, just hold on a little while longer and we’ll get you out of here.”

“How… how did you find me?” I asked, shivering uncontrollably.