Storm reaches for the handle of the door and immediately pulls it back, his breath hissing through his teeth. “Fuck.”
“Get out of the way,” I snap, taking the handle without hesitation. The excruciating pain only serves to keep me focused and the moment the door swings open, smoke billows out into our faces.
I quickly bring my burned hand over my mouth and surge forward. There’s no time to waste, we’re already far later than we should have been, but we got here as fast as we could. I just hope it’s enough.
“Snow!” I yell. “Wynter.”
“We’re here,” Wynter chokes. “Snow’s hurt.”
My stomach sinks at her words, but I keep moving forward toward her voice. Hurt is still alive. Hurt can be fixed. Dead can’t, so all that matters is getting her the fuck out of this place and getting her to someone who can help her.
I find Wynter first, her wrists bound above her head as she sobs quietly between coughs. Her body shakes with a mixture of fear and adrenaline. “We’re going to get you out of here,” I tell her.
“You have to help Snow,” she cries.
“Over here!” Storm shouts and I quickly look over my shoulder. The smoke is so thick I can’t see more than a few feet in front of me, but I can just make out the light of his phone.
I hesitate to leave Wynter. She’s pregnant and clearly struggling to breathe, we need to get her to safety. But we also need to assess Snow’s injuries to see if we need backup to get her out of here. “I’ll be right back,” I tell her as I take careful steps toward Storm. The smoke only seems to get thicker with each second that passes, and I need to be careful where I tread.
Storm’s stocky figure comes into view, crouching down beside a pile of rubble. It’s not until I’m almost on top of him that I see Snow, her fragile body crushed beneath what used to be a beam. The moment my eyes lock on her, my stomach sinks and it’s almost impossible to drag in a breath through the blinding panic.
I drop to my knees beside him and reach for my woman. Her eyes are closed, her breathing shallow and labored. I’ve been around enough people in their last moments to know what it looks like and seeing my Snowflake in this position makes me homicidal.
“Get Wynter out,” she wheezes the moment my fingers brush her hair from her face.
“No, we need to get you out,” Storm argues. “Wynter is okay for a minute.”
Snow’s eyes pop open and the fire I’ve become obsessed with all these years flares to life behind them. “I swear to God, if you don’t get Wynter out of this building right now, I will personally kill you both.” Her words are strong for someone who looks like they’re about to pass out from the pain, but then again, she wouldn’t be my little spitfire if she weren’t threatening us.
I glance over at Storm who does the same. Neither of us wants to leave her because it will take at least the two of us to lift the beam off her and pull her free, but if we do that and something happens to Wynter and the baby, she’ll never forgive us.
“Please,” Snow whispers. “I need to know she and the baby are safe.”
Storm’s resolve wavers, and he quickly squeezes her hand. “We’ll be right back. Just hold on for us, okay?”
Snow gives us a shaky nod but doesn’t respond.
Storm and I both jump into action. We don’t have long before the building is going to crumple around us, and more than that, we don’t have a lot of time before the flames reach Snow. As soon as we reach Wynter, he lifts her from the ground. I tug my knife from the back of my pants and make quick work of slicing through the thick rope binding her to the beam above her.
She lets out a pained whimper the moment the tension is released, but we don’t stop moving even for a second. Storm bundles her up against his chest as we turn toward the door that’s almost completely enveloped with flames. I don’t allow myself to dwell on the fact that by the time we’re back to get Snow out, the flames will have completely overtaken the door, and that’s if we can even get back once we’ve handed Wynter over to Everett.
“You take her. I’m going to stay with Snow,” I tell him. I can’t leave her. If she’s going to perish in this building, I’m going to go down in flames right alongside her. Because I don’t want to live in a world where my Snowflake no longer exists. Where her body is little more than a pile of ashen bones in the ground. That’s no life.
He doesn’t hesitate, quickly moving through the fire while I move carefully back to the pile of wood trapping my woman. There’s too much for me to move on my own. I could probably lift it off her, but she’s in no position to move without help.
“I’m here, Snowflake,” I whisper, taking her hand in mine and squeezing. Despite the rising temperatures, her palm is cold and clammy, and I try not to let myself think of what that could mean.
“Wynter?” she murmurs, her eyes fluttering open for the briefest of moments before falling closed again. She’s fading fast, and if we don’t get her out of here soon, she’s not going to make it.
“Storm’s taken her out to Everett and the paramedics,” I tell her. “He’ll be back in a minute and we’ll be able to get you out.”
Snow coughs violently, her weak body jolting and causing her to cringe in agony. “Elijah,” she whispers. “I don’t think I’m going to make it.”
“Don’t say that,” I snap.
She lets out a choked breath. “I’m being realistic. I’m all wet, and I can only assume it’s blood. I can barely breathe, and the pain, it’s too much. It’s all too much,” she whimpers.
“I need you to hold on for me, Snow. We’re going to get you out of here. I promise I’ll make this right.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
“You’re going to live, Snow. We’re going to have a beautiful life. You and I are going to rule the fucking world side by side, but I need you to be strong for me. Just for a little longer.”
She presses her eyes closed, but tears escape from the corners as she squeezes my hand. “I love you.” Her words stop my own breath in my throat. The words I’ve been waiting a decade to hear. The emotion I never thought I was capable of. Not until I had my Snowflake in my arms, until she became my whole universe.
“I love you too.” I lean forward and press my forehead to her clammy one. “Just hold on, Snow.”
“I can’t.”
“You can and you will.”
“It hurts,” she whimpers.
“I know it does, baby. But as soon as we get you out of here, we’ll get you something for the pain, okay? Just hold on, fight for me.”
A loud crack draws my attention from Snow for a moment as the beam that held Wynter a few moments ago falls and hits concrete in a loud crash. We don’t have long. This whole fucking building is going to come down any minute now, and we need to be out of here before that happens.
Two figures appear in the burning doorway, and I’ve never been so relieved to see Storm and Rayne, men who I was raised to despise, who I’ve tried to kill on more than one occasion. They don’t hesitate before jumping into action, moving toward us quickly.
“We don’t have long,” Rayne says, his eyes moving around the patches of fire.
“You lift the other end, I’ll lift this one, and Elijah, carefully pull her free,” Storm commands. He’s moved into work mode like it’s the most natural thing to do right now, but work is the furthest thing from my mind right now. I couldn’t give a shit about my business, or our assets. The only thing on this earth I care about is Snow and getting her to safety.
“Be careful of her neck, she might have a spinal injury,” Rayne says.
I don’t bother pointing out that if we don’t get her out of this building in the next few minutes, we’ll all be dead, so a spinal injury will be the least of her worries.
Another loud crash behind us makes us jump into action, our time is running out rapidly, and while the devil might be ready to meet me, I’m not ready to meet my maker just yet.
“We’re getting you out right now, Snowflake. Just hold on for me.” I lean forward and press a kiss to her chilled temple. “It’s all going to be okay.” I’m not sure which one of us I’m trying to convince with those words, but I find no comfort in them.
“You ready?” Storm asks, his hands braced beneath the huge beam, biceps flexing as his muscles prepare themselves to lift it.
I nod once, kneeling on the ash-covered concrete. I won’t know the best way to free her until I can see what lies beneath the heavy wood. I suspect it will be easier to pull her out under rather than over, but I won’t commit to either until I can assess the situation.
Snow’s cries fill my ears as the beam is carefully lifted from her body. I can’t tell if it’s relief or pain that has broken sobs filling the air, but I don’t have time to think about it either. Although every one of my instincts screams at me to comfort my woman, the logical part of my mind seems to be in charge right now.
I carefully pull the remaining rubble off her body and suck in a ragged breath at the amount of blood soaking through her sweater. My sweet Snowflake is stained with crimson, and I will tear the world apart to make whoever did this pay.
