Chapter 18 Jace
JACE
“I still maintain that I won,” I tell Jax as he taps his ID on the key log sensor on the gate to Hamilton House.
“You didn’t win,” he says in a flat voice.
“I totally won,” I insist. “You just can’t admit it because you’re…” I trail off as the faint but familiar sound of the fire alarm emanates from the house.
We exchange a quick look and wordlessly run toward the main doors.
Less than thirty seconds later, it bangs open, and a stream of our housemates stumble outside.
Bypassing the rapidly gathering crowd in front of the main doors, we make a beeline for the side entrance closest to Killian and Felix’s room.
“Do you see the source?” Jax asks as he scans the side of the building.
“No,” I say just as the door opens and a couple of second-years come rushing outside.
The lack of smoke or any signs of fire from the open doorway tells us that whatever is going on hasn’t made its way over to this side of the building yet, but considering the entire house is made of wood, that could easily change.
The door swings open again, and several of our housemates, including Killian and Felix, come streaming out of the exit.
“What happened?” I ask as the four of us walk toward the main entrance, and the crowd of guys milling around in front of it.
“No clue,” Killian says.
“Are you guys okay?” Jax asks.
“We’re fine,” Felix says quickly. “We were in our room when the alarm went off.”
“Where’s Shane?” a voice asks behind me.
I immediately whirl around and find Paxton and a few of the guys he hangs out with huddled together a few feet away.
“Shane’s missing?” I ask, my voice way sharper than I mean it to be.
Paxton nods and glances at the house. “We were playing cards when it happened. I thought he was behind us, but I don’t see him anywhere.”
“Where were you?” I ask, sweeping my gaze over the quad, but there’s no sign of him.
“The back game room, next to the stairwell.” Paxton points to the window at the end of the building. “One second we’re just playing cards, and the next the room was filling with smoke.”
“That’s where the fire started?” Jax asks.
I don’t hear Paxton’s answer because I’m already weaving through the crowd, ignoring the calls for me to stop and stay back as I rush up the steps, yank open the door, and run right into the house.
The acrid smell of smoke fills the air as I cut through the foyer and push the door to the east wing open. A few wispy clouds of smoke hang in the air as I run down the hall to the room Paxton said they were in.
The door is closed, which sets off my Spidey sense, and it goes absolutely haywire when I twist the knob and find it’s locked.
There’s no logical reason anyone would lock the door unless they were trying to keep people out—or trap someone inside.
Closing it could be explained as a way to try and contain the fire, but there are only a handful of keys that can lock communal rooms, and I’m the only one who lives in the dorm that has one of them.
“Shane?” I shout and go to dig my dummy card out of my pocket, but pause when I remember that I left it in my room. “Shane?” I call again.
There’s no answer, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t in there.
Taking a step back, I give the door a hard kick. It buckles and cracks under the impact, and my second kick is enough to shatter the frame. The door flies open and smashes into the wall behind it with enough force to shake the room.
“Shane?” I call as I step through the broken door.
The lights are off, and the room is filled with a heavy haze of smoke. The smell of burning plastic and melting metal is almost overwhelming, and my eyes are drawn to the far wall and the flames licking at it.
Ignoring the fire for a second, I move deeper into the room and sweep my gaze around, looking for any signs of Shane.
A dark shadow in the far corner catches my attention, and a weird sense of relief fills my chest when I see Shane pressed against the wall, his face hidden and arms wrapped around his knees as he hugs them against his chest, like he’s trying to get as small as possible.
He’s alive, and he’s conscious, but he might not stay that way if I don’t put the fire out.
Turning from him, I rush over to the closet and yank it open so I can grab the fire extinguisher tucked into the back corner of the space.
So far the flames have been contained to a small section of the wall, but the fire isn’t acting the way it should.
It’s only been burning for a few minutes, but it should have spread much further than it has, considering that pretty much everything in the room, and the whole damn house, is made of antique wood.
The flames are small and burning blue, which means they’re incredibly hot, but they’re not spreading, even though there’s no shortage of oxygen or fuel for the fire to feed on.
I quickly take note of the surrounding area as I pull the pin on the extinguisher, then douse the fire until I’m sure it’s not going to flash up again.
Not giving a shit that I could be destroying evidence, I kick in the wall around the burned area. The fire itself definitely started in the outlet, and there’s a chance it’s still burning between the walls.
The exposed area is blackened, and several of the wires are melted, confirming my suspicions. I can’t see any actual flames, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any rogue sparks or anything that could travel or flash back up.
I quickly pull more of the wall plaster away until I see fresh wood and untouched wires, then I spray what’s left in the extinguisher into the hole.
When it’s empty, I turn my attention back to Shane, who’s still curled up against the wall with his face hidden.
“Shane?” I drop to my knees in front of him and quickly look him up and down to check for any signs of injury.
He slowly lifts his head, and I zero in on the red mark on his temple.
“Jace?” he asks, but his eyes are unfocused, like he’s looking through me and not at me.
“Can you walk?” I ask.
He’s so out of it I doubt he’s really hearing me, but I need to get him away from the scene and out of the smoke so he can get some fresh air.
“Are you hurt?” I try when he doesn’t answer.
He blinks at me a few times, like he doesn’t understand what I’m saying.
“Are you hurt?” I repeat.
He shakes his head, but he’s staring at me like he can’t decide if I’m real or not. He’s more alert now, and some of that faraway look in his eyes is fading, but he’s so pale he’s practically glowing in the dim light, making the mark on his temple stand out against his chalk-white skin.
He’s in shock, and something tells me that has little to do with the fire I just put out and everything to do with the one he experienced when he was thirteen.
He doesn’t fight as I pull him to his feet, but he’s not able to do much to help as I drape his arm over my shoulders and wrap my arm around his waist to lock him against my body.
We’ve only taken a few steps when he’s hit with a coughing fit that’s so strong his knees buckle, and I tighten my grip on him so he doesn’t slide right to the floor.
I don’t want to risk keeping him in the smoke any longer than he already has been, so instead of pausing so he can get the worst of it out, I pull the front of his shirt up so it’s covering his mouth and nose and drag him out of the room.
His coughing eases as soon as we’re in the hall, and he’s able to stumble along beside me as some of his senses seem to come back to him.
Instead of dragging him to the main door, I pull him into the study room next to the game room and bring him right over to the window.
His color is better now that we’re mostly out of the smoke, and he’s finally able to focus on me as I prop him against the wall next to the oversized window.
“Can you stay up?” I ask, still holding him against the wall just in case.
He nods and offers a weak smile.
Once I’m sure he isn’t going to fall over, I flip open the lock and slide the window up just as Jax appears on the other side of it with Killian and Felix right behind him.
“Come on,” I say to Shane and hold out my hand.
He takes it and lets me pull him off the wall. He’s a bit unsteady as I help him fit first one leg, then the other, through the window, but he’s able to help Jax and Killian as they guide him through it and gently set him on the ground.
As soon as he’s clear of the window, I climb out and jump down onto the grass below at the same moment Shane falls to his knees and starts coughing again, holding one hand over his mouth as he presses the other to his stomach.
“Does anyone have any water?” Felix calls, already kneeling in front of Shane as a crowd gathers around us.
Someone hands him a water bottle, and he uncaps it and holds it out to Shane. “Drink some of this,” he says gently.
Shane takes it with a weak smile and tips some of the water into his mouth.
“You okay?” Jax asks, giving me a quick once-over.
A cough tightens my chest, and I turn away so I don’t start hacking in his face.
“Fine,” I tell him when I’m able to pull in a breath.
The faint sounds of sirens break through the noise of the crowd, but I ignore everything around me and take a knee in front of Shane.
He meets my eyes, and the world sort of fades away for a second as we stare at each other.
There are so many emotions in his eyes it’s hard to pinpoint them all, but the most prominent are sadness, pain, and what looks like grief.
“You good?” I ask softly.
He nods and takes a sip from the bottle Felix gave him.
“Should I call the school doc?” Paxton asks.
“No,” Shane says quickly, tearing his gaze from mine and looking over at Paxton. “I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” Paxton asks dubiously, his phone in his hand. “What happened to your head?”
Shane touches his temple and offers Paxton a weak smile. “It’s nothing. I tripped over something when I was trying to get out. I’m fine. It’s just a bruise.”
“Did you get knocked out?” I ask, ignoring everyone around us.
He swings his gaze back to me. “No.”
“Have you ever had a concussion?”