Chapter 53
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
acelynn
Flames leaped across the kitchen floor with ravenous hunger, consuming everything they touched.
The fire hissed and roared as it spread, curling up the walls, catching on grease-stained dish rags and shelves cluttered with cooking oil.
It was beautiful in a terrifying way, wild and merciless, like a living thing tearing its way through the legacy of Spade Manor.
The heat hit me in a wave, searing my skin. My eyes watered as I stumbled back, coughing, the flames growing faster than I had imagined. Within seconds, the house was alive with fire, every crack and crevice lit up with destruction.
Then came the sound that shattered me. A single gunshot cracked through the night outside, sharp and too close.
My entire body jolted. My head whipped toward the kitchen door, panic surging in my veins.
More shouts followed, muffled and violent.
I could hear boots on gravel and the clang of metal being tossed.
I didn’t think. I just ran.
My legs carried me through the smoke-filled kitchen and out the back door, heart slamming against my ribs like it wanted to escape. My socked feet slipped on the slick tile, but I didn’t stop until I burst out into the desert night, gasping for air that was no longer poisoned with smoke.
The chill of the air bit at my damp skin, but I didn’t slow down until I was halfway across the yard. Only then did I turn, my chest heaving, to look back. The house was an inferno. Flames licked skyward, painting the night in shades of orange and red. The roof began to collapse in on itself.
And then I heard it—screaming.
Not the kind born of surprise or fright.
This was agony. People were still inside.
Trapped. My hands flew to my mouth, bile rising in my throat.
I hadn’t thought. God, I hadn’t thought about who else might have been caught in Alec’s orders.
My body trembled as the voices carried into the night, raw and broken.
My fingers curled into fists, nails biting my palms as the truth settled into my bones. The Spade legacy wasn’t just burning.
I was burning with it.