Chapter 53
CHAPTER
FIFTY-THREE
Iris
I ’ve raced down the back streets, past the chaos of people shouting and running for safety. It’s darker here, the billowing smoke blotting out the sun and creating a false night. My heart gallops, hard. Lungs burn and the fumes make my eyes water.
Right as I turn the corner to where the Black Briar sits, there’s a loud boom and the street quivers beneath me.
Bottles explode and the bar goes up in a ball of flames in front of me.
The door hangs off, the windows shattered, and through the haze of the flames, I can see the shadowy outline of a little stuffed owl laying in the middle of the floor.
Delores.
Absolute terror seizes me.
“Emmie!” I scream. “Emmie!”
Throwing the hood of my cloak over my head, I wrap the corner over my nose and mouth and rush in.
Straight into hell.
“Emmie! I’m coming!” I snatch Delores and tuck the stuffed animal under my arm. Making sure to stay low, I move as quick as I can, checking the booths and any prime kid hiding spots. The heat is heavy, the flames licking the walls.
I run up the stairs, screaming her name.
She’s not here. I reach her room. The door’s shut.
I slam against it, panic biting deep.
I’m crazed, half blind, and my lungs can’t get air.
“Emmie, I’m here!”
I slam into the door.
Again and again.
It splinters and a whoosh of heat and flame rise up behind me.
Stumbling in, I dread what I’ll see… A little girl, on the floor, cowering? A little girl, dead?
But the room is empty. She’s not here.
“Emmie!”
A flaming piece of wood falls, narrowly missing me and forcing me to jump back.
It blocks the entrance.
Trapping me in the room.