Part 15 (1/2)

”Smoke detectors,” he said.

They were out of the bed and dragging on clothes before the words were fully out of his mouth.

Blue grabbed her Glock and followed Noah into the hall.

The smoke was so thick she could scarcely see him right in front of her.

She looked both ways down the hall-nothing but smoke. It boiled up from the staircase.

Fear banded around her chest.

The house was on fire.

Chapter Twelve.

Noah moved down the staircase as quickly as he dared. Touch was his only guide.

Smoke hung as thick in the air as any fog he'd ever seen. There was no time to try and determine where the fire had started or where it was headed. He considered briefly the tunnel exit, but it was fraught with crumbling steps and decaying walls.

He had to get Blue to safety now.

His lungs burned with the acrid smell. Behind him Blue coughed hard. They had to hurry.

Reaching the front door, he grabbed the k.n.o.b and started to turn the lock.

Blue pushed between him and the door, knocking his hands free of the lock.

”The sun is rising,” she stammered between bouts of coughing. ”You can't-”

”There's no choice.” He set her aside and opened the door.

”Noah, stop!”

The security alarm activated and sounded its siren.

Ignoring her plea as well as the wailing of the security system, he rushed outside, dragging her with him. Smoke rolled out behind them.

For several seconds he froze, blinked and tried to see through the gray mist swirling around them, enveloping them like a coc.o.o.n.

He was outside.

It was not dark.

Move-no time to think.

He propelled Blue down the steps.

As they rushed across the yard toward the edge of the woods, putting distance between them and the smoke...the danger, the sun peeked above the horizon.

Long, glowing streaks of light reached across the blue water...across the sand, spilling over all in its path, including Noah.

The first strike of pain was like a bullet to his brain. He staggered. Blinked.

A shower of agony erupted in his head and spiraled down the length of his body, paralyzing him on the spot.

”Keep going!”

Blue pushed him forward...toward the shelter of the trees.

His movements were pure survival instinct urged on by the woman beside him. He couldn't think... couldn't process the necessary actions required to reach safety.

The pain undulated beneath his skin...sizzled and crackled like a slowly building fire. Breathing grew difficult. His heart raced harder, faster as if attempting to outrun the misery blazing along his nerve endings.

They reached the trees. His knees buckled. He couldn't go any further. His eyes refused to remain open...the pounding in his head grew louder, more insistent.

”You can't stop now!” She pulled at him, trying to get him back to his feet. ”Noah! You have to move.”

”What the h.e.l.l happened?”

A male voice.

Maverick.

”Help me get him to the old chapel. It's that way...I think. Hurry, Maverick. It's the light. He can't be in the light.”

Fear was in her voice. She was afraid for him.

Noah felt only the pain...the need to surrender to the blackness swooped down on him like a hawk, talons ready for the kill.

The voices around him were distant blurs of sound now. He felt himself being lifted and dragged forward. An anguished groan echoed around him. He realized belatedly that it must have come from him for he felt it more than heard it. Awareness faded to nothing.

BLUE AND MAVERICK stumbled into the old chapel, dragging Noah between them. It was almost pitch-dark in the farthest corners of the rickety building and that's where they headed. She could scarcely draw a breath for the thundering in her chest. G.o.d, please don't let him die, she prayed.

”Here,” she told Maverick. Together they lowered Noah to the floor.

”He's not dead,” Maverick told her, after checking for a pulse. ”Do we need a medflight?”

She shoved a handful of hair behind her ear and tried to think. ”Use your cell phone. Call Rothman. Find out what to do. I'll stay with him.”

”Will do.” Maverick moved toward the front of the decaying structure. ”I guess I'll check on the house, call the fire department too.”

Blue nodded, not caring if he saw her or not, tears streamed down her cheeks. ”Close the doors, Maverick. We need the darkness.”

”Hang in there, Blue, I'll get help.” His deep voice was full of rea.s.surance, but she knew even Maverick couldn't fix this problem.

The doors closed, leaving them in total darkness.