The pounding continues, and on the fourth attempt, I hear a different sound—a crack, followed by a shatter.
Before I can even move, rough hands grab my shoulders, hoisting me up onto the dressing table. I barely feel the sharp, stabbing pain as I stand barefoot on broken glass. Hunter wraps his arms around my waist, lifting me up toward the hole at the top of the wall.
Sweet, cold air hits me in the face, and I make an ungodly wheezing sound, chest rattling as I feel blood vessels explode with oxygen.
I start panting uncontrollably, breathing hard and fast as my body works overtime to suck in much needed air. I reach for Hunter’s shoulder, squeezing it.
“Your turn,” I say, wincing when I land on glass again. My senses have returned with the literal breath of fresh air, and before he can comprehend what I’m doing, I barge my shoulder into his ass, pushing with all my strength to lift him up. He’s not as close to the window as I was, but I hear him taking deep breaths, my pride relishing in the beautiful sound.
Another thing I read was stories of people exuding superhuman strength in the face of danger. I’d like to believethat’s what’s happening as I lock my knees and arms, holding onto the wall so we both don’t crash to the floor. My body shakes, and just before I finally drop him, my strength giving out, Hunter yells, “Hey!”.
He lands heavily next to me, the dressing table wobbling as we both throw our hands against the wall to catch our balance.
“Why did you yell at me?” I grunt, hissing as I flick more glass off my feet. “I did the best I could.”
“I wasn’t yelling at you,” he answers abruptly, and I hear a flurry of thudding coming our way.
Rylan’s face appears on the other side of the hole, eyes blown wide and that odd stormy color again. He growls as another figure crashes into him, their heads colliding painfully as Tai comes into view—apparently proving that Rylan is indeed the better and faster runner out of all of us.
“Hunter,” he chokes out, suddenly coughing as smoke billows through the shattered glass into his face.
“We need to smash the rest of the glass out of the way,” the man pressed against me says with urgency. “Quickly.”
The tone of his words starts to unnerve me. Or is it because we’re so close to safety that suddenly my body is in full survival mode?
Blue eyes meet mine through the smog and I’m horrified to find a tangerine glow in them. Spinning my head around, I gasp as I see the door in flames—well, what used to be a door.
“Move!” Tai shouts, an unusual darkness taking over his playful voice. There’s just enough reflection through the black fumes to see a purple ball hurling toward the edge of the glass, his fist wrapped in his Joker jacket as he punches shards toward us.
Tiny fragments of glass slice my face but that’s the least of my concerns. The two men outside barge their fists into the shattered window, clearing the rest of the hole as unbearableheat starts burning up my skin. It’s so hot in here, sweat pouring off my body as Rylan attempts to squeeze his shoulders through the gap. Shit—we might just fit after all.
There’s a tiny break in the smoke as a breeze rushes through and I see his eyes darting between the two of us, panic on his face. Suddenly his face is gone again, replaced by the sound of violent coughs as black smoke engulfs us all.
I get it.
He’s trying to choose. Trying to decide who to save first.
I don’t envy him, having to pick between the girl who’s broken through his walls and sees the real him or his lifelong best friend. But lucky for him, I already know the right choice.
Holding my breath, I crouch low, repeating my self-proclaimed impressive move from before as a surge of power rushes through my body. Hunter flinches against me, immediately tensing up and sandbagging his weight to try to stop me.
“Bexley!” he shouts. “Stop.”
A hand rips me up, and for a brief second, I let him, reaching blindly through the dark to cup his face. It’s amazing I can get any words out at all, white spots appearing in my eyes as my lungs scream and cry for air.
“It needs to be you,” I manage to croak out, knowing the pain of losing their best friend would kill Rylan and Tai. I’m replaceable in their dynamic, not him, and before he can respond, I’m back low, shoving him again.
One of the guys must manage to grab him at the same time as I push his feet off the ground, probably unaware of our dispute below. Between their grip and my push, Hunter gets dragged up, legs brushing my face as I thrust him with all my strength until his weight is gone.
And there it is.
That weird feeling of peace and acceptance.
Even as flames light up the room, my body sags, exhausted against the wall with one arm still raised and resting above my head. I’m too tired to move it, a moment of relief as I realize I’m about to pass out before the fire can touch me. The heat from the flames is burning me, but slowly, the pain starts to fade, my consciousness floating away in static waves.
It sounds like someone is screaming my name, but I have no energy to respond, my sweaty body starting to slip down as my legs give out.
Then, it stops.