though neither had windows. That left my office to the right. The only problem with that was—
The fire had begun to spread to the second floor.
And my office was directly in its path.
“Where are you, legs?” I yelled as loudly as I could. Fires were a lot louder than people gave them credit for. “Answer me!” More coughing.
My shouts were met with silence.
Panic shook me to my core.
She had to be up here, and she had to be alive. I’d let this entire city burn to the ground until I found her.
“Nico?”
The voice was so soft, sounding so far off in the distance, I almost didn’t hear it.
And it came from my office.
“Lexi!”
I sprinted inside the room and could barely make her out through the dense smoke. She was huddled against the back wall, knees to her chest, face buried in her oversized sweater, looking so small and scared.
Christ, this must have been one of her nightmares come to life.
Trapped inside another burning building. No escape. God knew where her head was in that moment. Back in that orphanage? Trapped beneath that burning plank? I couldn’t stand to see her folded in on herself like this. I would have done anything to erase her fear.
I squatted down and framed her face in my hands. Her cheeks were smudged with black, her eyes bloodshot and watery. “Are you hurt? Can you walk?”
She frowned. “Nico, I—Are you real?” Her question ended in a coughing fit.
My chest squeezed. Did she think she’d died?
“I’m real, legs. I’ve got you, okay? But we need to move.”
She gripped my arms like a lifeline. “Why are you here? Why did you come after me? You need to get out now!”
What the hell was she talking about? She thought I’d actually leave her in here to burn?
“We’re both getting out.”
She nodded, as if galvanizing the courage to stand. When she did, she was steady on her feet, but the way her chest rattled every time she breathed worried me.
“Good girl.”
“Oh, God,” she gasped, staring at the door in horror.
I followed her gaze to see the fire had spread across the door frame, forming a barrier along the threshold to the room.
“We’re trapped.” She coughed into her sweater, struggling desperately for air.
“Like hell, we are.” I swung her up into my arms in a bridal carry. “Hang on.”
At this point, I really had to haul ass. No telling how much the fire had spread downstairs, or if the path I took before was still clear.
“Put your sweater back over your head and curl into the smallest ball you can.”
Pushing her face into my chest, I tightened my grip on her and ran straight through the flames.
Fuck, that burns. Like my actual flesh was being melted off.
After ensuring that no part of her had been singed, I kept moving, even as my skin felt like it was being scorched. A quick glance down confirmed that I wasn’t on fire, so I didn’t stop until I reached the spiral staircase.
Once there, I placed Lexi back on her feet and told her, “Go! I’m right behind you.”
Her eyes caught on something over my shoulder and widened. “Nico, watch out!”
A maniacal bellow sliced through the air.
Turning, I dodged Dimitri’s attack at the last second, barely missing the deadly end of his blade. The man was bloodied, his eyes demonic and unhinged, and—
He was ready to kill.
Good. Because so the fuck was I.
I grasped my dagger, he gripped his Bowie knife. Crouching low, we circled each other while flames encircled us. A steady stream of blood trickled from a wound in his side, where I presumed Bryce’s bullet had struck.
“You’re going to die for fucking up all my plans, Rossetti,” he snarled, his voice scratchy from the smoke.
I smirked, hefting my dagger’s weight in my palm. “And you’re going to die for going after my wife.”
“She was never meant to be yours! I’ve wanted to gut you from the moment you stole her from me.”
I knew he’d always wanted her for himself. I had to end this asshole. Lexi wouldn’t be safe until he was gone.
“How about you quit talking about killing me and just fucking do it, Novikoff?”
Like a wild animal, Dimitri launched himself at me with an unnatural howl, sharpened end of the blade first. Lexi screamed as I juked to the right, narrowly missing being stabbed.
But he didn’t.
At the last second, my hand shot out and my dagger sliced him across the pec. He grunted as red bloomed on his shirt.