Page 2 of Golden Ruin

That’s when I hear it. A tiny cough on the far side of the room.

“Jax? Jax!”

“Mommy,” he sobs, and my heart speeds up.

“Jax. I have you, baby.”

I grab him from bed and lock him in my arms, already scanning for our safest exit. The curtains and bookshelf beneath the window are already in flames, so the only way out is the way I came in.

I stare at the doorway, the hellscape beyond it, and just… go.

Loud crashes all around us make it hard to think, hard not to panic even more. Jax cries in my arms, squeezing my neck.

“Keep your face against Mommy’s shoulder. Try not to look, okay? I have you.”

My voice trembles with the words as I crouch low, looking for some sort of sign, something pointing me toward a way out.

“Mommy!”

“I know, baby. I know.”

Heat licks up my arm. I try to make myself smaller as the flames close in around us, but nothing helps. I’m in the thick of it, surrounded. Embers settle on my clothes, burning tiny holes through the fabric before settling on my skin like a hundred scattered pin pricks.

I pull Jax closer, shielding him as much as I can.

Making it out feels even more bleak as I ease down the hallway, watching my home crumble around me.

There’s no way through this.

No way out.

It’s not supposed to end like this. Jaxon is supposed to experience life. All the good and bad that comes with it. And I’m supposed to be here to see him through it all. He’s not supposed to be collateral damage in some random tragedy.

But as I glance around, fading as I stumble over my own feet, that’s starting to feel like reality.

I’m overheated, too lightheaded, too disoriented, and Jax is suddenly heavier in my arms than before. I lose my balance, and my shoulder slams the wall, but… the sound isn’t right. It’s hollow.

A door.

The possibility floods me with awareness again, and I’m more alert. My eyes flutter open halfway as I feel for the knob, somehow remembering to use my sleeve to twist this time.

Jax’s arms tighten even more, and I cough, trying to catch a breath, but it’s no use. There’s more smoke than air.

We push through and hit the ground, smooth tile beneath my cheek. I lie there, holding Jaxon to my chest, feeling the pain of each second that ticks past as I use my last bit of strength to lift myself from the floor.

Only, there’s nothing left.

My vision blurs as the sound of glass and wood splintering in the unbearable heat surrounds us.

This is it.

I tried to get us out, but… it wasn’t enough.

I failed my son.

CHAPTER TWO

Sterling