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Screams.

Alarms.

People ran. Debris fell.

Everything moved into slow motion.

Then blackness as agony swept through me.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

“Is-a-bel! Mi-na!”

Whoosh! Boom!

Dazed, I pushed myself off the concrete as sound echoed in my ears, a heavy ringing. Scrambling forward, I lost my footing, finally lunging toward the building. I had to get to them. I would get to them.

Then I realized the entire building was on fire.

I didn’t give a shit about the pain. I lunged forward, throwing myself at the door only to be dragged backwards and away from the building.

“No, Maxsim. No!” I heard the voice, the sound in a tunnel.

“I have to get to them. I have to save them.”

Another explosion knocked us both back by several feet, Sergei thrown on top of me.

“Max,” he moaned, trying to keep me down.

Fighting. Pushing. Throwing a punch. I did it all trying to get to her, managing to get to the door.

Flames.

Searing heat.

“No, Max.” I was yanked back again, tackled by someone else. “It’s too late, Max. It’s too late.”

“No. No. No!” Embers floated all around me and I struggled once again, only to be dragged backward and away from the building. “No!” I dropped to the sidewalk as heat scorched my skin and I didn’t feel a damn thing.

As I stared at the flames consuming the building, I rose to my full height, threw my head back, and roared.

And I made a promise to the woman I loved and to my baby girl, my sweet angel that I would burn down the city to find out the person responsible.

Maxsim and Isabel’s story continues in Scarred Redemption.

To Be Continued…