Heart of Thorns (Shadow Valley U Book 2)

I squint from the brightness of the fire. My hand blocks the growing orange and red flames. I swear, I feel the heat from the fire even while being in Rhys’s car.

“Fuck.” He slams on the brakes, and we both fly forward. His arm comes out and braces me before I hit the dash. “Call 9-1-1. Stay in the car.”

I follow his instructions, dialing fast, but I open my door and step onto the pavement. I quickly rattle off the address to the operator. She tells me that a fire truck is on the way and warns me not to get close in case burning debris falls.

Little does she know, I know my way around a fire.

My chest tightens, and my feet tingle. Goosebumps blanket my arms, and hot, sticky heat follows.

I walk closer to where Rhys ran off but quickly back away when a gust of fire fans toward me. The heat of it is too much. My vision is hazy. I’m stunned with panic, my feet unmoving but my head screaming at me to do something.

Anything.

I put my back to the fire and try to breathe.

My breaths grow even shakier when I spot Ben’s car directly across from the burning gym. I glance around and finally see Thorne’s. He parked on the next block, but his car is empty and silent, too.

They’re both inside the gym.

I can feel it in my bones.

“Shit!” I slap my hand against my thigh and think.

Rhys’s heavy footsteps catch my attention. I spin, and he’s never looked more serious. Sweat droplets slip down his face as he grabs my arms.

“Get in my car. Stay there. I’m going in.”

“Are you insane?” I shout. “Take it from someone who has been in a fire, Rhys. It’s dangerous and it spreads quickly!”

He ignores my pleas and drags me over the gravel to his car. “Thorne and Ben are both inside, Briar. I’m going in. I can at least get them away from the fire. The door has been blocked, but I’m going to go through the window.” He yanks open the car door, shoving me into the passenger’s seat. “If he makes it out alive, he’ll kill me if something happens to you. Get in, lock the door. Don’t come out until help shows up.”

“The front door has been blocked?”

My panic creeps to an all-time high. The fear from that night is at the center of my thoughts. I can’t keep my limbs from shaking.

“Stay. Inside.”

Rhys throws the keys on my lap.

“Be careful!” I shout.

The door slams in my face, and I lock it as ordered.

The door has been blocked. I scan the parking lot, searching for any sign of the arsonist—Stephen. Not Ben.

I move my attention back toward the fire. Rhys has climbed up on a dumpster in the alley, and he gets level with a window that’s been halfway boarded over. The flames haven’t made it there yet, by the looks of it. He breaks the glass with his elbow, and I wince.

He disappears inside a moment later.

Nausea pulls me under. I clench my eyes and press on my stomach.

Just breathe, Briar.

If anything happens to Thorne, because of me, I’ll never be able to climb out of this dark hole that I’ve been in since my accident.

He’s the only one who’s been able to drag me out, and now I’m about to have to drag him out.

Rhys and Ben, too.

I open my door and wince at the heat.

The popping, creaking, and wood splinting noises echo all around. The fire roars louder the closer I get. I rush to the entrance of the old building and curse.

Fire has started to eat away at the door, but the wood slab that was wedged under the door handle is obvious.

Stephen. You motherfucker.

I spin and narrow my gaze.

He’s here somewhere.

There are many reasons an arsonist seeks fires. After my accident, I did a deep dive on the minds behind arsonists—their reasons, triggers, feelings.

One thing that remained constant was their excitement.

Most like to watch.

I jog over to the wooded area across the street. On the other side of it is the football stadium, the visitors’ entrance lit up and just barely visible through the trees.

The heat of the fire swipes up my back, and sweat drips down my spine. I cringe from the reminder but ignore it as I scan in between the trees. Shadows cling to them, making it almost impossible to discern if I’m alone. Impossible with my naked eye anyway.

I grab my phone and press the record button. I give the area the once-over again. The faint sound of siren’s catches my ear, and my knees buckle with relief.

I glance back to the fire, and the relief disappears.

Like a monster, the fire grows, destroying anything in its path. Flames flicker through the columns of thick black smoke that pour out of the upper windows.

They need to get out. Now.

The sounds of sirens grow clear, but something snapping in the distance catches my attention.

My jaw snaps shut. I glare with a fierce vengeance. All the anger I’ve held since that night explodes like the roaring fire behind me when Stephen sees me. One pan of him on the video is all I need and I know I have it.

Our eyes snag.

He’s caught and he knows it.

I move with a purpose, but to my surprise, it isn’t toward him.

Adrenaline hides the ache in my knee, and I run toward the window that Rhys climbed through. I don’t climb as easily as he did but I make it up there in record time.

“Rhys!”

He’s dragging an unconscious Ben toward Thorne’s still body on the floor. Behind them is a raised platform, which might have once been an old boxing ring. It’s completely covered in flames.

No.

Through a raspy cough, he shouts at me, “Get the fuck back in the car!”

He coughs again. The smoke billows around their bodies. I act fast.

“Stay there! Do not move.”

“Bri—” I hop down and curse the pain radiating up my leg. I make it to his car in seconds, though it feels like hours. I jump into the driver’s seat and twist the key in the ignition.

It comes to life, and I hurriedly put my seat belt on.

I refuse to let anyone live the nightmare that I did. Their football dreams will be ruined if they get hurt. Never mind the fact that they could die.

I fight the panic and past trauma as I reverse, twisting the wheel until the nose of Rhys’ car lines up with building’s entrance.

They need a way out, and I’m going to give it to them.

The sirens are getting closer, but the firefighters aren’t going to make it in time.

Either the flames or the smoke will kill them before they can escape.

I send the video of Stephen hiding like a coward in the forest to everyone I know.

Using voice text, I send Thorne a message, too—hopeful that if I don’t make it out alive, he will.

My voice shakes. “I love you, Cassius.”

I wrap my fingers around the steering wheel, take a deep breath, and put the pedal to the metal.