Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 102136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
I lifted Maddie into my arms and rocked her. “Maddie…” She wasn’t walking up. Her skin was pale under the black smoke on her face, and she wasn’t waking up. A drop of water landed on her cheek, cutting a track through the smoke smudges. Another one fell. I looked up to see where it was from. I felt water on my cheek. Me. It was from me. My chest ached so much I couldn’t breathe. As I stared down at Maddie, I thought I was dying. The pain in my heart was so much that I couldn’t fucking move.
“Flame.” AK dropped down beside me. I heard sirens in the background, but I couldn’t let go of Maddie. I’d killed her. The flames… I froze. I looked at the flames behind me, the fire. The flames had killed her. They had come for her. Come for the baby. She was dead. They were both dead. “Let Rider look at her.” AK was speaking to me.
I tensed, baring my fucking teeth as Rider dropped to his knees on the other side of Maddie. “GET THE FUCK AWAY!” I ordered, holding her closer. “I will kill you. Touch her and I will kill you.”
“She’s breathing, Flame,” Rider said slowly. I stilled.
I shook my head. “She’s dead. The flames killed her. She’s dead. They’re both dead. Like Mama and Isaiah. They’re both gone.” The pain that cut through me made me curl forward and gasp for breath.
“Flame. She’s breathing. She’s alive. Let me look at her.” The sirens got louder. I saw blue lights coming along the road to the club. “She needs to go to the hospital. She needs immediate help.”
“Flame. Let him look. He can help her,” AK said. I choked on a cry that came from my throat. When I looked up, everyone was looking at me.
“Please, Flame,” Mae begged. Mae and Bella came forward to stand near Maddie. They were both crying. “Please, let him look at her,” Mae said. I looked down at Maddie. I didn’t want to let her go. I couldn’t fucking let her go.
Rider came closer. “I’m just gonna check her pulse.” I clenched my jaw as he put his fingers on her neck. His eyes lowered as he concentrated. “It’s weak, but it’s there.” Her leaned down and listened to her breathing. “She needs the hospital. Now.” Rider jumped up when the ambulance and fire truck pulled into the compound. I stared down at Maddie, keeping her close to my chest. I didn’t want to touch her, to make it worse. But I couldn’t let her go. I couldn’t ever let her go. She was mine. My Maddie. She couldn’t die. She couldn’t fucking die.
“Brother,” AK said. “We need to get her into the ambulance.” I saw the paramedics getting closer. I held on tighter. The flames ignited in my blood and I snarled at anyone who tried to come fucking near.
“I’ll kill them. I’ll fucking kill them,” I threatened. “If they touch her, I’ll rip out their spines.” I shook with rage, glaring at the paramedics coming closer. I knew what they were like. They’d tied me to a bed. I didn’t want Maddie being tied to a bed.
“Flame. For fuck sake. She needs to go to the hospital,” Ky said. “You have to let her go.”
“I’m not letting them take her. She can’t fucking go!” I hissed, clutching on to Maddie. I caught AK nodding at someone behind me. I went to look at who it was, when someone grabbed my throat from behind, cutting off my breathing.
“Get the fuck off him!” Ash’s voice cut sailed into my ears. I gripped onto Maddie, but I started seeing black spots, felt my arms getting weak.
“I’m so sorry, brother,” AK said and took Maddie out of my hands.
“NO!” I tried to scream as I fought against the arm around my throat.
“She needs help, brother. I’ll take you straight to her. You’ll be with her. But you gotta let them help.” The flames in my blood were so hot they were a fucking inferno. I fought and fought the arm around my neck as I watched Maddie be put into the back of the ambulance. Bella and Mae went in with her. The doors closed and I screamed. I screamed and screamed until the dark spots started clouding my vision. I felt something prick my arm. “MADDIE!” I yelled, but my voice was gradually cut off. “MADDIE! MADDIE! MADDIE…” Then the darkness took me down.
*****
I felt them before I opened my eyes. They were hotter and more scalding than ever before. I sank my nails into my skin, hissing when some of the flames escaped. But it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t fucking stand it. My veins had collapsed. The fire was everywhere in my body.
My head was a fog. But I knew I needed to remember something. There was a crack in my chest so deep that I couldn’t fucking breathe. A stabbing in my gut that told me that something was wrong. I slammed my fist into the side of my head, trying to make myself think. I froze when I remembered the flames. I felt the burns on my skin… my heart beating too fucking fast… Maddie… MADDIE…