Chapter 14 The Escape into the Smoke
The heat is a physical weight, pressing against my skin. The smell of gasoline has turned into the thick, cloying scent of burning wood and ancient dust. Black smoke is already swirling near the ceiling, turning the grey morning light into a murky orange.
"The ladder, Zoe! Now!" Caspian shouts over the roar of the flames outside.
I drop the crutches. They are useless timber now. I hop toward the rusted iron rungs bolted to the brick wall. My bandaged ankle feels like it is being gripped by a hot vice, but the adrenaline is a cold current in my veins.
"I've got you," Caspian says, his hands steadying my waist as I reach for the first rung. "Don't look down. Just look at the next bar."
I pull myself up. Every muscle in my arms screams as I take my full weight. My bad leg hangs limp, a heavy anchor of pain, but I use my good foot to push off the wall. The iron is freezing against my palms, a sharp contrast to the blistering air rising from the floor.
"Jax!" I scream, my voice cracking from the smoke.
A shadow appears at the top of the hatch. Jax's face is a mask of soot. He reaches down, his hand outstretched. "Give me your hand, Z! The whole west side is going up!"
I reach up, my fingers locking with his. He pulls with the strength of someone who has spent his life climbing over fences and rooftops. I scramble over the ledge onto the gravel covered roof. Caspian is right behind me, vaulting up by the sheer desperation of the moment.
The roof is a furnace. Below us, two black sedans are parked by the entrance. Men in suits, Arthur's private security, are standing by the flames, watching the building burn with the detached interest of people doing a job.
"They're waiting to make sure nothing comes out of the front door," Caspian whispers, staying low behind a crumbling brick chimney.
"They didn't see the van," Jax says, pointing to the far edge of the roof. "I parked it in the loading bay of the cannery next door. But we have to jump the gap. It's about four feet."
I look at the gap between the two buildings. Four feet might as well be a mile on one leg. The alleyway below is a dark canyon of trash and shadows.
"You'll have to carry me," I say to Caspian.
"No," he says, looking at the fire spreading beneath our feet. "I'll jump first to catch you. Jax will help you launch."
"There's no time for a debate!" Jax hisses. "The roof is soft. The tar is melting!"
Caspian doesn't hesitate. He takes a short run and leaps, landing silently on the gravel of the adjacent building. He turns around immediately, his arms open.
"Come on, Zoe! Trust me!"
I look at Jax. He grabs me under the arms. "On three, Z. Don't think. Just fly."
One. Two. Three.
Jax heaves me forward. For a split second, I am weightless, suspended over the dark alley. Then the world hits me. Caspian catches me, his chest absorbing the impact as we both tumble onto the rough stones. He curls his body around mine to keep my ankle from hitting the ground.
"I've got you," he gasps into my hair. "You're okay."
Jax leaps the gap behind us, landing on his feet like a cat. "Go! Go! Go!"
We scramble across the second roof and down a rusted fire escape that groans under our weight. We reach the van just as the first windows of the studio blow out from the heat. The sound is like a gunshot.
Jax slides the door open and shoves us inside. He is behind the wheel in seconds, the engine roaring to life. We peel out of the cannery lot just as a police siren begins to wail in the distance.
I sit on the floor of the van, my lungs burning, my skin covered in a fine layer of ash. I reach into my pocket and pull out the thumb drive. It is still there. The plastic is warm, but it is intact.
"They tried to kill us," Caspian says, leaning his head against the metal wall. His white shirt is ruined, scorched and blackened. "He actually tried to kill us."
"He tried to burn the evidence," I say, my voice cold. "He doesn't realise the evidence is sitting in a rusted van on the way to his biggest nightmare."
"What now?" Jax asks from the front. "The whole city is looking for you. You can't go to a hotel, and you definitely can't go to the hospital."
I look at the clock on the van's dashboard. 11:30 AM.
"The Gala starts in less than eight hours," I say. "We need a place to hide. A place with a floor we can dance on. And I need a way to kill the pain in this leg."
"I know a place," Jax says, his eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror. "It is not pretty. It is an old basement under a boxing gym in the Flats. It has got mirrors and a concrete floor. The owner owes me a favor."
"Do it," I say.
Caspian looks at me, his eyes full of worry. "Zoe, your leg. The heat from the fire has probably made the swelling worse. You can't dance on concrete."
"I'll dance on glass if I have to," I snap. "Caspian, he tried to burn me alive in the place where I grew up. He thinks he can erase me. He is about to find out that fire only makes me harder."
Caspian reaches out, his fingers brushing the soot off my cheek. "Then we don't just change the ending. We change the whole message. If he wants a war, we give him one."
"Jax," I call out. "Stop at a pharmacy. I need the strongest painkillers they sell over the counter. And more zinc tape."
"You got it, Z."
The van slows down as we enter the heart of the Flats. The familiar sight of cracked sidewalks and overflowing trash cans usually makes me feel trapped. Today, it feels like a fortress. These are my streets. Arthur Thorne's money doesn't mean anything here.
As we pull up to the gym, I see a small television through a shop window. My face is on the screen. The word WANTED is plastered across my forehead.
I pull my hoodie up, shielding my face.
"Eight hours," I whisper to myself.
The pain in my ankle is a screaming monster, but the fire in my chest is bigger. Arthur Thorne thinks he is the one holding the match. He is wrong. I am the spark. And tonight, I am going to burn his legacy to the ground.
"Let's get inside," I say to Caspian. "We have a masterpiece to finish.”