Smoke fills the night before we even reach the gate. It snakes across the sky, thick and black, curling like a dying thing. Valen doesn’t slow down. The car screeches to a halt, and before I can open my door, he’s already out, gun in hand, shouting orders I can’t hear through the roar of the flames.
The warehouse burns like hell itself. Steel beams groan. Glass bursts. The heat slaps my face as I stumble closer, coughing.
“Maya!” I scream. My voice cracks, lost in the chaos.
Someone tries to hold me back, but I shove him off. I have to see, I have to know.
Valen grabs my arm, spins me around. “Elara, stop! You’ll die in there!”
“She’s in there!”
His jaw tightens. “We don’t know that.” But the flicker of pain in his eyes says he hopes I’m wrong.
A thunderous boom splits the air. The
