Chapter 38
CEREN HAD grabbed the flamethrower to rescue me, and instead doused herself with toxic, sticky fuel. She stood by the police car, her face slack with surprise and one hand on the trigger, as incendiary sludge oozed out of the flamethrower’s unlit nozzle, down her hands, drooled down her pants, and pooled on the asphalt around her feet.
It didn’t matter that Doug was ready to eat me. I couldn’t let her burn alive.
“Ceren!” I shouted, staggering sideways across the grass. “Drop it!”
Behind me, Doug growled.
Alice’s house looked tidy enough, with its clean red brick and solar shingles, nestled up against the contrasting homes on either side. Suncatchers and broken glass shattered the afternoon sun into rainbows, and the grass could use a trim but didn’t yet rate a ticket.
Dou
