The world narrowed to a haze of choking smoke and pounding heartbeats. Emma felt Tom's hand slip from hers as they both succumbed to violent coughing fits. Through watering eyes, she caught glimpses of dark figures moving through the smoke-filled room.
"Tom!" she managed to gasp out, panic rising in her throat.
A strong arm wrapped around her waist, and for a moment, Emma thought it was Tom coming to her rescue. But the grip was too rough, the body behind her unfamiliar. She lashed out instinctively, her elbow connecting with something solid.
A grunt of pain, then a gruff voice: "She's a fighter. Knock her out."
Emma felt a sharp prick in her neck. The room began to spin, the smoke swirling into abstract patterns before her eyes. As consciousness slipped away, her last thought was of
