Chapter 12 - Night Air
The cold night air hit Lena’s face like an immersion in clear, freezing water. She was lying on a stretcher on the far side of the driveway, wrapped in heavy thermal blankets, an oxygen mask strapped across her nose and mouth.
Beside her, a paramedic was carefully checking the vital signs of the infant. The baby’s skin was pink now, clean of soot, his tiny chest rising and falling rhythmically beneath a fleece hospital swaddle.
Lena turned her head, her hand trembling as she reached across the space between them. The paramedic smiled gently, lifting the baby and tucking him into the crook of Lena’s arm. The moment the infant felt his mother’s body heat, his tiny hand unclenched, his miniature fingers curling tightly around Lena’s thumb.
Tears spilled over Lena’s lashes, hot and silent. ""You're here,"" she whispered into the mask. ""We made it. You're here.""
Across the lawn, the grand country manor was an towering pillar of fire. The roof had caved in completely, sending a geyser of golden sparks thousands of feet into the starless country sky. Fire engines were finally roaring up the long driveway, their sirens screaming through the valley, their lights painting the pines in violent flashes of red and blue.
Mara walked over to the ambulance, stripping off her soot-covered field jacket. A medic approached her with a trauma kit, but she waved him off, stepping directly to Lena’s side.
Lena looked up at the woman who had dropped through the ceiling rafters into her living hell. ""Why did you come for me? Julian said no one knew.""
Mara looked down at Lena, her expression softening into something deeply somber. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a worn, laminated photograph, holding it up so Lena could see.
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It showed a teenage girl with dark hair and bright hazel eyes—a face bearing an unmistakable resemblance to Lena’s own.
""Because four years ago, I didn't get to the attic in time for my sister,"" Mara said quietly. ""I promised myself the next time that broadcast pinged... I would finish it.""
