Chapter 10 - Into the Smoke
The smell of smoke was immediate and suffocating. Thick, acrid plumes poured through the floor vents, filling the high-ceilinged corridor with gray, toxic clouds. Marcus Kane didn't wait to watch the inferno consume them; with a final, hateful glare, he backed out onto the second-floor balcony, threw his leg over the stone balustrade, and dropped onto the roof of the garden pavilion below.
"Julian! The lower level is burning!" Maria cried out, coughing violently as she pushed herself up from the floor. The cut on her forehead bled freely now, smearing red across her pale cheek.
Julian scooped Emma into his left arm, his right hand gripping the gun. "Maria, take the back servants' stairs. The north wing has a separate fire escape."
"What about Victoria?" Maria gasped through a fit of coughing.
Julian looked down toward the first-floor landing. Flames were already licking at the edges of the grand staircase, turning the polished banisters into roaring torches. Through the smoke, he could hear Victoria screaming his name from the dining room, trapped behind a wall of collapsing ceiling beams.
"Daddy, Mommy is down there!" Emma cried, her small arms wrapped tightly around Julian’s neck, her face buried against his chest.
Julian stood torn in the blinding smoke. Every instinct screamed at him to flee, to save Clara’s daughter, to take Maria and escape before the roof caved in. Victoria had deceived him for years; she had stolen this child, tried to frame Maria, and destroyed everything they built.
"Maria, take Emma," Julian ordered, thrusting the girl into the maid’s arms.
"Julian, no! It's too hot!" Maria protested, tears cutting through the soot on her face.
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"Get her to the north gate! Do not stop for anyone, do you hear me?" Julian shouted. He pulled his suit jacket off, dousing it in a nearby vase of water, and wrapped it around his mouth and nose. "I’ll bring her out. Now go!"
Maria held Emma close, turning and sprinting down the dark, narrow servants' corridor just as the main hall ceiling groaned. Julian turned and threw himself directly into the roaring furnace of the staircase.
