by Lola Gabriel
Anders, Sawyer thought. Thank God he wasn’t here.
It was a random thought to have, but as she thought about it, she realized it made sense. After all, he and Vander were the only two people she knew in New York. And it was his gorgeous condo that had been torched.
She was growing unbearably tired, every movement seeming accentuated, as if she wore ankle weights around her legs. Maybe I’ll just sit for a minute, she thought, pausing.
“Keep going!” someone yelled as they edged their way past, but Sawyer found the idea impossible.
“Too tired,” she mumbled, slowly sinking to the step.
“You’re going to get trampled!” someone else yelled, grabbing her arm and pulling her up. Sawyer waved the girl off.
“Leave me alone.” Her eyes grew heavier, and she leaned her dark, matted head against the metal of the banister, feeling the coolness on her flushed cheeks. This feels nice, she thought, a bizarre happiness touching her unexpectedly.
“Sawyer, you need to keep going.” Reluctantly, she pried her lids open, recognizing the voice.
“Dad?” she babbled. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m trying to save you,” he sighed. “You need to keep going or you’re going to die, See-Saw.”
“No one calls me See-Saw anymore,” she giggled, her eyes burning as she gazed at him. “Anyway, is death so bad?”
“It’s not your time to die,” he told her softly. “Please, baby, get up and go.”
“No. No, there’s no point, anyway.”
Her father reached out to touch her cheek, but she didn’t feel a thing, her lids sealing again, and despite Gregory Sylvester standing inches away from her, the last thing she thought of before the world went black was Anders Williams.
“Sorry the dragons got your condo,” she whispered, but she was unconscious before she finished breathing the sentence.
The light was blinding, and Sawyer swatted it away, her hand knocking something on her face. Panic welled in her, and she struggled to sit up, her eyes trying to adjust to the commotion happening around her.
“It’s all right, miss, just relax,” a soothing voice told her, gently pushing her back. “You’re in an ambulance. We’re taking you to the hospital in a few minutes.
Sawyer opened her mouth to speak, but the words were stopped by something covering her face, and she raised her hands again to remove the oxygen mask from her mouth.
“It was the dragons, wasn’t it?” she asked, still delirious. “They got it, didn’t they?”
The EMS worked smiled mirthlessly at her. “Please just stay still. We’ll be leaving shortly. Leave the mask on your face.” He jumped down from the ambulance, and Sawyer sat up again, blinking against the myriad of lights flashing around her.
Park Avenue was in rare form, a slew of emergency vehicles blocking traffic from all angles as passerby gawked at the terrible scene above. The fire was still burning, consuming half the building now as the residents lined the streets in various stage of undress.
Gingerly, Sawyer slipped off the stretcher and pulled the mask from around her head, her mind slowly clearing as she scanned the crowd for Vander. To her relief, she saw him standing near the crime scene tape, wringing his hands as he took in what was happening. She exhaled and jumped from the ambulance, hurrying toward him. She screeched in pain as her ankle refused the weight. Slowing, she hobbled toward him, careful to keep the weight off her foot.
“Thank God you’re okay,” she sighed as she approached.
Vander whirled, starting as if she had scared him. His face exploded into an expression of gratitude so great, tears filled his eyes, and he embraced her tightly.
“You’re okay!” he howled, squeezing her too hard, and she tried to protest, but he didn’t release her. “I thought you had died in there, Sawyer!”
“It’s going to take more than a little kitchen fire to stop me,” she replied grimly, turning her attention back to the conflagration when he finally released his grip. “They did this.”
“I know,” he murmured, glancing around nervously, as if he worried they were being overheard, but that was the least of Sawyer’s problem. Everyone was far too fixated on the fire to notice them or their conversation. Besides, who would believe it if they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes?
I didn’t believe it until it was too late.
“We always thought they had been picking random places to set ablaze,” Sawyer commented, merely thinking aloud. “But what if there is a reason behind the places they chose?”
“Never mind all that now,” Vander instructed. “You need to recover. We’ll talk about this later.”
Sawyer snorted. “You’re kidding, right? You dragged me all the way to New York specifically for this, and now you want me to back off?”
“I never said back off,” he replied shortly. “I said we’ll talk about it later. You won’t do anyone any good limping around and coughing up a lung. Let’s get you checked out with a paramedic.”
“I’m fine,” Sawyer said. “I don’t need a check-up.”
“There you are!” The EMS worker stormed toward her, his gray eyes flashing with annoyance. “You know, there’s enough of a shitstorm happening around here without me having to chase you down. Get back on the gurney. We’re leaving for the hospital now.”
“But I’m—”
“You heard the man,” Vander insisted, yanking her arm toward the ambulance. “You need to go to the hospital and get checked out.”
“We’re wasting valuable time here!” she snapped. “You want there to be another fire when we could have done something about it?”
“I want you to be on your best game,” Vander said. “I don’t want to have to worry about taking care of you when you pass out.” Sawyer eyed him balefully, but she allowed herself to be led into the vehicle. “I need to check on Amelia,” he told her before the ambulance doors closed. “But I’ll come to the hospital right after.”
She nodded slowly. “You don’t have to worry about me,” she promised.
“And you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” he replied gruffly. “I promised that nothing would happen to you, and…” He couldn’t finish his thought, but Sawyer snickered.
“I’m more sure now that I want to find these bastards than I was six hours ago,” she assured him.
After all, the dragons had just burned down Anders’ home, his beautiful penthouse where he had lived for as long as he could remember.
Oh, I’m coming for you, dragon bastards. You just made it personal; again.
12
Anders did not remember flying back to New York, his gigantic frame flipping through the crisp air in minutes before landing behind the wreckage that had once been his home.
What had happened? Who had perished?
Nausea and bile rocked his body as he fought his way through the uniforms and onlookers for a familiar face. Was Sawyer there? Was she hurt or worse? The notion was incomprehensible, but no matter how he tried to stifle the idea from surfacing, he couldn’t stop it from bubbling to the surface.
“Anders! Oh my God!” Amelia found him, her face streaked with mascara as she threw her arms around him.
“How did this happen?” he growled, shoving her back to stare into her distraught face. “Who died? How many are hurt?”
“I don’t know!” she wailed. “They won’t give us any answers! I have no idea how this happened. One second, the show was on, and the next, Kitty Prancer was on fire!”
“What do you mean? Like a bomb went off?”
“I don’t know!” she moaned miserably. “I don’t know!”
“Where are Connor and David?”
Again, she shook her disheveled blonde head, and Anders realized that getting anything out of her would be a chore. It was all the response he was going to get from her, and Anders looked around desperately for someone else to give him the answers he so desperately needed.
His eyes fell on Vander’s shiny ba
ld head, and he hurried toward the man.
“Where is Sawyer?” he demanded. “Have you seen her?”
“She’s safe,” Vander replied, his eyes shadowed with concern. “They’ve taken her to Mount Sinai to make sure she’s fine. I spoke to her, and she’s all right. Don’t worry.”
“Have you seen the others? David? Connor?”
“I saw… David? Not ten minutes ago. I am not sure I would know who Connor is, but if they were on the main floor, I suspect they made it out before most of the chaos imploded.”
“Thank God,” Anders muttered. “How did this happen?”
“Anders Williams?” He spun to address the fire chief who stood, sweating and sooty, wiping his brow.
“Yes, that’s me. Can you tell me anything at all? How many are injured or…?”
“It’s too soon to tell, sir. The emergency crews are still working on clearing the apartment, and the blaze is intense, but this seems to fit the M.O. of the other arsons happening in the area right now.”
The other arsons… “What the hell does that mean?” Anders roared. “That means you know nothing about anything?”
“We were hoping maybe you could tell us what you know,” the chief replied. “Any idea who might want to hurt you? Or your friends?”
“I wasn’t even supposed to be in the country this weekend,” he answered gruffly. “The fact that anyone was there is a fluke.”
The chief sighed. “We’ll be in touch, Mr. Williams, but clearly, you’re going to need to find somewhere else to stay.”
“You think?” he retorted before he could stop himself.
“It will need to be nearby until we can get a proper statement from you.”
“Anywhere can be nearby. I have a plane.”
“We would prefer that you stay in New York for the time being, Mr. Williams. I know you are a busy man—”
“I am not too busy to help find someone hellbent on killing,” Anders retorted. “I’ll check into the Hyatt.”
“Come on, Anders,” Vander sighed, grabbing his arm. “You can stay at my place in the Hamptons for now. I’ll leave you the address, Chief.”
“I would appreciate that, Mister…?”
“Kinrade. Vander Kinrade.”
“Thank you, Mr. Kinrade.”
“I want to go to Mount Sinai first,” Anders replied shortly, his head spinning. “I need to find my staff and check on Sawyer.”
“Of course,” Vander agreed. “I’ll have my driver take us there first.”
“Someone needs to see to Amelia,” Anders said as Vander tried to steer him away. “She’s a mess.”
“Henry is already en route to collect her.”
Anders glanced up at the man and felt a stab of appreciation. “Thank you, Vander.”
“Don’t worry about it, Anders. Come on, let’s get out of here. My head is swimming from all the noise.”
They were at the hospital in minutes, Vander’s driver inherently knowing all the shortcuts, as the best drivers do.
“Didn’t I hear you were in your Connecticut house?” Vander asked casually as they drove in silence for a while.
“I can’t go back there. The chief wants me here, remember?” Anders said, distracted.
“No, I understand that. I was just wondering how you made such good time getting here after the fire started.” Anders tensed and glanced at the man warily.
“I had a stop to make. I was in the area,” he answered slowly. “Are you suggesting something?”
Vander’s eyes widened, and he shook his head. “Of course not! I was just making conversation. Small talk, if you will.”
Sounds more like you’re accusing me of setting fire to my own condo while there were a hundred people inside, not to mention the other residence.
But Anders did not say anything else, turning his head back to look out the window. They finished the trip to the hospital in silence, and when they arrived, Anders didn’t wait for the driver to open the door. The emergency room was bedlam, the aftermath of the fire as well as the usual Friday night debaucheries in the city.
As he raced to the overcrowded reception, David intercepted him.
“Mr. Williams!” he gasped.
“David! Are you all right? Where is Connor? Was any of the other staff in the condo?”
“Connor was out for the night. He didn’t want to be around for the show. Shayna and Bets got out. They’ve been treated for smoke inhalation and released already.”
“Anyone else here that we know? Did anyone die?”
David shrugged his shoulders helplessly. “I don’t know. That’s why I came here, hoping to find out more.” Anders smothered a groan. The answer was never going to change anywhere he went.
“I need to find Mr. Kinrade’s friend. You met her today.”
“Sawyer,” David said. “She’s over here.” He led the way into the emergency room and through a maze of beds as interns and residents called out to nurses and orderlies. The place was in as much disarray as Park Avenue had been.
Anders was sure his head was going to explode, but the second he laid eyes on Sawyer’s pale face, he felt a weight lift off his chest.
“Mr. Williams,” David breathed as Anders turned toward her, getting her ankle wrapped. She had yet to see him.
“What is it, David?” The young attorney didn’t answer right away, and Anders eyed him impatiently. “Spit it out, David.”
David cleared his throat nervously. “Mr. Williams, do you suppose this has anything to do with the… animal we saw?”
Anders’ breath caught in his throat.
“David!” he snapped, his voice brittle. “If you bring up your hallucination one more time, especially in the wake of a tragedy when people are already high strung, I am going to kick your ass from here to Newark. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.” David hung his head like a kicked puppy and turned away.
He’s never going to let that go. When I find out who you are, I am going to make your life miserable, Anders vowed silently to the dragon who had ruined his life.
“Anders!”
Anders turned at Sawyer’s call. The relief in her voice was unmistakable, and he tried to smile, meeting her deep, worried eyes.
“How are you doing?” he asked tenderly, slipping to her side.
“Oh, you know,” Sawyer replied lightly. “Nothing I don’t have to deal with all the time: firefighting, popping out my ankle, and passing out in a stairwell to be trampled to death.”
“You passed out? You’re lucky you weren’t trampled, sincerely.”
“Trust me, I know. A bartender saw me go down, and she didn’t want to leave me there, so she basically dragged me down the stairs until she found an EMS worker. If it wasn’t for her…”
“I’m sure you still would have been fine,” Anders quickly finished for her. “Something tells me that you’re used to getting out of tight spots.”
She shrugged. “I’m so sorry about your home,” she told him earnestly. “I can’t even imagine how you must be feeling right now.”
“I’m feeling completely relieved that you’re not hurt worse.” He smiled at her, their eyes locking, and he realized that he meant exactly what he had said.
“What are you going to do now?”
“He’s going to stay with us in the Hamptons house,” Vander announced, appearing behind Anders’ back. “The minute the doctor gives you the all clear, we’re swooping you up and getting you out of this city.”
“He’s coming back in a minute. They need the beds, and I’m fine,” Sawyer replied quickly, sitting up to prove her point. “Did you say the Hamptons?”
“Yes. Is that a problem?”
Sawyer chuckled. “No. I just never knew that was a real place. I thought it was a made-up Hollywood spot. You know, like 555 phone numbers.”
The men could not resist laughing.
“It’s good that you haven’t lost your sense of humor through this,” Anders told her affectionately.
“It helps when things look bleak.”
“You’re the one who lost everything,” Sawyer reminded him bluntly. “I sprained my ankle. I have nothing to complain about.”
Vander snickered as Anders’ phone rang in his breast pocket. “Trust me, my dear, Anders Williams has not even scratched the surface of losing everything. Anyway, that is what insurance is for, right, Anders?”
The attorney glanced at his phone, but the innuendo was not lost on him. Again, he’s implying I had something to do with this fire. Is he insane?
“I have to take this,” Anders muttered, pressing the button to answer as he moved away from the bed. “What do you have, Max?”
“First of all, was that your building that caught on fire last night?” his brother demanded.
“Yes.” Bad news really does travel fast, he thought, shaking his auburn waves.
“Wow. What happened?”
“I can’t really talk about it. Max and I don’t have a lot of details, anyway. Did you get to Switzerland?”
“Yes…” Anders waited, but his brother did not continue.
“Okay, Max, it’s been a really long couple days. I need you to tell me what you know before I blow a gasket, all right?”
“They aren’t there anymore, Anders.”
Anders wasn’t sure he’d heard his brother correctly. “What does that even mean?”
“I—I’m not entirely sure,” Max confessed. “It’s as if they just upped and left one day without a trace. The village still exists, but it’s abandoned. There are toothbrushes and meals on tables. There’s food in the refrigerators, but the electricity is gone in every area of the towns. There’s not one trace of any of them. They’re gone.”
“Okay, Max, that’s not possible,” Anders said. “If they were going to move, they would have told you. Did you have a falling out with Esme? Or Delilah? They wouldn’t just take the children and vanish for no good reason!”
“I agree,” his brother murmured.