Lily's POV
My entire life is going up in flames.
I stand on the sidewalk across from my apartment building, watching firefighters spray water on what used to be my home. Orange flames lick out of the third-floor windows—my floor. Black smoke pours into the night sky.
Everything I own is in there. My mom's photos. Her jewelry. The only things I have left of her.
All burning.
"Did everyone get out?" I ask the fire chief for the third time.
"Yes, ma'am. All residents are accounted for." He gives me a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry about your place."
Sterling puts a hand on my shoulder. "Come on. You can't stay here."
I can't move. Can't think. Can't breathe.
This is a message. Marcus Hale—or whoever that woman on the roof was—just told me exactly what happens to people who get involved in this case.
They burn.
"Lily." Sterling's voice is firm now. "We need to go. It's not safe here."
He's right. I let him guide me to his car. We drive in silence through Houston's empty streets. It's almost two in the morning. I should be asleep in my bed.
But my bed is ash now.
"Where are we going?" I finally ask.
"A safe house. HPD keeps a few for witnesses who need protection."
"I'm not a witness."
"You are now." Sterling's jaw is tight. "Someone just burned down your home to scare you. That makes you part of this whether you like it or not."
The safe house turns out to be a small apartment in a building that looks just as run-down as mine was. Before it burned. Sterling unlocks the door and checks every room before letting me inside.
"There's food in the fridge. Clean sheets in the closet. Don't open the door for anyone except me." He hands me a burner phone. "My number's already programmed in. Call if anything happens."
"What about my stuff? My clothes? My—" My voice breaks.
Sterling's expression softens. "I'll have someone pick up basics for you tomorrow. For tonight, just try to rest."
Rest. Right.
After he leaves, I sit on the couch and stare at the wall. My hands won't stop shaking. Every time I close my eyes, I see flames.
Around three a.m., someone knocks on the door.
I freeze. Sterling said not to open it for anyone.
"Lily? It's me!" Maya's voice, muffled through the door.
I look through the peephole. It's definitely Maya, holding a pizza box and a duffel bag.
I unlock the door and she rushes in, dropping everything to hug me.
"Oh my God, I heard about the fire. Are you okay? Are you hurt?" She pulls back, checking me over like a worried mother.
"I'm fine. I wasn't home when it happened."
"Thank God." Maya picks up the pizza box. "I brought food. And clothes. And your laptop—you left it at the office last week, remember?"
I'd forgotten about that. At least I didn't lose everything.
We sit on the couch eating pizza at three in the morning. It should feel normal, comforting. But nothing feels normal anymore.
"Sterling told me about Dante Cross," Maya says quietly. "About the kidnapped kid."
"Of course he did."
"Lily, you can't do this. You know that, right?" She grabs my hand. "You're not trained for combat. You can't fight fire. You can't fight telekinesis. You'll die."
"I know."
"Then don't do it."
"I don't have a choice. Cross will destroy my business if I refuse. And now someone's literally burning down my life to scare me off." I laugh, but it sounds broken. "I'm trapped."
Maya's quiet for a long moment. Then: "What if you just left? Houston, I mean. Packed up and started over somewhere else."
The thought has crossed my mind. Run away. Change my name. Build a new life.
But then I'd be running forever. And a six-year-old boy would die.
"I can't," I whisper.
"Why not?"
"Because three years ago, I helped get someone killed. I've been living with that guilt every single day." I meet Maya's eyes. "If I walk away now and that little boy dies, I'll never forgive myself."
"And if you help and you die? What then?"
"Then at least I tried."
Maya shakes her head. "You're not a hero, Lily. You don't have to save everyone."
"I'm not trying to save everyone. Just one kid."
We finish the pizza in silence. Maya stays, sleeping on the couch while I take the bedroom. But I can't sleep. Every time I drift off, I jolt awake, thinking I smell smoke.
Around five a.m., my burner phone buzzes with a text.
Unknown: Car's outside. Time to go. –Cross
My stomach drops. He actually expects me to help him. After everything that happened tonight.
I text back: My apartment burned down. Someone's threatening me. I can't do this.
The response is immediate: I know about the fire. That's why you're coming with me. You're safer with me than alone.
I'm not safe anywhere near you.
Unknown: Five minutes. Or I come up and get you.
My hands shake as I type: I'm not your property. You can't just order me around.
The phone rings. I answer.
"Miss Chase." Dante's voice is cold and controlled. "Someone burned your home tonight because you're helping me. Walking away now won't make you safe—it'll make you a loose end. And loose ends get eliminated."
"So my choices are help you and die, or refuse you and die?"
"Your choice is help me and live under my protection, or refuse me and die alone." He pauses. "Four minutes."
He hangs up.
I want to scream. Want to throw the phone across the room. Want to wake up and discover this is all a nightmare.
But it's real. All of it.
I'm getting dressed when Maya appears in the doorway, rubbing her eyes.
"Where are you going?"
"I don't have a choice anymore."
"Lily—"
"He's right, Maya. Someone's already targeted me. Walking away won't keep me safe." I grab the duffel bag she brought. "At least if I help him, I have the most powerful mage in Houston protecting me."
Maya's eyes fill with tears. "I can't lose you too."
"You won't." I hug her tight. "I promise."
I'm lying. We both know it.
Downstairs, a black car waits at the curb. The window rolls down, and I see Dante in the back seat.
I take a deep breath and walk toward the car.
Before I reach it, my burner phone buzzes with a text from an unknown number. Not Dante this time.
I open it.
It's a photo of Maya. Asleep on the couch.
Taken from inside the apartment.
Five minutes ago.
The text below it reads: Everyone you love burns. Starting with her.
I spin around, looking up at the safe house window.
Maya's standing there, waving goodbye.
She has no idea someone was just inside with her.
My phone buzzes again. Another photo.
This time it's Ethan Cross. Still tied to that ch
air. But now there are burn marks on the wall behind him.
And a new message: Tick tock.