The world had narrowed to the roaring inferno, the heat blistering Linsy’s skin even from a distance. She stood frozen, her face a pale, tear-streaked mask in the hellish orange light. Her uncle was in that fire. The man who, moments ago, had been a desperate, flawed human being was now being consumed by flames.

How? The single, silent word screamed in her mind. How could this happen?

A broken, guttural sound escaped her lips, and she surged forward, a moth drawn to the destructive flame, ...