The explosion threw me back, my head hitting the pavement, but I scrambled to roll over and stand. Not caring anymore if the assholes in the trucks saw me, I raced over to the burning car. Flames were shooting up into the air, and the heat alone scorched my clothes. Aleksei was so close though, and I wasn’t about to lose him.

I was hesitating. I hated that I was. The fire burned, and the smell of smoke overpowered everything. My fear of fire flared to life. Being anywhere near a fire, being ...