The growl of flames grew louder, a menacing rumble that reverberated through the air. Smoke billowed in thick, suffocating clouds, the acrid scent stinging Adeline's lungs as she focused entirely on Seraphina—her frame shaking, her breathing shallow, but still holding herself together, still standing. They had tried to escape, but the kidnappers had trapped them. Now, they were going to burn it all down.
Adeline's body throbbed with pain, bruised and battered from the earlier attack, but that didn't matter now. Nothing else did.
"Adeline, we have to go," Seraphina gasped, her voice strained and panicked as the fire's heat intensified, crawling closer, licking at the edges of the room.
"I'm not leaving you," Adeline said, her voice firm, more determined than she had felt in days. Her legs shook under the weight of exhaustion, but she stood, her back straight, her body a barricade between Seraphina and the encroaching flames.
The warehouse around them seemed to groan and crack, the walls bending under the fury of the fire. The heat was unbearable, a wall of blistering air that burned her skin and made every breath feel like fire in her chest.
"Adeline, please... we don't have time—"
"No," Adeline interrupted, her voice sharp and resolute. "Not without you."
Seraphina's eyes were wide, filled with terror, but Adeline stood her ground, arms spread wide, blocking her from the inferno as it tore through the building. Smoke poured into the room, thick and suffocating. The fire's hunger was palpable, crawling forward like an unstoppable beast.
Adeline could feel the heat scorching the air, the fire pressing in from all sides. Her body burned, the pain overwhelming, but she didn't move. She couldn't move.
Seraphina stumbled behind her, her weight shifting, and that was the moment the floor groaned under them. The ceiling above them creaked, and with a deafening crack, a section of it gave way.
Adeline's instincts took over. She threw herself backward, pushing Seraphina aside just as the debris rained down. The weight of the collapsing ceiling crashed into her back, sending her sprawling to the floor, pain shooting through her limbs as her vision swam.
The last thing she could hear was Seraphina's frantic screams, but they were fading, drowned out by the roar of the flames and the deafening silence in her ears. She could feel the smoke curling into her lungs, the fire inching closer, but it was all becoming a blur—a haze.
Adeline's body went limp. Her chest heaved with labored breaths, but the heat and the smoke suffocated her. Her world, once sharp and clear, now felt distant, like a fading memory.
And then—everything went dark.