Violet Eden Chapters 04 - Endless

smile. ‘I’m right behind you.’ Then I nodded him on and he left. Finally, finally , I dropped to the ground, face down.
    When I could no longer hear their footsteps, I knew they had reached the top of the stairs. Tears welled with the relief of knowing that they would make it to safety. Griffin would look after them.
    Smoke filled the basement. I didn’t care. Time sloweddown. I could see myself dying. I doubted I would come back this time.
    Only now, did I let myself think of him.
    I thought of our love, how much Lincoln meant to me. But even as my life drifted away, Phoenix’s last words – the ones he’d whispered into my ear – played back. Over and over.
    Is it even possible?
    I forced another fraught breath. All I wanted was for it to be over. I wanted to go away, to never have to fight again.
    But Phoenix’s damn voice kept whispering to me.
    What if? What if? What if?
    I growled, angry at him for doing this to me. It would be just like him to lie to me, to make me fight and live only to discover it was just another trick to force my hand.
    But still …
    What if there’s a chance it could be the truth?
    I’d once promised Steph I would fight with every last breath to survive, but how could I when every breath felt like a thousand deaths?
    The floor vibrated with another explosion. A large piece of ceiling crashed to the ground nearby. I could hear the crackling of the fire above. The building’s structure was starting to give. It could cave in at any moment.
    Oh, God. What if he was right?
    I cried out. Rolling onto my back, clawing at the ground, trying to grab hold of something, anything. Suddenly I was fighting to get to my knees and trying to pull myself up.
    But I was too weak. I fell back and closed my eyes.
    It was over.
    I hadfailed.
    I felt hands on my legs, on my arms. My eyes opened. Looking down on me from above was Simon and three of the other kids.
    No.
    ‘Get … o-o-out,’ I stammered.
    But they just crouched beside me and Simon shook his head. ‘And what would we say to God when he asks us why we left one of his angels behind to die?’
    ‘I’m not … angel,’ I tried to explain, because no matter what I wanted, I knew they would not be strong enough to carry me all the way out in the smoke and if they didn’t leave now, they would never make it.
    ‘Yes, you are,’ said the girl at my arm. It was Katie. ‘I dreamed an angel would save us. It was you in my dream,’ she said, her eyes perfectly innocent.
    ‘So did I,’ said another girl at my leg.
    ‘So did I,’ said the boy at my other arm.
    ‘And I,’ said Simon.
    Everything started to go black. I tried to tell them to go again. I tried and tried.

    The next time I opened my eyes, I was being carried up the stairs by the children. Their strength alone was inexplicable, but even more so given the oxygen-starved air and unimaginable heat. Hell had found us and they faced it head on, fearless. I blinked.

    We movedthrough the burning hallway, the fire raging around us and yet, the children marched straight towards the belly of the flames as if they knew they would part.
    And they did.
    I realised then, it was my angel maker doing this.
    I closed my eyes again. It didn’t stop the flood of tears.
    I was carried out the front doors and down the steps. I could hear voices, orders being shouted, people running everywhere.
    Everything suddenly stopped. All the sound, all the movement. Still.
    Then a woman’s voice bellowed. ‘Clear their path!’
    The children began to walk again and I felt strong hands move under me.
    I could hear Griffin. ‘Hold on, Violet. Hold on!’ he said, over and over.
    I was put down on the grass and a figure crouched beside me. It was Josephine. It had been her voice I had heard. Our eyes met. Blood and soot covered her face. Oh, she’d been in the thick of it tonight.
    I wondered briefly if Josephine might end me there and then. But she just turned away and started calling out orders to someone behind her.
    ‘Get Evelyn! Tell her … Tell her her daughter is alive. And fetch the medics, now!’ She paused, then opened her mouth again. ‘You, you and you: she’s one of ours. Protect her!’
    She looked down at me. ‘You foolish girl. I don’t know how you killedher or how you’re still alive, but you’re damn well going to stay that way so you can explain it to me later.’
    How ironic, I thought, that just as Josephine had decided I’d proved myself to be one of them, I had