Brutal Hearts: A Dark College Romance (A Wicked Empire Standalone) by Jordan Grant

Author:Jordan Grant [Grant, Jordan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-05T00:00:00+00:00

PART III

DUSK

— Gil (Years Prior) —

Smoke murmurs through the black of nothingness before my eyes pop open, my forehead still flat against my desk. An alarm blares in the building, and all my senses are slapped awake at once.

Slivers of smoke.

Pops and crackles of a nearby fire.

The bite of ash in the air, needling my eyes and stinging my nostrils.

Fuck.

Rumbling sounds in the distance, low beneath the shrieking fire alarm. I jump to my feet, throwing my chair back into the bookcases behind my desk as I do. I grab my keys out of the top drawer of my desk and dart out of my office into the wide-open room, the cubicles, chairs, and computers long sold to pay the creditors. Smoke seeps beneath the doors on the opposite side, pushing plumes of gray and white into the air.

It doesn't smell like a campfire. It reeks of chemicals and charred plastic and shit that shouldn't be burned. I cough as I cover my mouth and stare at the haze that's clouding the room.

Shit. Shit. Shit!

I dart toward the emergency exit, the stairwell twenty feet or so away from me. My loafers pad against the thin, commercial carpet. My heart thrashes in my chest, and I cough again into my hand as my mouth dries, my tongue thick and heavy. I reach the heavy metal door and hit both palms against the panic bar, swinging it open into the concrete wall behind it with a dull thunk.

The lights in the stairwell are still on, and my feet hit the smooth concrete of the first stair a moment later.

Tap, tap, tap sounds as I race down the steps, running for my life.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.