Tanner went for the same.

Ian pounded on the window.

Shoulder's b.u.mped as he reached the gun first.

Dammit, no!

Not ammunition.

Flares.

A Joker-like grin took hold of his face as he raised the barrel.

She grappled for the weapon as the sight in her peripheral vision took hold. Her gas oven stood wide open, the k.n.o.bs all spun to high but unlit.

He's going to create fire.

Tanner pointed straight to it.

Oh. My. G.o.d. He's going to kill me again.

a a a The explosion shook the earth, shattered gla.s.s and threw Ian from the back deck to a bush behind the house. His body crumpled along the ground, twenty feet from where he'd stood, while flames consumed the kitchen and leeched their way outside, up and over the roof of Taylor's house.

"No!"

A rocket of wood tore off from the house and landed on the ground next to Ian. He scrambled upright, his heart pumping, chest heaving. Heat from the house made him blink and back up a few steps.

"No, you son of a b.i.t.c.h! This can't be happening!"

Ian pushed off from his side spot, racing around to the front.

Smoke billowed from every crevice.

Flames raced from every opening.

Fire engulfed the porch, halting Ian's approach.

"Taylor!" he screamed.

33.

Taylor held her hands wide as flames took hold of every combustible surface in her kitchen. Her island had become a smoldering mound. Beyond that, only a river of red swirled. Within her own circle, air kept the flames at bay.

Tanner pushed to his knees, coughing and sputtering as black smoke and heat whirled outside of Taylor's barrier.

She pushed her circle farther, encompa.s.sing Tanner and preventing the flames from reaching him.

His gaze locked on hers, a madness consuming his features.

At his jolt forward, she backed up.

The air retreated with her, but creaks from the roof reminded her of Joyce's home. Flames grabbed hold of the interior walls. A step into what once had been her living room showed it fully engulfed.

Not an inch of her s.p.a.ce existed.

Tears p.r.i.c.ked her eyes.

Tanner'd been the literal death of her multiple times, and he would still win unless she kept the air going.

If windows existed, she couldn't see them.

If a door opened, she wouldn't have known.

Staring into Tanner's eyes, she knew the only way to stop him would be to kill him. Yet, she couldn't push him into the flames without breaking her own personal ethos.

Tanner jumped for her, his hands outstretched, a clear intention to grab her neck.

Taylor let one arm fall and pushed him to the ground. Flames grabbed her hair and Ian's shirt, following the air as if seeking fuel and food to grow. She screamed and pushed her arm out again.

The flames upon her died.

Tanner leapt for her again, and she repeated her actions, kicking him forward but bringing fire upon her other side.

Another cry out accompanied the lift of her arm. The crash of roofing and interior support beams came from behind them. The roar of the fire filled her ears as her house began its inward fall.

In front of her, he stood. She stepped backward. He did the same.

She knew he planned for her to die.

She intended to live.

"We need to go, Tanner." Taylor yelled it while stepping back.

A crack above had them both ducking. If the roof fell, she knew she wouldn't be able to save either of them.

"Now."

Fire touched Tanner's feet. He held his spot as if tempting her to let it burn him.

She trod backward. "Please, Tanner. This isn't the way. We can be together-"

He crossed his arms. "Only in the next life."

"Please, Tanner. Please!" Beams fell to the ground in the hallway. Another minute and they'd take them both. I'm so sorry, Ian. I'm just so sorry.

No more than five feet separated Taylor from Tanner. Her inner conscience refused to let her budge, as if she'd have to die for him rather than save herself and risk his life.

She closed her eyes.

The snap from above came before she could even move. A beam crashed as Taylor ducked, her hands still outspread.

Tanner's scream barely reached her through the roaring of the fire. She jumped backward, her circle staying with her as more of the roof caved.

Go!

Her body failed to respond to her mind's command.

Go, Taylor. Go! Ian needs you.

Jolted from her stupor, Taylor spun, barreling forward in the hope of an escape. Like when under water, she barely registered which way faced up or out. She kept her hands splayed before her, calling to the little bit of still-surrounding air, and jumped.

a a a Taylor's screams broke as she fell to the gra.s.s on the front lawn. She refused to look back, expecting to see a fireball in human form racing after her. Instead, two fire trucks raced into her driveway. They stopped at the edge of the lawn, crews jumping out as the wheels finished rolling.

Ian! Taylor wanted to call out, but rawness took hold of her throat as exhaustion plagued her body. She'd never used so much power of the wind for her own benefit. Never. Not even when Tanner had tested her.

Taylor stared through dry eyes as the fire raged. She pushed up from the ground as water sprayed into the air and something grabbed hold of her arm. She pulled, tried to roll, but it held tight.

"Taylor!"

She gasped and struggled to get away, unable to see, think or hear anything beyond what her memories filled her with and of seeing Tanner swallowed by flames.

He'd known all along. He'd only had to wait for her to fall in love. For her to give herself to John. To Ian.

John hadn't killed her. He'd loved her.

"Taylor, it's Ian." His voice registered somewhere in the deep recesses of her mind.

I should have listened to you, Ian. Trusted your gut.

He'd died. John. Ian. Over and over because there were three.

Three.

"Taylor, baby. Come on."

The entire story weighed on Taylor's shoulders like the destruction of Joyce's house.

She could have saved them all.

She should have.

Her head wobbled against a soft surface. Hands grasped her arms, and with a touch to her lips, she blinked her eyes open.

Ian.

Ian.

Ian.

She burst into a fit of tears. He pulled her into his lap as she let every bit of emotion through. Hiccups of sound continued until she no longer listened to herself.

Ian rubbed up and down her back, holding her tight and leaving her to the expulsion of her sorrows-to a lifetime, or three, of death at the hands of a man who claimed to love her.

"Tanner ... bones ... Ian." She gasped for air between each word.

Water sprayed overtop, hitting her house from above like a beautiful rain shower and sending a stream of crystal through the inky sky. The roof had collapsed. Windows no longer existed. If there had ever been a front door, no one would have known. The orangey-red glow grew and abated.

Had it been only weeks before that her life had been normal, routine and unenc.u.mbered?

Ian lifted her from the ground. She snuggled into his shoulder, bracing herself against another onslaught of waterworks and the smell of flesh burning in the biggest bonfire she'd ever seen.

"You're okay," Ian said. "We're both okay." Her body jostled as he walked.

"This way!" An unrecognizable voice snuck its way in. "Let's get some oxygen here!"

More b.u.mping. More movement. She stayed in Ian's arms as they reached an ambulance, and a mask fit over her nose and mouth while a heavy blanket lay across her body.

"Were you in that fire, ma'am?" The EMT snapped on blue gloves as he grabbed stuff from behind him. "And you, sir?" His hand reached out toward Ian. "You've got a nice b.u.mp there."

Taylor tilted up, catching sight of the knot and trickle of blood from Ian's temple. She reached, but he pulled her in tighter.

"Wasn't ... inside." Relaxed back in Ian's arms, she stared out at her home, her eyes attempting closure with each pa.s.sing second.

A police officer approached the back of the ambulance. "Ma'am."

"Can this wait?" Ian asked.

"No, sorry. We just need to know ... was there anyone else in the house?" The slight hesitation suggested he already knew the answer.

Ian's hold tightened.

"A ... friend. T-Andy ... George. He ..." Fresh tears sprung to her eyes. "... kill himself. I tried ..." She sucked in air. "... stop him." Even the small lie tore at her soul.

The police officer took off, flagging down a fireman. They surrounded the house, but their heads hung low. Taylor understood. No way would Tanner have survived.

His shot into the oven had exploded the fumes. The flames would have stolen her oxygen-her air. As realization dawned, she closed her eyes. He'd have won again if she hadn't tried to save Tanner. The game would have ended as well but never restarted.

For the first time in four lives, she'd won.

a a a Ian kept his arm around Taylor as the EMTs released her to his care. He'd declined any support, explaining that he'd fallen when the house exploded, but had asked that Taylor's neck be bandaged where a small scratch had bled. Fire crews continued to work the flames, with peaks of red reaching into the sky and retreating several times, while the group stood and watched.