6
“No!” Jake reached out, his fingertips brushing hers as Morgan fell, disappearing into the billowing smoke.
A crash from below. A crack of burning timbers.
The floor beneath him crumbled in its turn, and Jake plummeted down after her.
He had learned to fall at an early age and relaxed his body, bending his limbs and tucking chin to chest as he plunged down into the fiery church.
The impact was hard and sharp against his ribs. Jake fell on his side onto an old wooden pew and rolled off into the embers of the burning floor, breath knocked from his lungs. Thick smoke rose up around him. He coughed, desperately trying to draw breath.
Jake couldn’t see Morgan, couldn’t hear anything but the roar of the voracious blaze as it devoured the ancient wooden church. He rolled to one side and g
