Then I scrambled forward on my knees toward the mahogany desk.

Ethan was curled tightly underneath it.

His knees were pulled up to his chest.

His face was smudged with black soot, and his eyes were wide with terror.

“Elena,” he whispered, coughing into his small sleeve.

“I’m here, Ethan,” I said.

I pulled him into my arms.

His small body was shaking violently.

“They left us,” he said, his voice trembling.

“I saw Vivian through the glass.”

“She looked right at me, and then she ran.”

My chest tightened with a cold, hard anger.

Vivian had always looked down on me, but to leave a child to die was monstrous.

They had all fled to save their own skin.

“We don’t need them,” I said, rubbing his back to soothe him.

“We are going to get out of here.”

Behind us, the telephone on the floor continued to vibrate.

The screen lit up the underside of the desk with a pale, ghostly light.

The video call was still active.

I looked back through the shifting smoke.

On the screen, a dark silhouette was visible.