✓ WICKED VOWS| JAKE (Book II )

36-Burn Me To Heal You

Jake's pov

The Royal Ascot had concluded two hours back, and yet here I was, forcefully dragged into a conference with Father and the commander-in-chief. This wasn't supposed to happen; I was supposed to see Mother after stopping briefly at the palace en route home. But the conversation turned bitter as we discussed strategies for our involvement with the combined United European forces after our recent withdrawal. The talks became earnest as he talked about appointing—or firing—senior military leaders, generals, admirals, and even regional commanders. This would also be followed by the rewarding of loyal military leaders with titles, lands, or other kinds of honors and the arbitrement of noble disputes, especially those with military implications.

It was but a moment before the urgent call came through to Frédéric, the chief commander when my instincts already told me that trouble was brewing. The mood in the room changed as he yelled orders to his men over the phone. A chilling sensation crept into my chest—a fear that, like a splinter, had wormed its way deep inside of me, something I so desperately wanted to get rid of.

"Where is the fire at?" my father asked, his voice cutting the silence as Frédéric lowered his phone and stood, his eyes settling on me. It was, however, the look in his eyes that really ratcheted up my sense of dread.

"Your wife's casino is on fire, and she is now heading there with Ethan," he said, and his words were like a confirmation of the growing fear in me. The questions that came to my mind were many: why was Ethan with her, was I to take comfort in that, what was my wife thinking rushing towards danger with her own two feet?

My feet carried me without consciousness, and my blood ran cold. I barely remember mumbling something back at the men at the table before I was out the door, my heart pounding in my chest like a war drum. My car was nearby, and I drove faster than I ever had in my life as the streets whizzed by in a neon-lit, smoggy haze. The Wild Joker. Anna's haven.

A hellscape now.

The thought of Anna running into that inferno, her obstinacy pushing her to save whatever she could, made my hands tighten around the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. I knew her too well. I knew that she would be thinking of her people, about the memories, about that ring.

The closer I got, the thicker the smoke was, but its acrid smell invaded the car even with the windows rolled up. I can see Ethan fighting with Jude verbally outside, holding her back as if she was trying to get inside. "Where is Annastasia?" I growled once I stepped inferno root of them.

"She went inside because she forgot something  and this tepid brother of yours won't let me get inside." She scowled at me.

"The firefighters are already inside, are you fucking stupid." I hear the faint voice of my brother as I step towards the casino, I don't understand why the hell she went in. I glared at the police and firefighters who tried to hold me back from getting inside as I stepped in.

Just pure chaos. Flames licked at the night sky, an absolute monster of flames where once our home held lots of people, running around some to help, some crying, others staring in shock. Firefighters were making as good an attempt to control the blaze as could be expected, but it was plain as day this wasn't some sort of accident.

I shoved and pushed my way through the milling crowd of onlookers, not taking any notice of the yells and confusion around me as my eyes never strayed from the building. I had to find her. The Wild Joker was huge, and the thought of Anna in there, somewhere, lost in smoke and flames, made my stomach clench with a feeling of dread.

I tried to hold my breath from the smoke and stepped towards her office. Anna was there, standing in the ashes, her silhouette barely visible through the thick smoke. Her face was a mask of exhaustion that had drawn me into her before, even when it scared the crap out of me.