Chapter 7
## THE NIGHT THE MANSION BURNED
Jasper ran into the flames.
Garrett shouted after him.
The staircase was burning.
Smoke swallowed the second floor.
“Jonah!”
No answer.
Then Brutus appeared through the smoke.
The mastiff barked and ran toward Harrison's study.
Jasper followed.
Jonah was beneath the desk.
Frozen.
Jasper crawled toward him.
“Look at me.”
Jonah wouldn't move.
The ceiling cracked.
“Jonah!”
Nothing.
Then Jasper remembered what the child had responded to from the beginning.
Not orders.
Trust.
Jasper dropped to his knees.
“I'm scared too.”
Jonah looked at him.
“But I'm not leaving without you.”
The boy reached out.
Jasper grabbed him.
Brutus led them through the hidden passage behind the basement wall.
The mansion collapsed behind them.
Outside, Garrett embraced his son.
Jonah still couldn't speak.
But he wrapped both arms around his father.
Then Jasper noticed someone missing.
Claire.
May you like
She had gone after Malcolm.
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