Mira's POV
I grabbed Sarah's arm in the darkness.
"What happened?" I whispered. My heart was already racing again, pounding like it might break through my chest.
"The breaker." Sarah's voice was tense. "Someone cut the power."
A crash came from the back of the house. Glass breaking.
"They're inside," Sarah hissed.
She pulled me toward what I thought was the front door. I couldn't see anything. The darkness was so thick it felt like I could touch it.
Another crash. Closer this time.
"Kitchen window," Sarah whispered. "They're coming through the kitchen."
My foot hit something—a table maybe—and I bit my lip to keep from crying out. Pain shot through my already injured knee.
Sarah's hand found mine and squeezed. "Stay quiet. Stay close."
We moved through the darkness like ghosts. I could hear footsteps now. Heavy boots on the kitchen floor. At least two people, maybe more.
"Search every room," a man's voice ordered. "She's here somewhere."
We reached what felt like a hallway. Sarah pulled me left, then right. She knew this house by heart. That was good because I was completely lost.
A flashlight beam cut through the darkness behind us.
"There!" someone shouted.
We ran.
Sarah yanked open a door and shoved me inside. A closet. We squeezed in together, pressed against winter coats that smelled like mothballs.
Footsteps pounded past us. Going the wrong way. They thought we'd gone upstairs.
"We have maybe thirty seconds," Sarah breathed in my ear. "There's a basement door at the end of this hall. We go down. There's a tunnel that leads to the neighbor's yard. You understand?"
I nodded, then realized she couldn't see me. "Yes."
"When I say go, we run. Don't stop. Don't look back. Got it?"
"Got it."
Sarah cracked open the closet door. I heard shouting from upstairs. Something heavy fell and broke.
"Go!"
We burst out of the closet. My knee screamed but I ignored it. We ran down the hallway. My hands hit a wall and I felt along it until I found a doorknob.
The basement door.
I yanked it open. Stairs led down into pure blackness.
"I can't see!" I said.
"Feel the railing. Take it slow."
But there was no time for slow. Footsteps were coming back down the stairs. Someone yelled, "Check the basement!"
We practically fell down the steps. I grabbed the railing and half-ran, half-slid down. At the bottom, Sarah grabbed my hand again.
"This way."
We stumbled through the basement. I hit my shin on something metal and had to bite my tongue to keep quiet. Tears stung my eyes.
Behind us, a flashlight beam bounced down the stairs.
"There's a light switch here somewhere," one of the men said.
"Forget the light. I see them. They're heading for the back wall."
More footsteps on the stairs. They were coming fast.
Sarah pulled me to what felt like a corner. I heard scraping—metal on concrete.
"Help me," she grunted.
I reached out and felt a grate. A tunnel entrance, just like she'd said. We pulled together and it swung open.
"Inside. Now."
I crawled into the tunnel on my hands and knees. The ground was dirt and rocks. Sarah came in behind me and pulled the grate shut.
"Keep crawling," she whispered. "Fast as you can."
The tunnel was narrow and low. My back scraped the ceiling. My knee was on fire. But I crawled as fast as I could, feeling my way through the darkness.
Behind us, I heard the men reach the back wall.
"Where'd they go?"
"There! That grate!"
Metal screeched as they yanked it open.
"They're in the tunnel!"
A flashlight beam lit up the space behind us. I saw Sarah's face for a second, twisted with effort as she crawled.
"Move, Mira! Move!"
I moved. Faster than I thought possible. The tunnel seemed to go on forever. My hands were bleeding from the rocks. My knee was a ball of pure pain.
Finally, I saw dim light ahead. Not much, but enough. Another grate.
I reached it and pushed. It didn't move.
"Push harder!" Sarah was right behind me. Behind her, the flashlight beams were getting closer. I could hear the men grunting as they crawled after us.
I pushed with everything I had. The grate gave a little. Then a little more.
Then it flew open and I tumbled out into grass.
Night air. Cool and sweet. We were outside.
Sarah scrambled out behind me and slammed the grate shut. She grabbed a heavy rock and wedged it against the grate.
"Run!"
We were in someone's backyard. A house loomed dark and silent. No lights on. Nobody home, or everybody sleeping.
We ran across the yard. My knee was going to give out any second. I could feel it.
We reached a fence. Six feet tall. Wooden.
"I can't climb that," I said. "My knee—"
"You have to."
Behind us, the rock scraped against metal. The men were pushing the grate open.
Sarah laced her fingers together. "Step here. I'll boost you."
I put my foot in her hands and she lifted. I grabbed the top of the fence and pulled. My knee screamed. My arms shook. But I got one leg over, then the other.
I dropped down on the other side and fell into a bush. Branches scratched my face.
Sarah came over the fence like a gymnast. She landed, grabbed my arm, and pulled me up.
"Keep moving."
We ran through another yard. Then another. I didn't know where we were. Everything was dark houses and empty streets.
Finally, Sarah stopped behind a parked car. We crouched down, both of us breathing hard.
"Did we lose them?" I gasped.
Sarah peered over the car hood. "I think so. For now."
I leaned against the car tire. My whole body hurt. My knee was swelling up again. I probably just undid weeks of healing.
"What do we do now?" I asked. "We can't go back to your house. We can't go to my house. Victoria knows where I live. She's watching my family."
Sarah pulled out her phone. The screen was cracked but it still worked.
"We need somewhere Victoria won't think to look. Somewhere unexpected." She scrolled through contacts. "I have an idea. But you're really not going to like it."
"Just tell me."
She looked at me. "We go to Damien's house."
"What? No! He—"
"He's the only one Victoria thinks is on her side," Sarah interrupted. "She won't be watching him. We can hide there while we figure out our next move."
"He betrayed me!"
"And you need him anyway. Remember? We need his testimony." Sarah stood up slowly, checking to make sure nobody was coming. "Plus, if Victoria has someone on the inside—someone in figure skating close to you—then Damien might know who it is. He talked to Victoria. He might have seen something. Heard something."
I wanted to argue. I wanted to refuse.
But she was right. I needed Damien, even if I hated admitting it.
"Fine," I said. "But I'm not talking to him unless I have to."
"Deal."
Sarah called a cab. While we waited, hiding behind the car, I checked my phone.
Fifty-three missed calls now. Thirty-one texts. Most from Mom and Dad, freaking out.
But one text was different. From Coach Maria, sent ten minutes ago:
Mira, where are you? Something's happened. The Santos twins were just disqualified from Nationals. Someone sent the Olympic committee proof they cheated. The committee is reopening the partner selections. You and Damien might still have a chance. Call me immediately.
My hands started shaking.
The Santos twins were disqualified? We might still have a chance?
"Sarah," I said. "Look at this."
She read the message. Her face went pale.
"This is wrong," she whispered.
"What do you mean? This is good news!"
"No. It's not." Sarah gripped my arm. "I didn't send that proof to the committee. Did you?"
"No. I've been with you the whole time."
"Then who did?" Sarah's eyes were wide. "And why would they help you? Unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless this is a trap. Unless someone wants you back in skating. Back where Victoria can reach you." Sarah looked at her phone. "Mira, I think we're being played. I think someone's been manipulating this whole situation from the beginning."
"But who? Why?"
The cab pulled up. Sarah opened the door and we got in.
"Damien's address," she told the driver. Then she turned to me. "I don't know who's behind this. But I know one thing. Everything that's happened—Victoria threatening Damien, the Santos twins getting disqualified, someone helping you escape tonight—it's all connected. Someone's pulling the strings. Someone who wants you at the Olympics."
"But the Olympics are supposed to be about the best skaters winning. Why would someone cheat to get me there?"
Sarah was quiet for a long moment.
Then she said something that made my blood freeze:
"What if it's not about getting you TO the Olympics? What if it's about what happens to you DURING the Olympics?"
The cab turned onto Damien's street.
And that's when we saw the fire trucks.
Damien's house was burning.
Flames shot out of the windows. Smoke filled the sky. People stood in their yards, watching. Firefighters aimed hoses at the blaze.
"Stop the car!" I screamed.
The driver slammed on the brakes.
I jumped out and ran toward the house. Sarah ran after me, yelling my name.
A firefighter caught me before I could get too close.
"Let me go!" I fought against him. "My friend's in there! Damien! His name is Damien Rodriguez!"
"Miss, calm down—"
"Is anyone inside? Did everyone get out?"
The firefighter's face was grim. "We're still searching. The fire started fast. Too fast. We think it might have been arson."
Arson. Someone set this fire on purpose.
Victoria.
"Please," I begged. "Please tell me he got out."
The firefighter didn't answer.
And then I saw it.
A stretcher. Paramedics wheeling it away from the house. A body covered with a white sheet.
"No," I whispered. "No, no, no."
Sarah grabbed my shoulders. "Mira—"
"DAMIEN!" I screamed his name so loud my throat hurt.
A woman ran up to me. Damien's mom. Her face was covered in soot and tears.
"Mira?" she sobbed. "Oh, Mira."
She grabbed me and held on tight.
"Where's Damien?" I asked, even though I was terrified of the answer. "Mrs. Rodriguez, where is he?"
She pulled back and looked at me. Tears streamed down her face.
"He's gone," she choked out. "Emma too. They were both upstairs when the fire started. The firefighters couldn't reach them in time. They're both..." She couldn't finish.
The world tilted sideways.
Damien was dead. His little sister was dead.
Victoria had killed them.
I fell to my knees in the grass.
And that's when my phone buzzed one more time.
A message from Victoria's number:
You should have minded your own business, Mira. Now look what you made me do. Stop investigating, or you're next. And so is everyone you love.