Chapter 73. The War Begins

Louis’s POV

The Summer Place erupts in fire.

One heartbeat, we’re standing in the Summit Hall, the next it’s nothing but flame, smoke, and the sound of stone screaming as it cracks apart. The blast hits like a tidal wave, hurling me backward into a wall. My ears ring, the air ripped clean from my lungs.

For a moment, there’s nothing but white noise. The roar of the explosion is still echoing inside my skull.

Then there is nothing but silence and pain.

I push myself upright, coughing through the smoke. The air burns with dust and the scent of blood. Light filters in through a jagged hole in the ceiling, cutting through the haze. Bodies lie everywhere. Some are still moving; most are not.

“Lotus?” I choke out, but my voice sounds far away, swallowed by the ringing in my ears.

I stagger to my feet, every muscle screaming, and scan the room. There is no sign of her. No sign of my brothers either. Just rubble, blood, and the crackle of fir