Chapter One
Savannah
The snow comes down in thick, slow flakes—heavy enough to blur the mountains, soft enough to muffle my footsteps as I cross the firehouse lot. Devil’s Peak never changes. White drifts piling against the red engine bay doors, pine trees lining the back fence, the same familiar whiff of smoke clinging to the cold air. The same knot twisting inside my stomach like a warning.
I stall in the doorway, brushing snow off my jacket before stepping inside.
Warmth hits my cheeks immediately—heat from the industrial ventilation, the hum of engines cooling, and the murmur of early-shift chatter from firefighters who look like they’ve been up too long.
I inhale, slow and deliberate.
You’re fine. You’re back. That’s it.
But something in me rattles anyway. Something bone-deep. I shove it down.
The firehouse captain—Saxon Cole—waves me over. “Paramedic Brooks?”
My throat tightens at the sound of my own name. “Yes, sir.”
“You’re with us now. Paperwork got delayed because of the weather, but consider this your reassignment briefing. Glad you made it up the mountain in one piece.”
“Thank you.” I manage a smile, small and polite, the kind that keeps people from asking questions.
He gestures toward the long line of firefighters gathering in the central bay. “Roll call’s starting. You can step in with the med techs.”
I nod and step forward—then freeze.
Because someone says my name.
Not loudly.
Not even intentionally.
But the echo of it ricochets across the concrete floor like a spark.
“Savannah?” a voice murmurs, stunned, low, masculine.
My heart slams hard against my ribcage.
I know that voice.
Iknowit.
Too well. Too intimately. Too painfully.
My head turns on instinct—slow, like my body is afraid of what it’ll find if I move too fast.
And there he is.
Axel Ramirez.
Broader now. Taller somehow. Shoulders thick as steel beams beneath his navy station 19 shirt. Dark hair longer than I remember, curling slightly at the ends like he’s been running his hands through it all morning. A thick beard draws my eyes in. His radio is clipped to his chest like it belongs there.
He looks nothing like the boy I left behind.
Except his eyes.
Those are exactly the same.
