With a powerful snarl, I lurched towards him with my huge claws outstretched. He hissed a swear and leapt to the side, just out of my reach, but he didn’t look fearful of me, even now. His eyes were narrowed with hard determination. I realized with a twist of my gut that he wasn’t going to stop until he had killed both of us.
My instincts exploded. My bear was focused on one thing – protecting Liam.
With a huge clawed paw, I swiped at the man’s hand. He jerked it closer to his body just in time to avoid me. Snarling, I pounded towards him. The concrete rumbled beneath my paws. Just as I landed on either side of him, the scarred man threw the lighter.
I whipped towards it. The other man caught it, and was bolting towards Liam.
No!
I kicked off the ground. The man was caught in the crossfire of my claws and I was half-aware of his pained grunt. As if in slow motion, I watched the other man haul Liam into the charred building with one arm. In the other, he held the lighter.
I roared. He didn’t stop.
He dropped my mate. Liam, unconscious, fell to the ground like a ragdoll.
The lighter in his hand flickered to life again. He threw it. The open lighter clattered to the ground and caught fire.
17
Liam
The air smelledacrid and bitter. It was thick and hard to breathe. My eyes watered, and blinking to clear them, I stared at the once pink-orange sky that was now stained black with clouds of smoke.
It felt very hot. I was running, kicking up loose leaf litter on the ground. All around I heard screaming, but it was coming from behind me. My urge was to run in the opposite direction, go back towards the voices, but I couldn’t. My instincts were at war with each other.
The one telling me to escape was winning.
I tripped over a springy tree root, stumbled and righted myself. Low tree branches snapped in my face as I ran, and my lungs screamed for air. No matter what happened I couldn’t stop.
Something exploded in the distance. In my horror, I almost stopped to look, but my legs kept moving on their own. Sweat poured down my face.
The land fell away suddenly and I tumbled down the ravine. Scratches and cuts opened on my skin. At the foot of the ravine, I groaned and scrambled to my feet. Just beyond, the trees cleared and gave way to open land where the fires couldn’t reach. Far in the distance stood the grey-blue silhouette of the city. Something was pulling me there.
My lungs were choked for clean air. I lost my balance and stumbled, cursing. Panic flared inside me. Images of flames licking at my heels flashed behind my eyes and I gasped, pushing myself to run harder. The instinct to run – to save myself – had overwhelmed any other thoughts.
The trees thinned out. Forest undergrowth vanished, leaving weak grass underfoot. I coughed as drifting ash caught in my throat. I heaved, leaning on my knees. I couldn’t stop. I had to keep going.
Something touched my arm. I leapt.
My grandmother was sitting on an old fallen log next to me. In my panic, I hadn’t noticed her.
“Grandmother,” I breathed. “What are you doing here? We have to leave, now, the forest is on fire!”
She stared out at the city skyline with a smile. “I’ll come, dear,” she said. “I’m not in a hurry.”
My brows knitted together. “What? Grandmother – ”
“Listen to me carefully, Liam,” she said. “Can you do that for me?”
I nodded, out of breath. “Yes, of course.”
She reached out and touched my hand. When she began to speak, a cold gust of wind roared by, obscuring her words. Snow and ash drifted through the air. I shook my head.
“I can’t hear you, grandmother.”
Another roar of wind shook the brittle trees. She clasped my hands within hers and spoke again. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
“Seek the golden bear who glows like the sun.”
