Four children—that seems like it has to mean something. Callum and I are twins, and I know there are multiples way back in our family line. It’s hard not to see that as some kind of statement, something that must connect to the reality of the situation before us. Does it mean that one of us is responsible for those children? A ridiculous part of me wonders, briefly, if that’s the way her body responded to being with all four of us—four children for four men, like each of us planted a seed in her body that grew into one of the toddlers currently curled up in bed with her upstairs.
“We have to get the fire under control before we do anything else,” Carlisle says, his eyes hardening as he turns his attentiontoward the map once more. And, as though he has summoned it by the sheer power of his mind, two of the lights blink on and an alarm starts its loud buzz through the house. I mutter a curse under my breath and close the distance to the map, narrowing my eyes to figure out where the sensors have caught wind of smoke and fire.
“Anywhere near here?” Joe demands, glancing toward the stairs, like the first thing on his mind is keeping those children safe.
I shake my head sharply. “No, other side of town, near the north edge,” I reply. “We need to get out there. Looks like it’s coming in fast, and the wind’s blowing in that direction so anything is going to carry toward us quicker than normal.”
“Water tanks full?” Joe asks, slipping into business mode. I get the feeling that, despite the chaos of this situation, he’s relieved to have something more concrete to focus on. What’s going on with Angelie isn’t exactly a flaming forest fire, but it might as well be for as much as it’s tearing through my mind right now.
“Not yet,” I reply. “I’ll get them filed up. Callum, come on, let’s get moving…”
My brother follows me out of the house, and as I gulp down a breath of fresh air, I vow that whatever I’ve just left behind, I will deal with it as soon as I get the chance. Whatever’s going on with those children, that family upstairs that might be mine, I will not turn my back on it.
But there is a fire that needs containing first. And right now, as crazy as it might sound, I’m glad for the distraction it offers me.
7
ANGELIE
I lie stillon the bed, the quads curled up around me. They’ve all fallen asleep by now, their little chests rising and falling slowly as they let the day slough off of them. I know I will need to find some more formal sleeping arrangements for them in the near future, if we’re going to be kept away from our home for a while, but this will have to do. As long as they’re safe and comfortable and fed, I’ll take whatever I can get.
Or maybe it’s just easier to believe that than to contend with what might happen if I dare to acknowledge what I’ve just told Joe.
He brought me some food, enough for the children and me, without a word. Then he closed the door behind him after telling me in a low voice that they would check in on me later. I don’t know where that leaves me—if he’s going to tell all of them what I said, or if I should just stay locked up in here and hoped that it somehow stayed a secret.
I’ve been turning it over and over in my head, the choice I made to come clean to him. Should I have hidden it for a while longer? Maybe. But would good would it have done? They would havefound out eventually, and when that happened, it would have been all the harder for me having tried to keep it under wraps. No, easier to lay it all on the line now, even if the roiling feeling in my belly begs to differ.
All at once, a sound cuts through the quiet. It sounds like an alarm, and I spring to my feet without thinking. Chrissie lifts her head, and I smooth her hair to try and keep her from panicking.
“You’re alright, sweetheart,” I tell her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Will you keep an eye on your brothers and sister for me? Let me see what’s going on down there…”
She looks up at me with that serious expression that toddlers get sometimes when they’re being asked to do something they treat with the utmost importance, and she nods. “Yes, Mommy.”
“Good girl,” I tell her, forcing a smile onto my face, though it feels more like I’m just turning up the corners of my lips rather than expressing any kind of happiness. “I’ll be back to check on you in a minute, okay?”
I hurry down the stairs, the alarm still filling the house, until it suddenly clicks off. When I reach what must be the ops room, I find Joe and Carlisle standing in front of the large map, consulting papers that are spread out on the table, a few lights lit up in places they weren’t when I looked in that direction before.
“What’s going on?” I demand, drawing their attention. They both turn to me in the same moment, and I feel a little rush of dizziness as their eyes lock onto mine, the memory of what it felt like to be the focus of their shared attention suddenly rushing through my head.
“The sensors picked up on another fire moving in toward the town,” Joe replies, gesturing to the map.
My heart drops in my chest. Even if they’ve managed to get my place out of the worst of it, that doesn’t mean that the rest of the town will be left unscathed. I know so many people here, so many families who have made this place their home, and the thought of any single one of them landing in the firing line is enough to make my stomach clench with fear.
“Where?” I ask, moving over to the map to join them. I can’t make much of the lights or where they’ve picked up the fire, but as Carlisle taps his finger against the familiar town layout, my stomach sinks.
“Here.”
“That’s….that’s where my parents’ house is.”
“Didn’t they get evacuated along with your sister?”
“Yeah, and I told you, good luck getting them to leave their place without a fight,” I reply. “My mom, she’s lived there her whole life. If she thinks they might lose it, she would do everything she could to get up there and try to save some of the family heirlooms?—”
“They were taken to a motel out of town,” Joe replies. “Carlisle—can you contact them, see if her parents are there?”
“We don’t have time for?—”
“If they’re not there, then I’m coming with you,” I reply, lifting my chin defiantly. “I know this town better than any of you do, at least these days. I want to make sure they’re safe.”
