"Uncle Cris—" He dissolved into a coughing fit, small body wracking with spasms.
I scooped him up, tucking him against my chest, feeling his heart hammering against mine like a trapped bird. My tailcurled instinctively around his small body. "I've got you, cub. Hold on."
I turned back toward the stairs, but the flames had spread with terrifying speed. The stairwell was an inferno now, fire roaring up from below like a dragon's throat. The chemical stench hit me then—sharp, acrid, wrong. Not just wood smoke, but the acidic tang of shuttle fuel. Someone had used an accelerant.
Someone had done this on purpose.
Rage flooded through me, hot and vicious, a red tide that threatened to drown rational thought, but I shoved it down. Later. Right now, I needed to get Teddy out.
I spun and ran for the back of the house, to Ruby's bedroom. Even through the thick smoke, I caught her scent—vanilla and something spicy and sweet, something that called to every instinct I possessed. The flames hadn't reached this room yet, but they would soon. The heat was intense, the smoke so thick I could barely see.
I made it to her window and shoved it open with my shoulder. Cool night air rushed in like salvation, and I gulped it down, turning Teddy's face toward the fresh air.
Below, I could hear Ruby screaming.
"TEDDY! PLEASE! MY BABY!"
"Ruby!" I shouted, voice hoarse from smoke. "I've got him!"
Her scream changed pitch—hope mixed with terror, relief tangled with disbelief.
There was a large oak tree about ten feet from the window, branches thick and sturdy. It was a jump, but our only chance. The floor beneath us groaned ominously, and somewhere below, something collapsed with a thunderous crash that shook the entire structure.
I glanced down at Teddy. His little face was pale beneath the soot, eyes huge. "Listen to me, cub. I need you to hold on to me as tightly as you can. Use your claws."
His bottom lip trembled, and fresh tears spilled down his cheeks. "Mama says... Mama says I gotta keep my claws in. They might hurt people."
My chest tightened. Even now, even terrified and surrounded by flames, he was trying to be good.
"They won't hurt me," I told him, voice firm and steady despite the chaos. "I promise. I need you to dig in and hold tight. Can you do that for me?"
He nodded, small jaw setting with determination that was pure Ruby.
"Good boy. Now hold on."
His little claws extended—still kitten-small, barely sharp—and he dug them into my shoulders, wrapping his arms and legs around me. I felt the pricks, but they were nothing.
I climbed onto the windowsill, gauged the distance, and jumped.
For one heart-stopping moment, we were airborne, suspended between fire and safety. Then my claws found purchase in the bark, and I caught the trunk, muscles screaming as I absorbed the impact. Teddy yelped but held on, small body pressed tight against mine. I descended quickly, using my claws to control our slide downward.
The moment my feet hit the ground, Ruby was there.
She slammed into me with enough force to nearly knock me over, arms wrapping around both of us, her whole body shaking with sobs. She wore pajama pants covered in pink hearts and a pink shirt, hair a wild tangle around her face, skin streaked with soot and tears.
"Teddy, oh God, Teddy!" She kissed his face, his hair, his hands, checking him over with trembling fingers.
"Mama." Teddy's voice was small and scared, reaching for her with both hands.
She pulled him from my arms and crushed him against her chest. The sound she made—relief and anguish and love all tangled together—nearly brought me to my knees. My tail wrapped around them both without conscious thought.
But we were still too close. The heat was intense, and the fire was spreading fast. I could hear the structure groaning, ready to collapse.
I scooped them both up in my arms. Ruby let out a startled sound but didn't protest as I carried them away from the burning building, away from the heat and smoke and danger. I didn't stop until we were at a safe distance, setting them down on cool grass across the street.
Ruby immediately curled around Teddy, rocking him, murmuring in a voice thick with tears, hands running over him again and again as if to convince herself he was real and whole and safe.
And I stood there, lungs burning, skin singed, watching them—my mate and my cub, the two most precious things in this or any universe.
