“No,” I said.The terror in my voice surprised even me.
Noose called from the porch.“Only one road out other than the way we came in.And she didn’t leave that way.”
Pain nodded, giving me a determined look.“Let’s go get your girl.”
Pain’s phone buzzed.He checked the screen.“Knight says the main road is blocked by downed trees and fire.If that’s where she is, she’ll have to turn back.”
I looked upward where the flames were clearly visible near the lake.“Given how close the flames are, I’m sure that’s why she fled.”
I climbed on my bike, starting and gunning the engine.I wove through the debris in the road, some of it burning where a few treetops had started to catch fire and fall.My helmet’s faceplate provided some protection from the smoke and heat, but not a lot.At least, it helped keep my eyes from stinging too badly.
The first mile was manageable.The second, less so.Fire crowned in the treetops, burning embers bouncing off my helmet.I saw the glow of taillights through the haze and pushed the engine until it screamed.
The outline of her car appeared ahead.She opened her door at our approach and moved frantically to the middle of the road, waving her hands to flag us down.
I skidded to a stop, jerking off my helmet.“Mia!”I shouted, voice breaking.
She froze, hands covering her mouth.I hurried in her direction as the wind shifted, sending a curtain of flame over the road ten feet behind her, directly across her car.
I think I yelled, but I’m not really sure.I dropped the bike, running as hard as I could to get to her.I picked her up bodily and carried her back to the Bronco, which had caught up behind me.
She was shaking, mouth open but voiceless.Noose had left the Bronco at some point after I’d run to Mia and he had the tailgate open for us.I pushed Mia into the back and climbed in after her.Noose shoved the tailgate closed, then ran around to climb in the back passenger’s seat, letting Inferno take the wheel.With firefighting experience, Inferno was the better choice to drive and Noose knew it.The back seat was still folded down so Pain had room to work.The second Noose’s weight settled in the seat, Inferno stomped the gas before Noose had the door shut.Mia landed hard against me as the truck jerked into motion.
I looked out the back window.Another tree collapsed onto the road close to where the first tree had fallen onto Mia’s car.The heat building outside grew intense.I pulled Mia to my chest and wrapped my arms around her, holding her together with everything I had.
The Bronco’s suspension screamed as we hit the ruts and dodged the branches too far out into the path we followed back.As rough as it had been on the way up, I really thought Inferno left the drive train a mile or so back.
We shot out of the fire zone just as the world behind us went black and orange and impossible.Inferno kept driving until the smoke thinned, until the air cleared and I could finally hear Mia’s little whimpers in my arms.
We sat in the Bronco, all five of us, hands shaking, silent.I turned her face to mine, and she stared at me with eyes as wild and blue as the lakes back home.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“You’re safe,” I said.I felt the shaking go out of me then, replaced with something raw and bright and alive.
I looked at the others.My brothers.The men who had followed me through fire and ash for a woman I hadn’t claimed yet simply because I asked them to.We were all here.Alive.And so was Mia.
Chapter Ten
Mia
I’d never been so terrified in my life.In retrospect, maybe I should have waited given the fire was still well beyond the lake and I had no clue what I’d be driving into, but I’d been calling myself all kinds of a fool for staying as long as I had.I should have left the second the first ashes fell.Sooner.I’d only stayed because I’d thought I needed time to get my head on straight about Oktober so I didn’t do us both a disservice by jumping into a relationship on the rebound.
And the fucking man had come for me.He’d come.For me.
Though Noose had slowed the Bronco considerably, the going was still rough.Outside, the world had tried to revert to normal, but the smoke still created a heavy haze.I buried my face against Oktober’s chest, his scent somehow comforting despite the heavy taint of smoke.
“Slow down,” Pain called from where he crouched beside us, one hand braced against the Bronco’s interior.“Can’t see shit through this smoke.We’re out of immediate danger.”
Noose eased farther off the gas.The change in speed made my stomach settle slightly, though my heart continued its maddening rhythm against my ribs.
“Knight, you still there?”Pain’s voice cut through the rumble of the engine as he pressed his phone to his ear.“Yeah.We got her.Heading down now.”He listened, his expression darkening with each passing second.“Fuck.Are you sure?That was the way out.”Another pause.“Copy that.We’ll find another way.”
Oktober shifted beneath me, his body tense as a drawn bow.“Was?”
“Fire jumped the creek,” Pain scrubbed a hand over his face several times in agitation.“Knight says it’s moving west now.Directly toward the road we came in on.”
I felt Oktober’s curse vibrate through his chest before I heard it.“How much time do we have before the fire overtakes the road?”
