“Palmer,” he growled. “Talk to me.”
I blinked hard, and the tears spilled over, sliding down my cheeks. “I-I ran in to get Phantom. He was—scared and I—”
“Chief?”
An unfamiliar voice cut through my words.
Roman’s head snapped up, his body shifting subtly, positioning himself between me and everything else. A young firefighter stood several yards away.
“Damian.” Roman’s voice transformed into something authoritative and controlled. “We need medics back here.”
Damian’s mouth dropped open in shock. He was in full gear except for his mask, his gaze flicking over Roman’s bare torso as if checking for injuries.
“Now!” Roman barked.
Damian stiffened, nodded once, and sprinted back toward the front of the building. The smoke was beginning to thin under heavy streams of water.
The dizziness surged, stronger this time. The smoke. The heat. My vision began to tunnel at the edges as I struggled to stay in the present.
But it all became too much.
Roman was saying something, but it sounded distant and warped, like he was speaking from underwater.
Before I could fight it, before I could grab onto anything solid, everything went black.
Consciousnessreturnedslowly,withthe low murmur of voices. The scent of smoke and snow and antiseptic invaded my senses. My eyelids were heavy, but I pried them open.
I blinked at the bright lights. My hands ached, but the burn wasn’t as acute as before.
Something tugged at my cardigan. A pair of hands. “Let’s get this sweater off her and make sure she doesn’t have any other injuries.”
It was an unfamiliar voice, but the moment cool air hit my bare shoulders, I jerked away. I locked my arms around my chest so that the fabric covering my scars could not be removed.
“Hey,” a calm, deep voice whispered into my ear. “No one is going to hurt you.”
Roman.It was Roman’s voice coming from behind me.
I looked around, taking in my surroundings. An ambulance. This was an ambulance. My pulse sputtered as my breathing picked up. I was sitting upright on one of the narrow benches lining the inside of the medical vehicle.
Roman’s body was pressed solidly behind me, and I realized I wasn’t actually sitting on the bench. I was sitting on Roman’s lap; one of his arms was wrapped firmly across my stomach, anchoring me to him and keeping the chill from the open back door away. I could feel the steady rise and fall of his chest against my back.
I stared down at his gray sweatpants and bare feet.What was going on?
“I need to check you for more injuries.”
I blinked up at an unfamiliar voice. A paramedic leaned into my line of sight.
He tugged at my open sweater. “Can I take this off?”
I leaned back into Roman, shaking my head. “I’m not injured.”
That wasn’t true. My hands were hurting, but I noticed now that they were wrapped in gauze. Still, I couldn’t let him take off my cardigan, especially in front of Roman. I wasn’t ready for him to see my scars. Maybe I’d never be ready for that.
The paramedic glanced up at Roman, as if asking for help.
“Let him check you out,” Roman said, voice low and full of concern.
“No.” My words were firm. “I’m fine. It’s just my hands.”
