“Horrible,” she whispers.
“You saved our lives,” I say gently to avoid dragging her back through it. “What did you need help with? We owe you so much?—”
A now-familiar high-pitched wail cuts me off. We all flinch and grab for our pockets.
My phone is dead, but Kael finds his and squints at the screen. “Emergency Alert. Wildfire Update.” His lips move as he skims, then his smile blooms, sudden and wide. “The Carter Creek Fire is now CONTAINED.”
Relief surges through me so hard my knees go loose. I want to grab his hand again, to shout, to do anything to mark this moment. Instead I stay still, every cell buzzing with unspent joy. “Contained,” I echo.
Kael finishes, paraphrasing the rest. “Residents south of De Sabla can go home. Follow orders, stay safe. We’re… safe?” He looks up at us, his face bright.
Sharon’s shoulders cave in. The spark in her eyes smothers as she reaches for the back of a chair and sits heavily, covering her mouth.
“Oh! Thank God,” she says. “Thank God.”
Kael glances at me, uneasy, and we both hold our celebration in our chests. We haven’t lived through what she has, and whatever that was is keeping her hand pressed to her mouth long after the words are gone.
“Ms. Sharon?” Kael asks softly. “You okay?”
I find a box of tissues, and she takes one with a shaking hand.
“I’m so sorry we put you through this,” I say. “Again.”
“Oh no.” Sharon wipes her nose. “When your friend told us you were left at Philbrook… We couldn’t just leave you.”
Kael rests a hand on her shoulder. “You didn’t have to, but you saved our lives.”
“And then that tree,” I say. “You risked so much coming for us.”
“Let me make some tea.” Sharon pushes herself up too fast, catching the edge of the chair. “Do you like tea?”
“Yes, please,” we answer together, grateful for the excuse she’s given herself.
“Walt was adamant we go for you,” she says, already moving toward the kitchen.
“Is he… okay?” I ask.
A groan comes from the stairs, and Walt clomps up them, shaking his head.
“A little embarrassed,” he says. “But, afraid I’m back to as good as I get.” His eyes are as misty as his wife’s. He looks from her to us. “I owe you an explanation.”
Part of me wants to tell him he doesn’t. The other part needs to know why someone who’s seen so much fire turned back into it for us.
CHAPTER 19
KAEL
Walt still lookslike he just saw a ghost. Sharon keeps talking, setting out mugs and fussing with a kettle, but the way he’s pale and quiet makes my skin itch.
Sharon reminds me of Gram. The morning Mom left, Gram picked me up in her Buick Century like a knight in a dented sedan, snatched the note off the counter before I could read more than my name, and told me I was coming to stay “for a while.”
When Alistair first messaged me online, I did the same thing I’d done with her. I turned him into a story: a wizard with a bottomless well of resources, dropping money into my account and saving me from trading my passion to make rent.
Sharon and Walt aren’t superheroes or wizards. They saved us, but without the smoke and the flaming trees they’re just two exhausted people in a too-new apartment, looking like they need us as much as we need them.
Ash calls Jenny to tell her we’re safe, while I shower off smoke, sweat, and adrenaline. When the water stops, I just stand there, dripping in the guest room tub, while the fire loops behind my eyes, until I’m shivering and have to crank the water back on.
By the time I sit at their dining table, the brief jolt of relief from the alert feels far away.
