by Anya Nowlan
“You’re right. I do.”
Rhodes climbed into Ragnar’s truck, adamant about not looking up at Kali’s window. She was twisting him up like a pretzel and it was driving him out of his mind. Maybe a manhunt was exactly what he needed.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Rhodes
“Not bad,” Rhodes admitted thoughtfully, studying the gear laid out before him.
“Yeah, we have good sponsors,” Redmond chuckled, one hand on the last row of seats as the airplane dipped lower, almost causing him to lose his footing.
Rhodes flipped through the mostly unopened packages, mentally going through the equipment list he usually used during missions. None of his brothers were smokejumpers, but they sure knew how to gear up for it. All the equipment was top of the line, in triple sets and Rhodes got the feeling that there was more stashed away.
Scowling, he looked at Redmond. “Who’s this for? You gone through training without letting me know? Because I know Ragnar isn’t about to jump out of any airplanes anytime soon.”
“Well, I thought maybe you would be the sacrificial bear,” Redmond said with an easy grin, leaning on the back of the chair now.
Looking at Redmond was like looking at a slightly older, less-damaged version of himself. Hell, could he ever get that kind of a grin on his lips, like he was convinced that everything would work itself out eventually? Rhodes doubted it.
“Right. Because when you look at me, you think—model citizen, pillar of small town Idaho. I don’t think so, bro.”
“Worth a try,” Redmond said, though the way he said it made Rhodes think that this conversation wasn’t quite over yet.
Redmond peeled himself off the seat, carefully walking toward the cockpit and Rhodes followed his lead.
They’d been up in the air for about ten minutes now, crossing over Shifter Grove and flying high above the northern forests. One of the bigger fires had happened there and out of the window, Rhodes could see the damage it had done. It would be a while before the woods bounced back. It always made him sick to his stomach to see stuff like that.
Probably why I became a smokejumper, he thought wryly.
They were the guys who got sent into the most dangerous wildfires, parachuting in instead of working their way through the woods. The job needed fit, capable individuals who could rely on their own strengths and think clearly under stress. As messed up as Rhodes had always been, he was one of the best in the business when it came to his work.
But there was always that slightly masochistic side to him that loved jumping into shit like that, thinking that he might not come out of it. Like watching the tall, proud trees burn exactly the same way they had that night when he pushed Jonathan into the forest. The bastard had tried to get away in wolf form, but he’d caught him. And then he’d hit him and shook him between his jaws until there was nothing but a lifeless carcass between his teeth.
So he’d done what he knew he shouldn’t, but he was also sure that it would hide all the evidence. The underbrush had taken the flame like it was primed for it, burning with a high, open flame. An acre of land went up in smoke so fast that Rhodes had trouble getting back to the house and scooping up Kali before the flames reached the building.
It had worked perfectly. No witnesses. A freak fire, maybe someone being careless with a cigarette butt… someone like Rhodes. He hadn’t smoked since that night. That was until he’d seen Kali again. Now he couldn’t stop. His hands itched for the pack in his back pocket.
“So, what have we got here?” Redmond asked as he and Rhodes leaned on the entrance to the cockpit.
“Nothing so far,” Slate said, crowded by Royce and Ragnar as their eyes scanned the wealth of greenery below, tinted slightly brown and yellow by the drought.
“Someone tell me why we’re really up here to begin with?” Rhodes asked, not really minding and if anything, being thankful for the distraction.
But being away from Kali was like a kick to the sternum when he knew exactly how close she was and exactly how her skin tasted under his tongue. Focusing on anything but her was a real task. The struggle was real.
“I think Slade’s somewhere in these forests. One of the locals noted that they’d seen his truck heading into the clearing roads that could only take him out here. We found the truck, but there’s too much ground to cover on foot.”
“We’d never spot him from an airplane,” Rhodes commented.
“Ah, a non-believer!” Slate called with a chuckle, diving the airplane down so low it was almost grazing the tops of the trees.
The fearless weretiger pilot wore a grin on his face that would have made any rational man step away and put some distance between them, but Rhodes knew it far too well. Another adrenaline junkie. Good to know he wasn’t alone in this.
“Still. He’s one bear and it’s a big forest.”
“Keep your eyes peeled then, Ragnar grumbled, drawing a shrug from Rhodes in response.
He went and sat down at one of the window seats, keeping his eyes peeled for any movement on the ground as it whizzed by. They were coming up on a tall mountain and with seasoned ease, Slate maneuvered past it.
“Shit!”
“What the hell?” Rhodes called as the airplane changed course sharply, climbing up fast and making Rhodes clutch the arm rests of his seat.
It was lucky that everyone had been mostly seated, otherwise there would have been a pile of werebear arms and legs thrown around in the back of the plane and lots of cursing. Rhodes peeled his body off the seat and slid into the next one where he could peek into the cockpit. All he could see was a pillar of black smoke rising straight up before them.
“What’s going on?” Redmond asked.
“Fire. It’s not huge yet, but it’s going to be,” Royce called back.
“And we almost flew straight into the fucker,” Slate said, the tension evident in his voice.
They’d been so low that the flames had licked around the body of the aircraft for a second before Slate could get them out of there.
“Shit, we’ll never be able to get to this with Old Bell,” Redmond said as they circled the blaze, which was gaining ground quickly.
An idea materialized in Rhodes’s head and before anyone could say anything about it, he was up and grinning like a maniac, tearing through the packages of gear.
“What the hell are you doing?” Royce asked, before the common realization dawned on all of the firebears.
“You’re not thinking about going in?” Ragnar asked, dubious. “It’s too big already. You’ll never put it out on your own.”
“But I can slow it down until you guys get here. Call in the locals, whoever can come. I’ll try to establish a perimeter and see if I can contain it a bit,” Rhodes shot back, already sliding into the jump jacket and pants and checking the buckles on the parachute.
He slung a back-pump on his back and secured his hand tools, like a shovel and a Pulaski—a single-bladed axe with a grub-hoe at the end. The fire looked like a gobbler, the kind that goes fast and hard and destroys everything in its path, and Rhodes knew well that he wasn’t going to be enough to stop it. But adrenaline was pumping in his blood and his ears were ringing with expectation. Maybe this was exactly what he needed to clear his head.
“He’s right,” Redmond said thoughtfully and Rhodes ignored the worried glances between his firebear brothers.
“Of course I’m fucking right. I do this for a living. Drop me, go back, Slate gets the helicopter, fills the bucket, and comes back while you guys take the trucks and get as close as possible. Or some of you can rappel in with Slate while the others lead the locals in. We need to move fast unless you want to lose this whole mountainside. And if it goes through here, the only other place it has to descend on is Shifter Grove,” he shot back, saying all the things he knew his brothers already knew.
He double-checked his buckles and safeties and Redmond was doing another check for him in silence, going through the motions.
“You�
�re good to go,” Redmond said, patting him on the shoulder.
“No fucking heroics. Kali would kill me if I let you die out there,” Ragnar growled, turning around in the co-pilot’s seat and giving Rhodes the evil eye.
“Yeah, yeah. Just roll around the pillar and let me out upwind, Slate!” Rhodes called, undoing the latches on the back door.
It wasn’t the kind of airplane meant for smokejumping, but he didn’t care. Air whipped in his face as the other four Hamiltons stood back, and he could vaguely hear Slate radioing back to Shifter Grove, letting the local boys know it was time to suit up and move out.
“Good to go!” Royce called at one point and Redmond clapped him on the back.
Grinning like a fool, Rhodes tossed himself out of the back of the airplane, whooping as he tumbled through the air. That was what living was about! The smell of burning bark and pine scraped his nose even upwind of the fire, and the giant pillar of black that the mountain had hidden from them before was growing and growing right before his very eyes. He could hear the airplane whipping around, speeding back toward Shifter Grove as he clung to his harness, studying the ground for a safe landing spot.
Odds were he was going to end up in a tree and would have to make his way down with over a hundred pounds of gear stuck to him. It was a lot to carry, especially when every minute was important to cull the progress of the fire, so he maneuvered himself to get as close to the edge of it as he could.
At the very last moment, he pulled the cord and the parachute opened in a plume above him, tearing him back into the sky before allowing a safe descent.
As Rhodes watched the scorched earth coming closer and closer, he was surprised to find that the usual relief and excitement he felt weren’t nearly as strong as he would have liked. Any other time, his heart would be beating out of his chest with expectation, knowing that he was going to get to fight one of nature’s greatest beasts tooth and nail, especially now that he was alone. But all he could think about was going home safe to Kali.
Gritting his teeth, Rhodes touched down, luckily avoiding any trees in his path. Muscle memory took over, his hands grabbing up the fabric of the parachute before his legs were even securely under him. Speed, Range, Payload, danced in his head, the smokejumper mantra.
But even as he ran toward the fire, the heat already sweltering, Kali’s face was the main thing on his mind.
CHAPTER NINE
Kali
Kali was out of the house before the phone call was really over. It only took one mention of the words “danger,” “Rhodes,” and “out of his mind” before Kali knew that things were bad and Rhodes was on one of his streaks of masochistic self-destruction again.
She’d grabbed the keys after learning from Abigail where the fire was supposed to be and ran for the first truck she could find, praying that there was a map in the glove compartment. Thank her lucky stars, these Idaho firebears had already learned not to trust Google Maps in an area with no cell reception and little to no roads, so she was driving down some bumpy outback stretch before anyone had blinked an eye.
You’re not doing this to me, Kali thought, her jaw set hard.
Her plan was very loosely constructed. She was no firefighter, obviously, and she had no intention of putting herself in real danger. But she knew that Rhodes was definitely flying in head first, not caring about the consequences, and letting his darkness eat him from the inside out. And the only one who could stop it was her.
How the hell did I get myself into this, she thought with equal parts annoyance and worry as she spotted the soft tendrils of smoke deep in the forest.
It seemed like nothing from where she was, but the tone of Ragnar’s voice as he spoke to Abigail on the phone, telling her to get Old Bell ready for a major fire, had told Kali enough about the severity of the situation. And Rhodes was in there alone, trying to work out his anger. She’d seen the way he was when he stormed out of the house. He was a liability to himself.
I can’t lose him again.
The thought materialized sharply as she reached as far to the end of the road that she could drive to. It kicked the wind out of her for a second. When she’d come to Idaho, she’d assured herself that it was only because she owed Ragnar for covering her ass, as well as Rhodes’s. That it had nothing to do with how desperately she missed Rhodes and how every day without him had been shittier than the worst one with him.
But now, knowing that he was putting himself in danger without thinking clearly, she knew she’d been lying to herself all along. She needed him. And she needed Rhodes to understand that needing her was fine, too. They’d get through everything and anything as long as they stuck together.
Kali was mildly surprised to find another truck parked there already, but she didn’t recognize it. Shrugging, she left Ragnar’s truck next to it and clambered out, grabbing her phone and the map on the way. She wasn’t exactly dressed to barge into a wilderness fire—just jeans, a top, and some sneakers—but it would have to do. With the map held firmly in her hands, she rushed into the forest, trying to keep her directions straight as she moved toward the smoke and the slowly growing crackling of flame.
The fire was bent around a river looping through the foothills of a high mountain. She was on the other side of that river in relative safety, following it upstream toward higher ground. Running, she kept stumbling over roots and mounds of fresh earth, all crinkling under her steps because of the dryness. Even she could see that if this fire wasn’t stopped quickly, it could burn right through everything in Shifter Grove.
She was exhausted by the time the air became musty with smoke, gathering in her lungs with each breath. The wind blew some of it her way, making it harder to see, but the sun was already getting blacked out by the smoke and the blaze itself. She blinked away tears as she kept going, her eyes peeled for any movement in the forest across the river now.
The farther she went, the dumber she felt for coming here. What if she put herself in danger now and that ended up costing Rhodes valuable time and resources? What if she was freaking out over nothing? But she’d come so far, she couldn’t turn back now. Ripping a piece of her shirt off, she wetted it in the river and covered her mouth with it, breathing through it. She wiped soot out of her eyes and trudged onward, up to her knees in the water because the heat was becoming unbearable otherwise.
Finally, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. It was just a flash in the middle of the brown trunks of trees, but before she could focus on it, it was gone again. Frowning, she continued on, sometimes thinking she could see something but not being entirely sure. Suddenly, she could see Rhodes’s bright yellow jump suit in the distance, pumping water on a clearance line a couple of dozen feet ahead of the main fire.
Her heart jumped with joy, finding him okay. She tried to call for him but her voice didn’t carry over the fire from that distance, so picking up speed, she ran forward, slogging through the water. Again that brown flash caught her eye, but now she knew it wasn’t Rhodes. Instead, she saw the body of a huge, hulking grizzly bear, and her eyes went wide with surprise and fear.
It wasn’t a Hamilton bear. They all had a white patch on their chest, one that looked like the beginnings of a flame crawling up their neck. This one had none of that. His coat was darker, almost black, and his chest bore no mark. He was slightly behind her on the other bank, and now Kali really ran, screaming her heart out.
“Rhodes! Behind you!” she yelled.
He turned around, his eyes locking on her, and he saw the bear rushing toward him at full speed as Kali pointed toward it. She stumbled to a stop as she watched Rhodes fall into his shift quickly, his face contorted with anger as the high, impossibly fearsome flames roared behind him, coming closer with every second.
Kali covered her mouth with her hands as she watched the two bears collide, the black-coated bear crushing into Rhodes before he had gotten his bearings. Rhodes had only just finished shifting when the other bear came for him, jaws wide and fea
rsome teeth aiming for Rhodes’s throat. She stepped back a few paces as the bears battled. Rhodes was thrown to his side and he struggled to get up before the other bear attacked again, which tore at Rhodes with his long nails, trying to pin him down so he could get to the soft underbelly.
“Rhodes!” she squealed, but it didn’t come out as more than a peep now, her eyes watering from both the smoke as well as fear for his safety.
She felt completely helpless standing there. The deep brown eyes of the other bear were lit with the orange flames, blazing like the gates of hell itself, and he was foaming at the mouth with rage. Really foaming. Rhodes scrambled up to his feet, making sure not to turn his back on the other bear again. Kali watched with bated breath as the hulking beast came for him again.
Nothing else seemed to matter at that moment in time but the safety of her love, the safety of her bear. She could have died in the damn fire for all she cared, and as long as Rhodes survived it would be fine with her.
They met each other like two gladiators, on their hind legs with their claws scraping for one another and their roars dwarfing even the howl of the fire. She held her breath as she watched the fight, the black-marked bear driving Rhodes back toward the fire inch by inch. Soon, they were so close that Kali was sure the fire had to be scorching Rhodes’s back. She reached for her phone, desperate for any help, but there was no reception. No surprises there.
Rhodes charged at the other bear, his jaws locking around the thick, beefy neck of the beast, and they went tumbling to the ground. Growling and roaring, they sparred like two wrestlers looking for an upper hand to grant them victory. Kali’s blood froze as she saw a gush of blood burst from Rhodes’s shoulder as the other bear bit down, tearing flesh and fur.
Rhodes let out a pained moan but struggled out from underneath, visibly limping now. He met the other bear again, snarling, but getting ahold of his side and biting into it, marring the bear’s coat with dark red. The fight seemed to go on forever and the fire was so damn close that even the river didn’t seem like a safe place to hide anymore.
