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I knew that sound all too well. I'd heard it before, right before a massive fir had collapsed on a timber factory fire in New York last year. We'd lost Ramirez when the tree crashed down on him. I still woke sometimes with his screams ringing in my ears.
My survival instincts kicked in. I shut off the hose, dropped it, and turned to run out of the danger zone. I’d taken three steps when a heavy, flaming branch tumbled from the tree, striking my lower leg and knocking me to the ground.
My breath left me in a whoosh. Winded, I opened my mouth to shout for help, but nothing came out. Buzzing filled my ears, and the strange tingling I’d experienced before erupted in my hands and stomach, swelling and morphing like the clouds of smoke above me.
Another branch tumbled toward me, and I threw out my hand instinctively. My eyes widened as the flaming missile veered aside as if pulled by an invisible rope, missing me by inches instead of crushing my head.
What the? Had I done that?
I had no time to ponder the strange occurrence as the monstrous tree emitted another groan and tipped toward me. Whatever I’d done to the flaming tree branch wasn’t going to work with this enormous ponderosa.
Flaming pine needles rained down, singeing my jacket. I scrambled to regain my footing, but my leg was pinned beneath the heavy bough. Grabbing my leg, I heaved with all my might, but I knew I wouldn’t be quick enough to escape the hundred-foot pine.
Throwing my arms over my head, I braced for the impact, for the crushing weight of the ponderosa's trunk. Would it be quick? Would I feel it when my bones splintered and my organs burst?
A shape emerged from the billowing smoke. Huge and hulking, it raced toward me on all fours, eating up the distance at an impossible speed. At first, my smoke-addled brain couldn't make sense of what I was seeing.
It was a bear. A massive, lumbering grizzly, its brown fur singed and dusted with ash.
But what the hell was a bear doing here, in the middle of a raging forest fire? And why was it running straight toward me?
I blinked rapidly, convinced the smoke was playing tricks on my eyes. But no, the bear was still there, and it was coming right at me.
Some distant part of my brain shouted that I should be afraid, but then my gaze locked with the bear’s. Bright hazel, flecked with gold. Fierce yet warm. I knew those eyes, as well as I knew my own reflection.
“Emmett?” I whispered.
The bear–Emmett–skidded to a stop in front of me. With a huge paw, he batted the large tree branch off my leg as if it were a twig. He reared up on his hind legs, his massive body shielding me, his bulk blocking out the fire's blistering heat, as the ponderosa pine let out a final, earsplitting crack.
Dropping back to all fours, a deep rumble emerged from his chest as he lowered his head and nudged me.
“You want me to climb on your back?” I had no idea how I knew what he’d said, but at this point, I was rolling with it. Time to examine this insanity when I wasn’t about to become a human barbecue.
Gripping the fur at his nape, I heaved myself onto his back, wincing at the pain in my leg. I didn’t think it was broken, but it still hurt like a mother.
Emmett’s fur was wiry and warm as I pressed my cheek against his thick neck. I clung to him, my fingers digging into his thick pelt.
I screamed as the tree exploded, sending flaming branches hurtling through the air. Embers rained down around us, but Emmett never flinched, his bear form steady and firm.
Another rumble issued from his chest, and I swear I heard, “I've got you.”
Then we were moving as Emmett took off at a breakneck pace. The ground shuddered as the ponderosa crashed down behind us, its impact sending a geyser of dirt and ash into the air. I squeezed my eyes shut, pressing my face into Emmett's fur, breathing in his scent of wood smoke and pine.
He didn’t stop, tearing into the forest while I clung to his back. I marveled at the coiled strength in his hind legs as he navigated the burning underbrush, leaping over fallen logs wreathed in flame.
This whole situation was impossible. My mind reeled, trying to process what was happening. Emmett was a bear. A literal, honest-to-god bear. And I could understand his bear talk.
Maybe I was hallucinating. Or maybe the smoke had finally addled my brain. Because there was no way, no possible way, that any of this could be real.
Yet as I clung to Emmett's furry bulk, feeling the steady rhythm of his gait and the heat of his body against mine, I knew it was. Somehow, impossibly, this was happening.
The suffocating heat of the fire faded into the distance as Emmett ran, leaving the worst of the blaze behind. My vision blurred at the edges, exhaustion and smoke inhalation finally catching up to me.
I fought to keep my eyes open, but it was a losing battle. The last thing I remembered before slipping into unconsciousness was the beat of Emmett's paws, solid and steady, against the earth.
Chapter 12
Amber
