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"Maya?" Daniel called.
I tried to see him but couldn't through the thick evergreens.
"We're fine!" I yelled. "You?"
He said he was all right, and I was about to climb down, when Rafe climbed over to my branch and crouched there.
"Seems that control-over-animals thing doesn't work so well with the animals we really need control over."
"No kidding, huh?" I said.
His head tilted as he scanned the forest. When he glanced back at me, I thought he was going to say something, but he only nodded toward the ground and said, "We should go. Fire's still coming. I can smell it."
I twisted to kneel on the branch, so I could lower myself to the next one. As I did, I glanced up and realized we were in the biggest tree around. Which gave me an idea.
"I'm going higher first," I said, "to look around for Annie."
"Good idea."
I called down to Daniel to say what we were doing. Rafe was already two branches above me. I scrambled up after him. The faster I went, the faster he did, and I thought it was just coincidence until he grinned down at me.
My heart sped up and I raced after him, trying to catch up, cursing when I couldn't. I forgot about Annie and the fire and the bear, and everything that happened before that--and it was just us again, climbing a tree, the bark rough under my hands, the sharp smell of pines surrounding me, the sound of his breathing pulsing through the air like a heartbeat. I didn't even notice I'd caught up until I was right beside him and he was leaning around the tree, smiling at me.
"Gotcha," I said.
"Uh, no. I stopped."
He waved overhead and I realized we were as high as we could safely go.
"Damn," I said.
He laughed and I looked into his eyes, then swallowed hard and turned away to look for Annie. As I did, my hip bumped the trunk and something jabbed into my hip. I pulled out his bracelet.
"You'd better take this," I said.
He shook his head. "I still need to take off, track down answers. Keep it."
"But it's important to you."
"Proving I mean it when I say I'll be back."
>
My cheeks heated and I pressed it into his hand. "Please. I don't want to lose it."
He took it. Before I could pull my hand back, he caught my wrist and tied the bracelet around it.
"Problem solved."
I tried to glance down at it, but his fingers slid under my chin, eyes closing as his mouth moved toward mine. Our lips brushed. Then his eyes snapped open and he pulled back fast.
I jerked away. "Right. Bad idea. We--"
"No." He pointed. "That."
I twisted to see a wall of smoke heading straight for us. Rafe started scrambling down the tree, shouting to Daniel below. I stayed where I was and got my first good look at the fire. To the north and south, the forest was clear and calm. There was just one huge swath of smoke heading our way.
"Maya!" Rafe tugged at my foot. "Come on."
