“As they say, what happens in Vegas.”
His chuckle died and he ripped at a fallen limb, tossing it aside with more adrenaline than anything else. We were both pissed off and getting caught on debris. “What’s her name, Grace? You like her a lot, huh?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“You’d do anything for her?”
An easy question to answer. “You bet.”
“Then don’t listen to the guys. The shit you went through, use it to your advantage.”
“What?”
“Think like the asshole. If she’s being stalked, hunt him down.”
Sage advice, our conversation cut off by a horrific crack.
Boom!
The tree had landed only a few yards away. A gust of wind kept our attention and we looked at each other.
“You know what’s going to happen. We’re going to have a fire devil. I can feel it.”
Axe’s voice was steady, but I heard the fear. A fire devil would send a wave of heat and fire across uncharred land, eating everything in its path.
We’d face the beast and, in most situations, the beast would win.
“Then let’s move. Now, soldier!”
I pushed him hard, every few steps looking over my shoulder. The goddamn hundred-pound pack felt like five hundred with every step taken. We quickened our steps even as the flames crept closer.
Smoke billowing.
Trees falling.
Lightning flashing.
And the rumble beneath our feet was fucking terrifying.
Everything became a blur as we zigged and zagged to avoid the flames sprouting in bursts depending on where the ashes fell.
“Straight ahead,” I choked out. “There’s a dead zone three hundred yards through the trees.” Or so I hoped. Even with the GPS system, everything was becoming turned around. Maybe from fear. Maybe from a malfunction, but no matter the direction we’d gone in, nothing had changed on the command system.
Axe had stopped mentioning that we weren’t getting any help. We’d already figured out if we wanted out of this mess alive, we’d need to do it for ourselves.
So we kept going.
I was ahead by ten paces.
Crack! Boom!
Oh, shit.
A sharp cry curdled my blood.
Spinning around, my eyes watered as I tried to focus. Axe was down, a tree landing on his legs. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
With a primal yell, I struggled to get the goddamn pack off my back.
