Fast.
Tank stands frozen beside Spike, face pale in the firelight.
“Foster,” Spike says.
Foster looks at him, and something passes between them.
Not words. But trust.
Then Foster turns to me.
“Keep her out of the building. It’s going to collapse any second now.”
Amelia’s body goes rigid in my arms.
“No,” she whispers.
Foster’s eyes soften for half a second. “I’m gonna do everything in my power to find her.”
“You don’t know that,” Amelia cries.
“No,” he says, pulling the mask over his face. “But I know how to try.”
The firefighter slaps the air pack into place.
Foster checks it once. Twice.
Then he looks at me again.
“Don’t let her follow me.”
I tighten my arms around my trembling woman as she starts fighting all over again.
“Foster!” she screams.
He turns toward the burning house.
For one heartbeat, the entire world holds still.
Then Foster runs into the smoke.
Chapter Fourteen
Foster
I can’t see a damn thing.
It’s been years since I’ve danced with fire, but everything comes flying back.
Stay low.
Trust the wall.
Control your breathing.
Don’t let the noise get inside your head.
The house screams around me. Wood pops. Glass cracks somewhere deeper in. Heat rolls over my gear in thick, punishing waves, hotter than it should be, hotter than any normal contents fire has a right to be.
