I’m scaring them.
I blink, forcing myself to return fully to this moment.
It’s no use.
Smoke, heavy with pine, and the heat in the air overwhelms me. The wind picks up, flooding the area with ash. The grey flakes land in her white hair, and panic hooks into me before I can stop it.
My head whips around. Our window out of here is shrinking with every second I stand here paralyzed.
Heat cracks the dry branches and the sap pops, exploding in warning. With a groan and a snap, a tree gives way, crashing in the distance. I jerk my head toward the sound to find Harlowe sprinting toward us. Her hand is on the radio at her shoulder, telling Command that we’re delayed as she leaps onto the porch. It’s her presence that shakes the fog loose.
Each of us takes hold of one of the residents by the arm and guides them to the truck before helping them into the passenger side.
Her eyes cut to mine for a second—quick check-in.
“What’s our move, Hotshot?”
“We’ve got to go—fast, before it breaches the road.”
With that, we turn toward the driver’s side, primed to run.
Another gust of wind makes the branches groan, closer this time. Out of the corner of my eye, I see one breaking loose, swinging toward the Incident Commander.
I dive, shoving Harlowe clear. The branch slams into my side and shoulder. A heartbeat later, I’m on the ground, air driven from my lungs. Pain sears through me instantly. Everything hurts so sharply that I can’t even pinpoint where it’s coming from.
Pebbles and dirt spray my face as Harolwe skids to a stop, falling to her knees at my side.
“Emmett.”
I try to speak, but it comes out as a grunt.
Her face flickers in and out, her voice cutting through the radio and then disappearing again as I fight for air.
Flames lick at the edge of the yard now. I can feel them, but I can’t get up to move us to safety.
“I need a medevac at the second ridge evac point—Hotshot down, blunt force trauma and burns. We have civilians on board.”
“Don’t let it happen again,” I mutter, only realizing I said it out loud when her eyes gleam with concern.
CHAPTER
TWO
ASPEN
Whirling rotor blades slice through the thick, smoke-stained air as we rise above the glowing valley. A wildfire this close to home is a reminder that even idyllic Timberline Peak isn’t safe from Mother Nature.
My throat burns with the tears I’m holding back at the knowledge that people are losing their homes, belongings, and sense of safety.
When I’m in the hot seat everything else gets set aside and I do what needs to be done.
My feelings will have their moment.
I adjust my helmet and smooth my hands down the front of my flight suit.
The hotshot who risked his life to save my friend is strapped to my gurney, and he needs one hundred percent of my focus. He’s already been through enough.
If Harlowe hadn’t gotten him to the extraction point . . .
