Page 108 of Knot What I Expected

Ember Hollow.

Gabby.

Matteo.

Something inside me changes.

The fatigue disappears. The pain disappears. Everything narrows.

Protect.

“Yeah.”

I open the nozzle. Water blasts across the burning brush. Steam erupts.

A firefighter from the next town comes in beside me.

We work the edges first, keeping the spot contained while another crew starts cutting around it.

Monster pushes strength through my limbs. This is what we're good at.

Chaos.

Violence.

Fire.

The humans have no fucking clue how much harder a Shifter can work.

How much smoke we can tolerate.

How quickly we recover.

How far we can push before our bodies quit.

Doesn't mean we're invincible. Not even fucking close.

“Havoc, watch your⁠—”

CRACK.

Every instinct inside me screams.

I turn. Too late.

A fire-weakened tree comes down.

Not a branch.

A whole fucking tree.

I throw myself sideways, but the trunk catches my shoulder and upper back. Pain detonates through me.

“FUCK!”

The impact drives me into the ground.

For a second? Nothing exists.