Wildfire Griffin (Fire & Rescue Shifters: Wildfire Crew #1)(15)

His griffin saw no problem whatsoever with this plan.

He took off his helmet, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “I could…explain things. Tell her what I am.”

“Oh yes,” Joe said. “That will definitely go well. Considering she already thinks you have a concussion.”

Rory winced. “I could show her what I am.”

Wystan cleared his throat. “Rory, the poor woman has literally walked through fire this morning. Not to mention been savaged by a rabbit and had lightning hurled at her by an invisible creature she doesn’t even know was there. Don’t you think she’s had enough surprises for one day?”

“And that’s another thing.” Rory put his head in his hands, pressing his fists against his temples. “You saw that creature today, Joe. How can you even talk about quitting? You want to leave that thing roaming free? Starting more fires?”

The sea dragon hesitated. He muttered a curse in his own language. “No. Damn it, Rory. You’re a terrible influence.”

“Rory.” Blaise rested her hand on his shoulder. “We could do this without you, you know.”

“Could you?” He looked round at them all. “Really?”

One by one, they dropped their eyes, looking away.

“Exactly.” With a sigh, he levered himself to his feet. “Well. Worst comes to the worst, I’ll just have to tough it out. Time to get back to work, squad.”

He reached for his chainsaw, but Blaise caught his arm. At his raised eyebrow, she shook her head.

“A man in love,” she said firmly, “should not be operating power tools.”

Joe brightened. “I call dibs!”

Without a word, Callum claimed the chainsaw.

“Awwwww.” Joe’s massive shoulders slumped. “I never get to do anything fun.”

Wystan held out a Pulaski. “I don’t mind swamping for Cal, if you want to take a turn cutting line.”

“Bronicorn.” Joe heaved a sigh, taking the tool. “We need to have a serious talk about your definition of the word ‘fun.’”

Blaise still had hold of Rory’s sleeve. Her fingers tightened, holding him back as the others moved off, still bickering.

“Rory.” Her voice was low and worried. “What are you going to do?”

Be with our mate, his griffin said, simply. As we are meant to be.

And suddenly, Rory knew exactly what he had to do.

“Uh oh,” Blaise muttered, staring up at his face. “I know that look. I’m not going to like this, am I?”

“No,” he said, his smile widening as he realized how perfect it was. “You really aren’t.”





Chapter 6





“And so this is the transceiver, and this is the control board, and this,” Edith leaned back in her chair with a frustrated sigh, “is completely and utterly busted.”

Fenrir examined the dismantled radio as intently as if it were a dismembered rabbit. “Woof,” he agreed.

“Thanks for the second opinion.” Edith scratched behind his pointed ears. “You’re good company. Most people would have told me to shut up hours ago.”

Fenrir leaned into her fingers as she found the good spot. His tail thumped against the bare floor boards.

“I wish people had tails,” she muttered. “It would make things a lot easier if I only had to watch their backsides.”

Fenrir’s tongue lolled out. He pressed against her even harder, nearly knocking her out of her chair.

“Careful, big guy.” She dug her fingers into his black ruff, feeling the hard muscles under the thick fur. “You really are huge. What the heck is your boss feeding you?”

He rested his broad muzzle on her thigh, copper eyes rolling mournfully upward. Not enough, she could practically hear him saying.

“I’ll find you a snack in a minute, once I’ve dealt with this.” Giving Fenrir a last pat, she started clearing up the radio parts. “Wonder if I’d be allowed to keep a dog in the tower. Want a change of career, big guy?”

Fenrir made one of his deep huffing noises, more snort than bark. He shook himself with a jingle of harness.

“No, suppose not. If I had your job, I wouldn’t want to change either.” She sighed again. “And there might not be a job here for anyone.”

The radio wasn’t the only piece of equipment to have been fried by the lightning. She’d managed to get the generator back up and running, so she at least had electric lights, but everything electronic was completely dead.

She’d started repairs filled with fiery indignation, determined to prove to Rory that she was competent. Now, however, not managing to impress the hotshot squad boss was the least of her concerns. Dread lay in her stomach like a rock.

No communications, no weather sensors, no data logging system. Of course, she still had her firewatcher—which only needed her own eyes to function—but what good was that without any way to make reports?

The tower could be out of action for the entire summer. And new equipment would be expensive. What if the Forest Service decided not to repair the lookout tower at all?

Fenrir whined. Edith found that she was rocking in short jerks. She took a deep breath, forcing herself into a more soothing rhythm. Gradually, her racing heart slowed.