Wildfire Griffin (Fire & Rescue Shifters: Wildfire Crew #1)(51)

Rory caught Seth’s fist as the other man tried to throw a punch. “I need your car.”

Seth gaped at him like a fish, struggling to jerk his hand free. “You—what?”

He didn’t have time for this. “Give me your keys.”

He could make full-grown dragons curl up and whimper. Seth never stood a chance.

The C-squad boss disintegrated like wet tissue paper, his face crumpling with terror. With shaking hands, he fished out his key ring.

Rory plucked it out of Seth’s weak grip. Leaving the man to collapse into a trembling heap, he strode out again.

“Here.” He tossed the keys to Callum. “Courtesy of Seth.”

Edith drew in on herself, tensing. “Is he coming with us?”

“No. And he’ll never come near you again.” He took hold of her shoulders, rubbing his thumbs in firm circles until her taut muscles eased. “Edith, I promise I’ll explain everything as soon as I get back. But right now, I need you to trust me.”

Her eyes were still wide and confused, but her jaw set. “I do.”

If he stole one last kiss, he didn’t think he’d be able to let go again. He made himself step back.

“Go with Callum.” He looked past her to Cal. “Take care of her for me.”

Callum nodded. “I’ll come back as soon as she’s safe.”

“No.” His griffin’s growl put force behind the word. “Stay with the others. Tell Buck what’s going on. If anything happens to…if anything happens, you and the others will be the last line of defense. I need to know that you’re there, ready to keep everyone safe.”

Callum’s mouth twisted unhappily, but he nodded again. Without another word, he drew Edith away. Rory’s last sight of her was her pale, anxious face, pressed against the window as they drove away.

As the truck pulled out of sight, he let out his breath. He tipped his head back, narrowing his eyes. The storm was nearly overhead now. Lightning flashed through the clouds like claws unsheathing. A low, rumbling growl of thunder shook the air.

“Fine by me,” he said to his unseen opponent. “If you’re done with skulking and spying, then let’s finish this.”

His griffin’s power surged over him. Fierce focus washed away human doubts. He was made for this, to protect and defend. Lion-strong, eagle-swift, he leaped into the sky.

But as he extended his claws to meet his foe, a nagging worry still whispered at the back of his mind.

Why now?





*



“Will you tell me what’s going on?” Edith asked Callum.

He shook his head. He drove fast but steadily, slowing for bends and intersections. His gaze kept flicking from the road to the sky and back again. It was as if he was monitoring an approaching snowstorm…except that it was summer.

Edith ducked to peer upward through the windscreen herself, but still couldn’t see anything unusual. “What do you keep looking at?”

“Nothing.”

Nothing seemed to be awfully interesting. But it was difficult to prize words out of Callum at the best of times. It was clear he wasn’t going to say anything more.

Edith sank back in her seat, abandoning the mystery for now. Her lips were still tingling. She touched her fingertips to them, feeling the shape of her own dazed, incredulous smile.

Rory had kissed her. She’d told him everything, admitted her secrets, and he’d still kissed her. He’d said he was crazy about her.

Not even his weird behavior afterward could cloud the glow within her chest. No matter what, he absolutely, definitely wanted her. After that, nothing could spoil her happiness—

Without warning, Callum spun the steering wheel hard, stomping on the brake. Edith’s seatbelt snapped tight across her torso, driving all the air out of her lungs. Tree trunks whirled past the windows as the truck skidded. For the briefest instant, she saw something huge and dark looming out of the night.

Then they were past, the truck still turning, travelling backward. A jolt rattled her teeth so hard she tasted her own blood. The vehicle slammed to a halt, tilted crazily with two wheels lodged in a ditch.

Her ears rang. She clawed at her seatbelt. It seemed to take an age before the strap finally released its stranglehold on her neck. She sucked in a grateful, shaking breath.

“Cal?” she croaked.

The engine had cut out, but the headlights still stared blindly into the dark. The harsh glow illuminated Callum’s slack face. He hung from his own seatbelt, slumped over the steering wheel. Blood masked his features.

“Cal!” She scrambled across to him. He didn’t rouse at her touch. His pulse beat weakly against her searching fingertips.

Something moved in the beams of the headlights. Something big and shambling, with shaggy brown fur. Eyes glittered red, meeting her own through the windscreen.

It was a bear.

A grizzly bear. An adult male, the biggest she’d ever seen.

She froze, not daring even to breathe. The bear rose onto its hind legs, towering as high as the truck, still holding her gaze. Lips wrinkled back from finger-long fangs. It wasn’t a snarl.

The bear looked like it was smiling.

The massive paws slammed down. She shrieked, covering her head, as the windscreen cracked and crazed. The bear’s claws screeched across the glass.