Wildfire Sea Dragon (Fire & Rescue Shifters: Wildfire Crew Book 3), page 11
He was still seeing her die. Every night. Again and again.
She forced herself to look away from Joe, turning back to Rory and Wystan. “Joe and I do want to be together. But we have no choice but to wait.”
“That may not be wise,” Wystan said. “I don’t wish to alarm you, but it isn’t natural for a shifter to take things slowly when they meet their mate. In fact, it can be both psychologically and physically unhealthy. The mating instinct sets off a powerful cascade of hormones.”
Oh, she was only too aware of that. “I appreciate your concern. And I assure you, we have a plan.”
Rory and Wystan looked at each other.
“A…Joe plan?” Rory said, cautiously.
She fidgeted with her fork. “Yes. Which was why I was asking…but never mind. I have faith that he knows what he’s doing. And in any event, it’s not my place to question the Crown Prince of Atlantis.”
“Maybe, but it is definitely your place to yell at your mate when he’s being dumb.” Rory quirked an eyebrow. “If you need some tips on that, I’m sure Edith would be happy to help. Ask her sometime.”
“Or Candice.” Wystan’s expression went soft and fond. “She is marvelous at yelling.”
Having met Wystan’s strong-willed mate a few days ago, Seven could believe it. “I will…bear that in mind.”
“Seriously, do.” Rory blew out his breath. “Look, Seven. We just don’t want to see you two making the same mistakes that we did. I hope Joe’s plan doesn’t involve waiting around for a demonic attack to force the two of you together. I can tell you, it’s considerably less romantic than it sounds.”
Seven had just taken a bite of stew. She choked. “Have you been talking to Joe?”
From the puzzled glances the two men exchanged, they hadn’t. “We’ve tried,” Rory said. “But whatever’s going on, he really doesn’t want to talk about it.”
“For a man of many words, he’s remarkably good at saying nothing,” Wystan agreed. “Seven, please, will you tell us what’s troubling you? We only want to help.”
It was tempting. More than tempting. Over the past week of training, she’d come to fully appreciate the tight-knit strength of the squad. They weren’t just colleagues, or even friends. They were family.
And they were inviting her to step into that circle. She longed for that, almost as much as she longed for her mate.
She looked down at her congealing stew. “I am sorry. You have all been so kind to me, and I truly wish that I could repay that with honesty. But it is not my secret to tell. If Joe will not speak of it, I cannot either.”
Rory sighed. “Okay. Well, we’ll keep working on him. But if you change your mind and want to talk, just let us know.”
“HA!” Across the room, Joe straightened, eyes crossed and arms out-flung triumphantly. The hot sauce bottle balanced, cap down, on the end of his nose. “Behold, my bros! I retain my bacon!”
“What in dog’s name is going on here?” Buck cut through the crowd, scowling. He shoved Joe’s shoulder, sending the bottle clattering to the ground. “Are you a hotshot or a motherloving performing seal? All of you, get your butts on benches. I’ve got an announcement.”
The group broke up, hotshots all scattering to their seats. Joe plunked himself down next to Seven, still beaming from ear to ear. He winked at her, and stole Callum’s slice of peach pie as the pegasus shifter also returned to his place.
Buck jumped up onto a bench at the front of the room. “All right, you lot, listen up. Play time’s over. We’ve got our first callout of the season.”
A chill went down Seven’s spine as general whoops and cheers filled the air. She glanced sidelong at Joe. The smile had slid off his face. Under the table, his hand found hers, gripping tight.
“It’s a nice local one, too,” Buck continued. “Well, relatively speaking. It’s in-state at least, though only barely. A forest fire’s been called in up north, right at the border. Kootenai National Forest.”
Seven started. Her eyes met Joe’s. They showed the same mingled relief and disappointment that she felt.
Not Bluebrook. Not yet.
“It’s lovely middle-of-nowhere wilderness, so I hope everyone’s got their hiking boots oiled and ready.” Buck paused, his gaze lingering on the shifters of A-squad. “Initial reports say it looks like it was started by a freak lightning strike.”
Now it was everyone else’s turn to exchange meaningful glances. Blaise mouthed the word Thunderbird? at Buck. The Superintendent lifted one shoulder in the slightest of shrugs.
Buck’s tone turned brisk again. “Now, there’s a local team already handling initial attack, so we don’t have to drop everything and scramble. But we’ve got orders to go in to support, so we’re rolling out first thing in the morning, four am sharp. Yes, four,” he raised his voice as a chorus of groans went up. “And you’d better pray I don’t catch any of you napping. So go get some sleep while you can. You’re going to need it.”
Seven let out her breath as people started to get up. Much as she was anxious to get the coming confrontation at Bluebrook over and done with, it was a relief that it wasn’t going to be her first callout ever.
“A practice wildfire,” she murmured to Joe. “That’s good, isn’t it?”
He didn’t reply. He was still gripping her hand, hard. She realized he’d frozen in position, staring into her glass of water.
Her blood turned to ice. She didn’t know whether or not to break him out of the vision. His eyes moved sightlessly, following something that only he could see. She could taste his rising distress.
“Joe?” she whispered.
He blinked at last. He looked up at her, his pupils black holes in his grim face.
“We can’t go,” he said hoarsely. “Our squad. They mustn’t go. We have to find a way to keep them here.”
Chapter 15
“You could just tell them,” Seven said from behind him.
Joe automatically shook his head, though she couldn’t see the gesture. He kept his flashlight trained on the trickle of engine coolant draining from the radiator. “Buck wouldn’t believe me. He’d think it was some kind of joke, or just me trying to get out of hard work. As far as he’s concerned, I’m a lazy idiot. To be fair, he’s not wrong.”
“You are neither of those things.”
“Says the woman who had to literally hit me over the head to stop me from running away from the best thing that ever happened to me. And trust me, I would much rather be sipping cocktails on a beach somewhere with you right now than under this truck.” The steady flow of coolant had slowed to a drip. “I think we’re nearly there. Just a few more minutes. We still good?”
“No sign that we’ve been noticed.” A slight hint of strain in Seven’s voice betrayed her anxiety. “All the lights are still dark in the cabins. But Joe, you should tell the truth to our friends. They’ll believe you, even if Buck won’t.”
“Which would just put them between the devil and the deep blue sea. I can’t ask the squad to go up against Buck just on my word.”
Seven’s tone sharpened. “That is not the real reason, and you know it.”
He really couldn’t hide anything from her. “Seven, I can’t risk it. Rory, Blaise, and Wystan are all really close to their families. Rory’s dad is literally a walking lie detector, and he’s best friends with my dad. It would only be a matter of time before everyone in Atlantis found out.”
“And would that be so bad?”
“Well, for a start, I doubt the Sea Council would be keen on a precious Prince-Seer spending his summers running into forest fires.”
“Perhaps not. But the Pearl Empress has the final word. You’re the Crown Prince, Joe. You’re her son. Nothing could make you more precious to her. Yet here you are, putting your life at risk. Do you truly think your talent would change that? Make her lock you up in the Imperial treasure vault?”
The slow drip of the coolant echoed in the silence.
“No,” he admitted at last.
Seven’s voice softened. “Joe. I know you don’t want your talent to be the only part of you that people see. But right now people aren’t seeing you, the real you. Just the glitter and sparkle of the surface.”
“I am glittery and sparkly.”
She nudged him in the side with the toe of her boot. “Yes. But that is not all you are. I wish you wouldn’t hide that.”
“I don’t have to hide it from you. That’s enough for me.” Joe slid out from underneath the crew transport. “There, that should do it. This baby won’t be going anywhere for a while now.”
Seven drew in a breath through her mouth, tasting the air. “The entire area is covered our scent. And Fenrir’s nose is as sensitive as mine. Like it or not, our friends will realize that we were responsible for this.”
“No, they won’t.” He bent to pull out the drip tray he’d used to catch the coolant, dabbling his gloved fingers in the oily green liquid. He waved his hand at Seven “How does this stuff smell to you?”
Seven wrinkled her nose. “Terrible.”
“Perfect.” Joe flicked coolant around the vehicle, making sure to liberally douse the area where he’d been lying. “Is that enough to cover our tracks?”
Seven tested the air again, and nodded, grudgingly. She held out the empty bottle that they’d brought so he could pour the remaining coolant into it. “I still think you should tell them the truth.”
“I know.” He screwed the cap on. “Come on, let’s get out of here before our luck runs out.”
They headed back toward their cabin, Seven automatically falling into step a little behind him. In Atlantis, he’d always hated being followed about by the ever-present royal guard, but it was different with Seven. Her quiet, watchful presence at his back was comforting.
They snuck through the silent base like guilty teenagers after curfew. Once they were safely back in their cabin, Joe went to dispose of the coolant.
Seven hovered in the bathroom doorway as he poured the oily liquid down the toilet. “Is that safe?”
“According to the local waste disposal authority, yep.” Joe flushed the toilet. “I checked. I didn’t want to just leave the bottle lying around. Can’t risk someone finding it tomorrow and using it to get the truck running again too quickly.”
Seven sighed. “I just hope this buys us enough time.”
He looked down into the swirling water.
Wystan, his hands outstretched, a sparkling shield springing up to cover the base. Rory, rising into the air, beak open wide in a scream of challenge. And his own hands shifting into talons, scales wrapping his skin, a single thought filling his mind: Thank the sea we were here.
The vision popped like a soap bubble. He shook himself, the remembered relief and rage fading.
“It’s okay now,” he said. “We’ve done enough.”
Seven blinked at him. “Did you just see the future in a toilet?”
“I told you I can get visions anywhere.” He went to wash his hands in the sink. “Anyway, I think we’ve made it come true. It felt…thin, before, like a dream right before you wake up. It’s more real now. It’s hard to explain. You should get some rest. It’s going to be a busy day tomorrow.”
“Apparently.” Seven hesitated. He could see her reflection in the mirror, watching him. “Joe, you need to sleep too. Is there anything that…helps?”
“Stops my nightmares, you mean?” He couldn’t help a huff of ironic laughter. “Oh yeah. There’s one thing. And much as I’d love to do it with you, that’s really not an option.”
Seven’s mouth dropped open. “You mean—sex?”
A bolt of nerves twisted his stomach. They hadn’t talked about the elephant in the room—or rather, his past—before. He’d had the impression that Seven had been trying not to think about it. He’d much rather not think about it himself…but he had to be honest with her.
“There’s a reason for my reputation.” He turned around, forcing himself to face Seven. “I had to sleep with women to be able to sleep at all.”
Her grey eyes went wide and startled. “That’s why you slept around? To stop you from dreaming?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t even really the sex. It’s just that most women won’t let you spend the night snuggling without orgasms first.”
Her eyebrows did a complicated dance, conveying a cocktail of astonishment, disbelief, and exasperation. “You do realize that it would have been considerably easier to recruit a few understanding, casual long-term partners to meet your needs, do you not?”
“Uh, well.” His hands felt large and awkward. He shoved them into his pockets. “Stopping my visions wasn’t the only reason I…did what I did. I was also doing my best to trash my reputation.”
“Well, you certainly succeeded there. I won’t tell you what the knights have to say about you.” Seven shook her head, slowly. “Why, Joe? Are you truly so desperate to avoid your destiny? Were you hoping that the Sea Council might eventually declare you unfit for the Pearl Throne?”
“Well, that would be a nice bonus, but it wasn’t the Sea Council’s opinion that I cared about.” He looked down, not quite able to meet her eyes. “It was yours.”
She stared at him.
He hunched his shoulders. “I behaved awfully because I wanted you to despise me. I’d seen in my visions how honorable and noble you are. I was doing everything in my power to avoid meeting you, but…I wanted to make sure that if I failed, you wouldn’t want me.”
Her eyes narrowed. Her feet moved, ever so slightly, into a combat stance. He had a sudden new appreciation for just how terrifying she would be to face in a fight.
“Let me make sure I understand this correctly,” she said, in a level voice. “You deliberately went for the most bone-headed and inconvenient way of getting enough sleep, purely in order to offend me?”
“Yeah.” He swallowed, hard. “I’m really sorry, Seven. Even though I thought we could never be together, I shouldn’t have betrayed you. I should have been stronger—”
“Stop,” she interrupted. She pointed toward his bedroom. “Wait there.”
The butterflies in his stomach grew to monster-movie proportions as she turned on her heel, stalking away. “Seven. Seven, please, don’t walk out on me. Let’s talk about this.”
“I said, wait there. I’ll be back.” She slipped out of the cabin, leaving him staring at the closing door.
She couldn’t have been gone more than five minutes, but it felt like five hours. It was all he could do not to throw himself at her like a golden retriever when she re-appeared at the door. Her arms were full of yellow fabric.
“Here.” She handed him his firefighter jacket and pants. “Put these on.”
“Uhhh…why?”
She put her hands on her hips. She was already fully kitted out in her own gear. “You said it wasn’t so much the sex as the intimacy afterward, correct?”
“I guess so.” His face heated. He couldn’t believe he was discussing this with his mate. “I, um, learned that just having sex and then going back to my own bed didn’t stop me from dreaming, anyway.”
“Good.” She nodded at the uniform in his hands. “Then we are going to snuggle. With protection.”
It was his turn to stare at her, slack-jawed.
She folded her arms. One foot tapped dangerously. “Put your gear on, Joe.”
He did so. It took him two attempts to get the zips fastened, his fingers were so numb. His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
“This is a terrible idea,” he managed to get out, as Seven led him into the darkened bedroom.
“This equipment is designed to protect people from forest fires.” She pulled him down to the bed, curling up against his back. Her arm slipped around his waist. “I think it can withstand the heat of two shifters.”
Joe wasn’t so sure. Even through two layers of Nomex, he was acutely aware of every line of her body. The faint warmth of her breath against the back of his neck throbbed in his groin.
“I suddenly have a new understanding of why women paid so much money to see me dance in this stuff,” he muttered. “I think I’m developing a fetish.”
Her arm tightened around him. She pressed her lips against his nape in a soft kiss.
“Sleep well, Joe,” she whispered in his ear.
And, somewhat to his surprise, he did.
Chapter 16
Seven had thought she’d seen the full range of Buck’s volcanic temper. He’d never made the slight attempt to hold back his ire, after all. Whether it was a sloppy fire line or a badly sharpened tool, he would express himself freely, creatively, and at length.
Now she realized that she’d never seen him actually angry.
His face was hard as stone. His hands were clasped behind his back. His voice was perfectly level.
“Sabotage?” he asked.
Her shark sank silently into the depths of her soul, still and quiet as though a greater predator was passing overhead. Next to her, Joe shifted his weight, just enough so that his arm bumped against her shoulder.
It’s all right, the brief contact said. I’m here. Everything’s going to be fine.
“It’s not impossible,” Blaise said from the depths of the engine. “But why would someone go to all that trouble just to temporarily inconvenience us?”
“There’s no sign that anyone broke in last night, Chief,” Rory said. “Fenrir’s scouted around, but the only scents around base are ours. And Callum would have woken up if someone was sneaking around.”
Buck turned to the pegasus shifter. “You didn’t sense anything?”
Seven’s heart jumped into her mouth, but Callum just shook his head. “No intruders.”
Buck stared hard at Callum for a long moment. Cal gazed calmly back, expression as blank as always.
“Hmm.” Buck turned back to Blaise, and Seven started breathing again. “You say you can fix this?”
“The cap just got knocked loose.” Blaise emerged from under the hood. She wiped the back of her hand across her forehead, leaving a greasy smear. “All the engine coolant drained out, but that’s easily replaced. It’ll take a while, though. I don’t have any in stock. I’ll have to go into town and wait for the garage to open. And once I’ve refilled the coolant, I’ll need to run the engine for a bit to make sure all the air bubbles are out.”
