Flame

by Ophelia Sexton

  Thor felt a surge of fierce protectiveness at the worry in her eyes. Some people who were obviously Bad People.

  "What did they do to you?" he asked quietly. "And can I help?"

  She shook her head.

  "It's…nothing," she lied. At his skeptical look, she amended it. "Nothing you should worry about," she said, with the ghost of a smile. "You've got enough on your plate just healing up…Thor."

  He liked the sound of that name on her lips. If she said it a few more times, he might get used to it. It might even start feeling like his name.

  "Tell me," he insisted. "I want to help you if I can. I owe you."

  And if he could get her to accept his help, then he'd have an excuse to see her again after all of this was over and he was healed up.

  "I appreciate the thought, but…" She shook her head again.

  "Cassie, please," Thor insisted. Now that he knew that she needed help, he desperately wanted to do whatever he could for her. "I know we only met a couple of hours ago, but I really do want to help you. Can't you tell me what's going on?"

  She stared at him for a long moment, and he saw her chew her lower lip. Then she shook her head. "It's…personal. I don't think anyone can help me."

  * * *

  After seeing that news report, Cassie knew she had to alert Thor's team as soon as possible. They were looking for him and probably worried that he was dead.

  You're a big old coward, Cassandra Long, she told herself, as her stomach churned with anxiety. Thor needs a doctor and maybe an MRI, and you're just worried about yourself.

  But what if news crews descended on her cabin? What if they showed her face on TV?

  Ed Baldwin would know exactly where she was and where to find her. And there would be hell to pay for running away from him.

  The thought of it made her want to throw up. She felt icy chills run over her skin as she tried not to think about what he'd done to her in the short time that she'd been in his power.

  She couldn't do it. She couldn't risk exposing herself.

  Then she looked at the big man on her couch. Even with all of his injuries, his expression and his scent showed that he was worried about her.

  "Look," he said, in that deep, rumbling voice that she liked so much. "You've done a good job with these—" he raised his splinted arm "—and I think I'll be okay in a few days. If you don't mind driving me, maybe you could just drop me off in town, and I could ask someone else to call it in. Maybe your boss at the diner? "

  The thought of bundling Thor in a car in his condition and then bumping and jolting over the ten miles of dirt and gravel road that connected the cabin to the highway, only to dump him at Ted's place like a sack of garbage…

  "No!" she exclaimed. "That's a terrible idea!"

  A terrible idea that he'd been willing to contemplate for her sake, when he'd only just met her. She couldn't do that to him.

  Cassie needed to make sure he was okay and that he got the medical treatment he needed. And she'd been stupid and selfish to even contemplate anything else.

  "Wait," said Thor, as she lifted the handset to begin dialing the emergency number. "Why don't you call the Hot Shots base directly and tell them I'm here? If you call that number on the TV, we don't know who'll show up. But I have this feeling…" he paused and frowned, as if trying to remember, "I don't think I'm the only shifter on the team. If that's true, they'll know what to do."

  She paused. "That sounds like a good idea. You wouldn't happen to remember the number, would you?"

  He shook his head minutely, then winced. She could only imagine what kind of killer headache he had right now. Too bad that most drugs that worked on Ordinaries didn't work on shifters.

  Using Google on her smartphone, Cassie quickly found the US Forest Service page with a list of smokejumper bases and the contacts at each location.

  Shaking with nerves, she dialed the number listed for the Rocky Mountain smokejumpers. Thor gave her an encouraging smile.

  The web page had listed a Pete Brinkley as the Base Manager and Operations Coordinator, but a woman answered the phone. "Rocky Mountain Hot Shots Base, this is Kara."

  Cassie swallowed to try to moisten her dry throat. "Uh, hi. May I speak with Kane Lupus?"

  Kane Lupus was one of the standard code phrases for finding out whether the person on the other end of the line was a shifter or not. Cassie held her breath.

  "I'm sorry, but Kane isn't available. If you have a question about wildlife affected by this fire, I'd be happy to assist you," Kara replied promptly.

  Cassie's breath blew out in relief at hearing the counter-code, wildlife. Kara was another shifter!

  "Oh, good," Cassie said. "Uh, my name is Cassie, and I live near Cougar Creek. I'm calling because I found Thor Swanson. He's pretty badly hurt."

  She heard a sharp inhalation of breath on the other end of the line. "Thor's alive? Oh, thank God!" Kara exclaimed. "Where are you? Can I talk to him?"

  Thor nodded and eagerly reached for the phone with his left hand.

  "Sure," Cassie said to Kara and felt compelled to add, "From what I can tell, he's got a pretty bad concussion. Anyway, here he is."

  She handed the phone to Thor, who took it and lifted it to his ear. "Hey, Kara."

  Cassie's keen shifter hearing had no problem overhearing Kara's reaction. "Oh my God, Thor. You scared the ever-living daylights out of us! What the hell happened to you?"

  "I don't really remember, but Cassie says she saw my parachute caught up in a tree," Thor replied.

  "Hold on a sec," Kara said, and Cassie heard the characteristic burst of static from a two-way radio, followed by, "Hey, Hot Shots, this is Kara at Base. I just heard from Thor. He's alive and on the phone with me right now. Over."

  Another burst of static, then the sound of numerous whoops and cheers. The cheering went out for a quite a while, interspersed with demands to know what had happened and if Thor was injured.

  "Okay guys," Kara said finally. "That's all for now. I'll let you know when I have more news. Base out."

  "I couldn't wait to tell them," Kara said into the phone. "The rest of the team made it okay, and they're out on the fire line. I'm benched because of my leg." She laughed. "I can't tell you how good it is to hear your voice! So what are the damages? Can you get back to base on your own?"

  "I think so—" Thor began.

  Cassie snatched the phone away from him.

  "As if!" she told Kara indignantly. "As far as I can tell, he's got a broken arm, a broken leg, a couple of cracked ribs, and a pretty severe concussion. I'd take him to a hospital, but I'd have to drive him down ten miles of bumpy unpaved road to the highway." She eyed Thor, who gazed back at her with an unrepentant expression. "I've given him basic first aid, but he doesn't need his brain shaken up any further. Don't believe him if he tries to tell you otherwise."

  "Yeah, you've definitely found our Thor, all right," Kara said sympathetically. "Stubborn as hell. Okay, I'll send our helitack team out your way…and I'll come, too."

  Thor held his hand out for the phone again.

  "Hold on, Thor wants to say something," Cassie told Kara before handing over the handset.

  "Hey," Thor said. "Can you keep this out of the news for a little while? My rescue angel here values her privacy, and she'd prefer not to have any reporters tagging along, if you know what I mean."

  "Rescue angel, huh? Only you could crash in the middle of nowhere and find an angel to patch you up."

  And what did that mean? Cassie wondered. Was Thor a player? Why should I even care? I hardly know him!

  Thor threw Cassie an apologetic glance.

  "Kara, please," he said into the phone, with a tinge of exasperation. "Can you make this low-key? I don't think I'm up for a media circus, either."

  "Of course! No problem," Kara said hastily. "I'll bring my camera so that we can interview you on-site, if you're feeling up to it. And then I'll send the video to my friend over at the Denver Post to satisfy the news ou
tlets, along with a press release that identifies your rescuer as 'an area resident who did not want to be named.' Would that work for your new friend?"

  "Yes, that would be great," Cassie said, knowing that Kara could hear her. "Thank you."

  Thor handed back the phone to Cassie.

  "No problem," Kara said cheerfully. "You have no idea how happy we are to hear that Thor's alive and that he's going to be okay. Now, if you could just let me know where you are, I'll get that helicopter out to you before the sun goes down."

  Using an app on her smartphone, Cassie looked up her GPS coordinates, gave them to Kara, and mentioned the large meadow next to the cabin as a landing site.

  As Kara signed off, Cassie felt a mixture of relief and apprehension.

  She was glad that Thor would soon get the medical care he needed, but she was bracing herself for the arrival of more shifter strangers to her home.

  And Cassie had to hope that she could trust Kara and the helitack team, a bunch of people she'd never met, to maintain her anonymity and privacy.

  Strangest of all, Cassie realized, as she put the phone back on its cradle and returned to sit next to Thor on the couch, was the sense of loss she felt at the idea that she might never see him again once his friends came and whisked him away.

  Chapter 3 – Swooping In

  Less than an hour later, Cassie heard the unmistakable whoop-whoop-whoop of an approaching helicopter.

  She knew she should be relieved that Thor's fellow firefighters were coming to help him. So why was she feeling so melancholy?

  She turned to look at Thor and found him studying her with a thoughtful expression.

  He cleared his throat and gave her one of those panty-melting smiles. "Hey, before all hell breaks loose here, I was wondering…would you, ah, be interested in having dinner with me? Once I'm all healed up, that is." He raised his splinted arm from the sling, and his smile turned rueful.

  Cassie drew a surprised breath, an automatic refusal rising to her lips…and realized she really wanted to say yes. Her heart began pounding.

  I have to stop being such a coward if I'm ever going to move on with my life, she thought. C'mon Cassie, be a proper predator for once and quit running from every male shifter you meet.

  She swallowed, hard, still torn between the voice of caution and her inner cat, who just wanted to nuzzle up against Thor and cover herself in his dangerously appealing scent.

  "I—" she began, and had to clear her own throat because her voice sounded funny. "I'd really like that."

  Just four simple words to get a smile from him that did funny things to her breathing and warmed her right down her toes.

  "You didn't happen to find a phone on me, did you?" he asked.

  She shook her head. "I accidentally drove over a walkie-talkie, though," she confessed.

  "Okay, then we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way," he declared. She noticed that he had a dimple in one cheek, under his short beard. "Can you write down your contact info on a piece of paper?"

  "I think I can probably do that," she said and found herself smiling back at him.

  There was a notepad and pencil near the cabin's landline phone. By the time she finished scribbling down her number and email address, the sound of the chopper had increased to a deafening roar.

  She realized it must be coming in for a landing, and dashed for the cabin door, making a small detour to hand Thor the piece of paper.

  To her dismay, he was trying to get up from the couch.

  "You've got to be kidding me," she said, coming to a halt.

  "Look, if you give a little help, I'm sure I'll be able to—" Thor began.

  "You sit your ass back down, mister," Cassie said, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him.

  In response, he tried an appealing look out of his beautiful hazel eyes. "Please?"

  Oh, God, how can I say no to Mr. Sexy?

  With an effort of will, Cassie narrowed her eyes.

  "Nope." She held up the piece of paper with her number and email address on it. "If you still want this, you'll behave yourself."

  "All right, you win," he said, sinking back down with a grimace. "Damn it, I hate feeling helpless."

  Cassie felt a surge of sympathy for him. She didn't like that feeling, either. She softened her tone. "Look, Thor, they're not going to be mad at you for not being able to walk out to meet them."

  He chuckled, and she saw him wince and pull his left arm in close to his side. "I guess you're right."

  "So you'll promise to stay put while I go meet them?"

  "If you promise not tell them about my amnesia," he countered immediately.

  "That's not a good idea. They need to know—"

  "I promise I'll stay put. Just…please don't tell them. If it's not better by tomorrow morning, I'll mention it, okay?"

  "Okay. So do we have a deal?"

  She waited for his reluctant nod. Then handed him the paper before she broke into a run, slamming the cabin's front door behind her.

  * * *

  Cassie came to a halt at the edge of the meadow just as the helicopter's skids touched down on the grass.

  The chopper was red and white, with the word FIRE painted on the midsection and USFS painted on the tail, just under the rotor.

  Two women and a man emerged as soon as the blades began to slow, all of them carrying large padded duffel bags in bright red or orange.

  Cassie immediately recognized one of the women as Kara Latrans, the firefighter who had been interviewed on the news broadcast a short time ago. Kara's left leg was encased in a cast that reached from the top of her thigh down to her foot, and she had a pair of aluminum crutches under her arms, with one of the padded duffels slung crosswise over her shoulder and chest.

  The wind carried the newcomers' scents toward Cassie. The women were shifters, one a coyote and one feline, and the man was an Ordinary.

  Kara waved as she spotted Cassie, then rapidly hobbled over.

  "Hi, I'm Kara," the coyote shifter called as she approached. "If you're Cassie, then we spoke on the phone a little while ago."

  "Yes, I'm Cassie. Nice to meet you, Kara."

  For her part, Kara was clearly trying to figure out what kind of shifter Cassie was.

  Sabertooth shifters were a rare lineage and mostly kept to themselves in their territories in the southwestern states.

  With any luck, Kara wouldn't be able to identify Cassie beyond just being a feline shifter, and it was considered borderline rude to ask a strange shifter which lineage they belonged to.

  The very last thing Cassie needed was someone spreading gossip about the presence of a sabertooth shifter outside their traditional home ranges in Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. That might attract the wrong kind of attention.

  "You made everyone's day when you called with the good news about Thor," Kara said. She turned and waved the other two people over. "Cassie, I'd like you to meet Dr. Elizabeth Chang, and this here's our pilot, Darren Shelby."

  Dr. Chang was a tall Chinese-American woman with a heart-shaped face, who smelled of feline shifter.

  Snow leopard, maybe, Cassie guessed, mostly because that was the only lineage of Chinese shifter she knew about.

  "Pleased to meet you," Dr. Chang said warmly, extending her hand. "Please call me Betsy."

  Darren brought up the rear, carrying a portable stretcher. He nodded at Cassie when Kara introduced him. He was somewhere in his early thirties, clean-shaven with short black hair in a military-style buzz-cut, and serious gray eyes.

  Does he know about shifters? Cassie wondered.

  No shifter ever wanted to out themselves to an Ordinary unless it was absolutely necessary.

  And most shifter communities, like Cassie's former pride, had rules forbidding their members to reveal their true natures to Ordinaries unless they were mated to one or were otherwise 100% sure that the Ordinary wouldn't freak out or betray them.

  Cassie shot Kara an inquiring look, and Kar
a grinned.

  "He's in on our little secret," she admitted. "Hard to hide it since, we all spend so much time living and working together."

  "Just consider me the token mundane on the superhero team," Darren said with wry self-deprecation. "So, where's our boy?"

  "Just over there." Cassie pointed at the cabin, visible through the trees. "Follow me. Can I help carry anything?"

  Dr. Chang—Betsy—handed Cassie a pair of crutches. "If his arm's really broken or badly sprained, he probably won't be able to use both of these, but it can't hurt to bring them along."

  "Is Thor really okay?" Kara asked, sounding anxious.

  Cassie couldn't help but wonder if the other woman had some kind of special relationship with Thor.

  "Well, it depends how you define okay," she answered as she began to walk back to the cabin, shortening her steps so that Kara could keep up with her cast and crutches.

  "What do you mean?" Betsy asked, coming up behind them. "Kara said you thought he had multiple fractures and possible head trauma. Have you discovered additional injuries?"

  "No," Cassie said hastily. "I meant…well, would you believe he actually tried to get up and walk over here with a broken leg when he heard the chopper coming in?" She stopped as Kara barked out a short laugh, then continued. "I had to threaten him to make him stay put and wait for you."

  "I've worked with Thor for a couple of years now, and I totally believe that. He's a hell of a nice guy, but he can also be a stubborn idiot," Kara declared.

  "I wish I could say I don't believe someone would be stupid enough to try to walk on a leg he knew was broken," Betsy added, with a heavy sigh. "But I've met Thor Swanson. I'd love to hear what kind of threat you used that actually worked on him."

  Cassie's face grew hot. "Um, I think it was one of those one-time-only deals."

  True to his word, Thor was still seated on the sofa when Cassie ushered the others into the cabin.

  She was pretty sure that she was the only one who noticed Thor's frown as he tried to figure out Betsy and Darren's identities.

  He recognized Kara immediately, of course, because of her TV appearance.