Chapter 3

3

Lilis trembled as she strode through the small common area of the Eastern Sparks Ranger Station, a converted home that served as the base for six firefighting teams. Firefighters crowded around her, jostling her as they wiped down equipment, ate, relaxed, and scrolled through their phones.

I need to get out of here. I need to get out of here.

She swallowed and dug her fingernails into her palms to ground herself. Stay in this form. Don’t go back to the hospital.

Her mind had played the same refrain on repeat since she’d walked away from Simon, the man who completely redefined Sexy Nurse.Even now, she was only barely keeping herself from going back to run some medical tests of her own. Like height, muscle tone, and endurance . What she could see through his scrubs hinted at a body built for pleasure. And he’d seemed prepared to demonstrate it to her.

You don’t need that kind of trouble.

But she couldn’t stop picturing him instead of all the men around her. She wouldn’t even have come back to the station if another firefighter hadn’t been waiting for her in the hospital lobby on Vega’s orders. Her entire body ached and strained to be free of the shackles holding her in one form. She needed to escape, to run, to soar .

She edged toward the side door, the promise of freedom beckoning from the other side. All she needed now was?—

“Gerru.” Noah Carter, a black man of medium height with thick black hair and a beard, separated himself from the crowd. Lilis tensed as he approached, readying herself for the shouting match.

But as soon as he reached her, Carter clapped her on the shoulder, giving her a little shake, eyebrows furrowed and mouth pulled into a thin line. “Nice work.” He kept his voice just above a whisper. “Vega’s going to tear you a new everything for what you pulled today. And a bunch of us might do the same for taking off without saying anything. But… thanks for getting Hoyt out.”

Lilis shrugged under Carter’s meaty hand. “Any time.”

“Gerru.” Vega’s voice silenced everyone faster than an exploding canon, even though he hadn’t shouted. The other firefighters shrank back like match flames before a fire hose to make way for him. A tall Mexican man in his late forties, covered in tattoos that spanned his arms and neck, he strode with the unflappable demeanor of a leader who knows he’s in charge of a bunch of strong personalities and won’t take anyone’s bullshit.

He stopped a foot away from her, the dark circles under his eyes the only giveaway he hadn’t slept recently.

Just let this be quick. Chew me out here and then ? —

“My office. Now.”

Shit.

Lilis followed him into the communal bathroom with two stalls. The tiny station had never been intended to host so many out-of-town teams, and Vega had needed to take over one toilet as a workspace. He folded down the toilet lid and sat, pulling a tray table with a stack of papers in front of him.

“Have a seat.” He indicated the upholstered wooden bench on the opposite wall that an enthusiastic donor had gifted when the station needed more furniture.

Lilis sat gingerly on the fluffy bleacher and crossed her legs. Vega shuffled papers, and Lilis shifted positions, crossing her other leg.

Her dragon pushed against her, restless and caged in the tiny, cramped room.

Fifteen minutes , she promised.

She looked around, desperate for any window in the little space so she could at least see the night sky. Or clouds. Anything but the tight, beige walls and weird upholstery.

Vega still did not address her.

Lilis began to bounce one knee. “Did we really need spectator seating in the bathroom?”

He glanced at her without lifting his head, the reprimanding fire in his gaze enough to make her dragon blush. Lilis shrank under his glare. This man controlled her future. Could kick her off the team with a single word.

Maybe she shouldn’t piss him off.

“You have one job , Gerru.” He spoke in low, calm tones. “Do you have any idea what it is?”

Figure out which of the humans in the other room is setting traps. “Yes, sir,” she said aloud instead. “I’m here to fight the fire.”

“Wrong.” A small tic started in his jaw. “Your job is to do exactly as I say. Do you understand me?”

“Sir, all due respect?—”

“Do you. Understand. Me?” Vega crossed his arms and leaned back, his entire demeanor transforming instantly into a mask of leashed rage. His tone dropped. “Not one of those men out there is here to think for himself on this job. You are no different.”

Lilis’ heart pounded, and her whole body ached with the force of holding back her anger. “I found Hoyt.”

“Results don’t justify methods!” Vega slammed his hand on the table, scattering papers. “I don’t assign stupid fucking busywork, Gerru. I give important shit to people who can handle it. And you just proved that you can’t!”

Don’t argue. You need to stay on this team. But Lilis had passed the point of listening to wise inner voices. “Sir, that’s not?—”

“Why do you think I put four of you on the trenches?”

She managed to keep from rolling her eyes at such a stupid question, but only barely. “To keep the partners together and make it less likely to lose anyone else.”

“Wrong again, Gerru. This is why you’re not paid to think! Carter’s report wasn’t a surprise to me. We’d heard there were no safe paths from the south side. Your actual job was to keep the fire in check on your end so that anyone who went in had a better chance of coming out alive. It took Shepherd, Clark, and Ellis an extra hour to clear what I wanted because they were a fucking man down without you! ”

Lilis opened her mouth to argue, then shut it again.

“Did any part of you even think about that? Or were you blinded by the shiny medal you thought you’d get for rescuing a teammate?”

Lilis bristled. “That’s not why I went for him.”

“Oh no?” Vega lifted one mocking eyebrow. “Enlighten me.”

Her gaze drifted to a poster above Vega’s head that read, “If you see something, say something,” with two disembodied eyes open wide. The eyes creeped out every last person in the station, Lilis included.

But it gave her an idea.

“I was brought up with the philosophy that if you can do something, you take action. And that seems to be the motto around here.”

“And just how the hell did you know you could help Hoyt? You got lucky, Gerru. And my team doesn’t need luck. I need people who do what they’re supposed to. Besides”—Vega scowled and nodded his head backward at the poster—“that’s not at all what that disturbing piece of shit says.”

Another firefighter Lilis didn’t recognize, a white man with shaggy light brown hair and a tattoo of an hourglass on one arm, chose that moment to enter the bathroom. He didn’t so much as glance at Lilis or Vega before sealing himself in the other stall, whistling “Waterfalls” by TLC.

“We function as a team, Gerru.” Vega raised his voice to talk over the sounds coming from the other stall. “And three of your teammates spent an extra hour on labor when they could have been helping others. Because you weren’t there. You were off somewhere else on your own.”

Lilis deflated. “Sorry, sir.”

“Not sorry enough. If I can’t trust you to do what I fucking tell you to do, then I don’t know everyone is safe. I’m working blind. I refuse to work blind.” He took a deep breath. “After today, I should boot your ass off my team. But your contact at the NIFC spoke highly of you, and I believe in second chances. I’m keeping you active. For now.”

Lilis clasped her hands, bending over marginally to appear deferential. “Thank you, sir.”

“Don’t make me regret it, Gerru. But if even one of your bootstraps is done in a way I don’t like, you’re gone. Are we clear?”

It took every last ounce of self-control not to tell him to shove his bootstraps so far up his ass he could buckle his tonsils, but she managed. “Yes, sir.”

At the end of the day, he was right. She’d chosen to insert herself among a group of humans, almost all of whom had no idea a dragon demon like her could even exist. And the only one who did know had deliberately drawn other demons to the region. She didn’t have proof yet. She couldn’t accuse any of them of the recent murders of several demons. But the Flame Jumper patch in her pocket—angel wings on fire with crossed axes in the middle—which she’d pulled out of the paws of a dead chimera, kept her focused on finding the bastard.

Much as she hated most other demons, she refused to let anyone target them for no reason. And if she managed to keep a few innocent humans from becoming collateral damage, even better.

But her actions had put some of those same humans at risk. Now she had to play nicely if she wanted to stay and actually protect them.

“Good.” Vega pointed to the door. “The fire is under control across most of the area. We’re debriefing tomorrow’s responsibilities in fifteen. I’ll see you there.”

“Sir, I was hoping to go for a run. I could use a little?—”

“Use the gym.”

Lilis blanched. Had he really just called that pile of weights of random poundage behind the station a gym ? More like a tetanus playground. “Sir, all due respect, you can’t keep me during my time off.”

“It’s not time off when there’s a briefing. You don’t leave the fire house until then. Consider that your first order. Do we already have a problem?”

Lilis ground her teeth. “No sir.” She stood, accidentally jostling Vega’s table. The toilet under him began running water, and he reached one hand behind him to jiggle the handle.

The other firefighter exited his stall to use the sink. He’d switched his tune to “Another One Bites the Dust.” Lilis growled, making very sure not to slam the door on the way out.

When I find the person responsible for this, I’m going to barbecue them.

Behind the building, standing among the weights, Lilis closed her eyes and stretched. The full body ache that came with spending too much time as a human squeezed her, threatening to push her past her limits. It had been far, far too long since she’d been able to spread her wings and soar . Through the smoke and the embers, the sparks and the flames, her home . Her partial shift earlier when she’d been looking for Hoyt had been more of a tease, leaving her itchy and twitchy.

Which is probably why Simon had thought she was going through drug withdrawal.

The nurse. Not Simon. No need for first names, no matter how easily and annoyingly they popped into her brain.

Deep brown eyes, thick black lashes, a healer with a sense of humor. Gods, she had a type, didn’t she?

Nope, nope. Steer clear of the humans if you don’t want your heart broken again. Distance would save him, too. Her lovers never lived long lives.

Think about his stupid pickup lines. Do I know you from somewhere? Seriously?

She lifted her arms over her head and bent forward, wrapping her arms behind her straight legs, stretching her limbs to their limit, trying to keep herself sated in this body.

A breeze blew away the cool, crisp air of the Barrens, bringing the enticing woodsmoke of the raging fire. Lillis inhaled deeply, closing her eyes in sheer pleasure. Her fingers twitched, and her joints slid into new positions.

Lilis gasped and quickly pulled herself back from the shift. Later , she promised herself and stomped back inside.

A seat opened up on one of the couches, and Lilis flopped unceremoniously into it.

Focus. Do the briefing, slip out at night when half the team’s asleep. Maybe you can catch a quick run on the dying flames and enjoy what’s left of the fire.

Vega walked into the center of the room, stuck his fingers in his mouth, and whistled shrilly. Silence sliced across the room.

“Listen up, everyone. I just got off the phone with the local forest crew, and it’s bad. The fire has restarted in several areas we had contained when we left it tonight.”