Chapter Nineteen

The commotion outside was what drew Sloane out of her apartment.

People were gathered in twos and threes, huddled together talking, checking their phones and pointing, all looking in the same direction.

Confused, Sloane pulled the oversized open-zipper hoodie Captain had given her tighter around her body. It was not yet deep enough into the evening to be sunset, so she could see what the others did as soon as she rounded the corner of the building.

Fire.

"They're saying it's in Damon's Mountains," her neighbor, Meg, enlightened her as she came to stand beside her.

An awful snaking feeling filled Sloane's gut.

She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and checked the local news station site, but nothing was updated yet.

"I should…I should go," she said uneasily to Meg.

"Go where? To Damon's Mountains? You should not do that. If the mountains are burning, let the shifters handle it. What if it's dragon's fire?"

What it was Wreck's fire? Captain had told her about Wreck. He was something scarier than the dragons. Wreck's fire would be worse.

Her phone vibrated. It was a text from Silver. Be there in three minutes. Be dressed and ready, come get in the truck fast.

Oh fuck. Chills rippled up her forearms. That fire meant something bad.

"Excuse me," she murmured as she speed-walked back into the apartment. Meg said something after her, but the roaring in her ears prevented Sloane from hearing anything.

Something was wrong. God, let Captain be okay. She let off a prayer as she slipped out of her pajama pants and into some cut-off jean shorts. She pulled on a pair of hot pink ankle socks and some sneakers, then grabbed a hair band off her nightstand and slid it onto her wrist. She bolted for the front door she'd left open and grabbed her purse, shoved her phone into it, and locked the door behind her.

By the time she turned around, Owen's truck was skidding to a stop in the parking lot, and a couple of the onlookers cried out to watch where she was going.

Silver rolled down the window, and she saw Corey sitting in the passenger's seat.

"Let's go now!" Silver yelled. "You got the kid?"

"He's with his dad," she said, bolting for them.

"Probably a good thing," Corey muttered as Sloane climbed into the back seat.

"What's going on?"

"War," Silver gritted out, hitting the gas.

"The Holland Pride?" she guessed.

"No, war in the Fastlanders. Captain's off the rails. Not his fault."

"What's that fire," Sloane asked, leaning forward between their seats to look at the huge plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky.

"That is what love looks like," Corey said softly.

"I don't understand."

"Captain will demolish everything if we don't fix it," Silver growled out. "He doesn't know the why. His bear is taking over."

"What if he's killed Gunner?" Corey asked, worry in her tone. "We should get back there."

"Everyone's fine," Silver murmured, hitting the gas on a straightaway.

"Yeah, but how do you know that for sure?"

Silver slid her gold gaze to Corey, and back to the road. "You heard Lucia's vision. She's the up-and-coming seer of the mountains, right? She's never wrong, right? We're meant to be in a war with the Holland Pride, and she saw all of us there. Every one of us. We're basically immortal until the lions come."

More chills rippled up her arms. She sat back and buckled her seatbelt. "Is Captain okay?"

"No," Silver and Corey both said at the same time.

"Is he alive?" she whispered in horror.

"If you can call it that," Silver gritted out, hitting the gas harder.

"What can I do?" Sloane asked.

Silver slid a look over to Corey, and gripped the steering wheel tighter as she returned her eyes to the road. They were headed straight toward the billowing smoke. "Oh, you'll see."