Chapter Seventeen

Everything was so intense in this body!

Timber could see for miles, even in the darkness. She could hear every scream, every grunt from the battles, every word of muffled conversation, every leaf rustling in the wind that was kicking up.

Timber's skin tingled with the urge to fall into her other form, but she was scared of it. She'd been the bear, and she had killed the Kendra-lion, and had no control. She'd killed her. Killed her. Killed .

She cut a line toward the trees, away from the cars that were filtering into the trailer park, and the people flooding from those cars.

There were so many popping out from the SUVs, peeling off their shirts, Changing. Lions, boars, bears, wolves. The Holland Pride had secured reinforcements, and God, what boldness they possessed to step foot onto Gunner's land. She couldn't be in this war if she tried. She was too new, and didn't know all of the shifters in Damon's Mountains. She wouldn't know who was friend or foe, but she could be of service to Wreck and the people he did care about. She could find Ruger.

A man ran out of the woods straight for her, and she reared back to punch him, but Riyah slid the handle of a knife into her hand, and on instinct, Timber sliced the blade against the shifter's throat and drove her shoulder into his, blasting him backward. She sailed through the air, landed on him, and slashed the blade down three times—faster than she could even register that her brain had encouraged her arm to do that.

Gasping for breath, she sat atop the man, staring down in horror at what she'd done.

"Oh my God," she uttered, dropping the blood-soaked blade as she scrambled off him.

"No time," Riyah clipped out, picking up the blade. "That's natural instinct now. Not your fault. He shouldn't be in your territory."

Riyah walked straight for the woods with purpose. Hallie was behind them.

Bang, bang, bang!

Timber ducked at the deafening sound of the gunshots, but it was Hallie defending them from the back.

"I hope those are silver bullets!" Riyah yelled out without even turning around.

"They are," Hallie assured her as she turned and jogged to catch up. "I have extra clips in my bag." She had a hand placed protectively over her belly, and she looked scared. "I don't like leaving Gunner."

"Wreck's got him," Timber said low, believing her words.

"Wreck doesn't even like him."

"Trust me, Hallie. Wreck's got him."

Hallie ran to catch up as they hit a thin deer trail in the woods. "Ruger!"

Riyah was fast and up ahead, and she was pulling away. "Ruger!" she yelled. "Hallie, I can't find his scent. What did Lucia see? Where was the moon positioned? Did she have a direction?"

"She just saw Ruger running scared, and a lioness following closely behind him. We think it's his mother, Sloane. She didn't say a direction."

"Sloane would aim him downhill. Uphill is too hard for him to climb. Ruger!" Timber called, determination filling her blood. Behind them was the sound of war, and it was getting louder. The roaring of the bears was filling the woods. This place would be haunted after tonight. She didn't like the image Hallie had put into her mind. Ruger was scared in Lucia's vision, and she couldn't stand it.

Something blurred through the trees in the woods to her right, and Hallie yelled, "Stop!"

Timber turned in time to see an enormous lion sailing through the air at her. She didn't know what happened next. She was human and yelling for Ruger, and then she wasn't. A searing pain washed through her, and then she was slamming the lion against a tree and ripping his throat out.

Stunned, she backed off and looked behind her to see Hallie standing there, chest heaving with her breath, eyes full of fear, gun limp in her hand. She dragged her gaze from the lion to Timber. "Thank you."

Up the trail, there was an enormous white bear with glowing blue eyes and its teeth bared. It was the biggest land animal she'd ever seen. Riyah?

Timber looked down at herself, and her paws were bright-white against the earth. Her black claws were curved and razor-sharp.

This was her.

This was her now.

Riyah was her Maker, and Timber was a polar bear.

This is what dwelled inside of her. God, she couldn't believe any of this.

A whooshing sound rattled the world, and she hunched as she watched the rocket of lava launch into the sky. Wreck.

From the east, a dragon blew fire at the earth. The flames highlighted a terrifying red dragon's face, with spikes and scales and long horns extending from the back of its head.

"Vyr is here," Hallie said in a somber tone. "He and Wreck will destroy those people after what they did. We have to get away from the fire. Ruger! Can you hear me? Where are you!"

Okay. Okay! They needed to escape, but the boy came first. Think . Timber was a bear. She was a polar bear. She could smell. What did Ruger smell like?

A line of fire suddenly blasted across the tree line, singeing her hairs with the wave of heat that followed. Shit!

"Ruger!" Hallie screamed, running down the trail away from the trees that had been engulfed in fire.

A trail of lava blasted into the trailer park. Oh fuck, that wasn't supposed to happen. Another dragon beat its wings on the air.

"Damon is in the air! We have to go! Faster!" The terror in Hallie's voice said everything Timber needed to know. They needed to get out of the path of the monsters. There was nothing they could do for the trailer park now. Whatever was happening, the fire-breathers were on a rampage, and the mountains were burning. Plumes of smoke were fogging the woods, burning Timber's eyes as she ran behind Riyah, desperate to get away from the heat.

Time was up.

The metallic clicking of a firestarter echoed through the woods. In horror, Timber looked over her shoulder to see a line of fire headed down the hill toward them. It was aimed at a trio of lionesses that were bolting straight for Hallie, who was falling behind.

"Hallie!" Timber roared in a demon's voice as the trail of fire headed for them. "Move!"

Hallie was running as fast as she could, but the brambles were thick here, and the trail thin, and she was getting caught up.

Timber turned and rushed her. She didn't have to say a word. Hallie clutched onto the fur at her nape and swung her leg over, ducking her face into the scruff of Timber's neck as she bolted away from the blistering heat.

The burn had her pushing her new body harder, faster. She had to get Hallie out of here. She had to save her and her little baby.

Hallie grunted in pain, and Timber couldn't even imagine how much it hurt on her human skin. That thought spurred Timber on faster, and faster. She was barreling down the hillside, crashing through brush and felled trees that were in her way.

To her left and down the hillside, Riyah's polar bear was also cutting a path, and she could hear the bear panting with the strain of fear and effort. It matched her own.

"There!" Hallie screamed, releasing her death-grip on Timber's nape long enough to point to the right.

There was a flurry of motion in the woods, and then Timber heard it—the roar of an angry, cornered lioness.

They were surrounded.

Ruger had his back against a tree, and was yelling something Timber couldn't understand. He was pissed. She could see the rage in his little face. There was a lioness in front of him, back to him, fending off four male lions.

Oh fuck no.

"Protect the Fastlanders," Hallie said in her ear before she released Timber's fur and let go.

Timber didn't miss a step. She aimed for the lions as Hallie's weight left her. Behind them, the woods were on fire, and the sky was full of sparks and ash and smoke, but ahead?

Death.

Timber and Riyah reached the lions at the same time. Sloane was hurt, striped with bleeding claw marks, but she was giving the Pride hell protecting her boy.

When Timber and Riyah reached them, they barreled through the lions like they were nothing, and that was the moment Timber realized the gift Riyah had given her. She was a monster. She was violence. She was the blade that could cut through anything that came for the people she cared about.

Behind her, the entire world was on fire, but here, in this moment, in this little battle, she was Queen. Riyah was Queen. Sloane was Queen. And Hallie was a Queen, standing behind them, picking off anything that limped away. Her shots echoed through the woods.

Inside and outside of Timber, there was nothing left but fire.

The trees around them were leafless, covered in drying lava and patched with flames, and smoke threatened to choke her. Timber came off the last kill, roaring her promise to murder anything that came for Ruger or her friends.

The sky was full of smoke, and ash was raining down on them. As she looked upward, she could see Wreck's fire taking up the whole sky.

He was okay.

Wreck was okay, but what about everyone else? There was too much heat. Too much fire.

The rev of an engine sounded, and a truck zoomed in and out of the trees, aiming for them.

Timber hunched down, readying to charge, but Hallie's hand was gentle against her shoulder. "It's Lucia."

"Get in!" a dark-haired woman screamed through the open window.

Riyah turned back into her human form, and it dragged the human from Timber as well. She pitched forward on her hands and knees, retching at the fast Change and the pain it caused.

Sloane was already in her human form again, and was shoving Ruger into the back seat of Lucia's truck. Riyah and Hallie piled in with him, and Timber moved to get in the front passenger's seat.

"Not. You!" The dark-haired woman's green eyes were blazing brightly as she glared at her. "Go save them."

"Me? Save them?" she asked drunkenly, swaying on her two legs. Her skin was tingling from the Change.

"Yeah," Lucia barked. "They're all dead without you."

"Wh-who?"

"Damon's Mountains!"

And then Timber saw it. She saw the tears streaming down Lucia's face. She saw the anger and fear there. Lucia slammed her head back against the headrest a couple times. "You can stop him, right?"

Timber shook her head, confused.

"Wreck is burning everyone." Lucia jammed her finger at the hillside, and time slowed as a tear streamed down to her jaw. "My father is up there. My mate is up there. My mother is in the sky trying to stop the freaking dragons from eating the ashes. It's on you, Timber. It was always on you. Fix it!"

"Oh my God," Timber uttered.

"I can go with her," Riyah yelled.

"You'll die!" Lucia shrieked. "I see all of you dead! We're all dead!" A sob racked her body, and she inhaled deeply. "Timber, I'm dead without Landon. Bring him back."

Timber looked up to the sky, and she could see the massive phoenix circling, making his way back toward the territory of the Fastlanders. His flaming wings beat the air, and a deafening metallic screech filled the night.

Oh God, he was burning everything?

"The fire is too thick! I'll never make it," she cried out.

"If Ace is still alive, he will come get you. He knows what to do! There's a plan. Just run."

She had to trust them. She had to!

Timber took off, bolted up the hillside toward the growing flames. Lucia was yelling something behind her, but she didn't slow down enough to listen to her words. Wreck was burning the mountains.

The inhabitants of Damon's Mountains had been in the woods, but all she could see was fire and smoke. No one was coming down the hillside. No one was running away.

There was no escape, by either side.

Devastation racked her as she climbed higher and higher, panicked, feet on fire as she tried to find places wide enough to get through the burning brush.

The flames were consuming the mountains, and her feet blistered against the hot ground as she ran between walls of flame.

Run.

She ducked and dodged burning, low-hanging limbs, heading off-trail when the fire got too hot.

Run.

She couldn't let him burn everything. Wreck would never forgive himself. How could he? How could anyone?

"Wreck!" she screamed at the sky. "Wreck! Stop!"

The phoenix was clear as day against the dark backdrop of the night sky—a bird of fire with flame-engulfed wings beating against the sky, heading for the trailer park.

She didn't know how far away it was. She didn't know how far she had to climb, because the fire and smoke were everywhere. Her feet were burning and her skin was blistering, but she couldn't stop!

"Wreck, no!" she shrieked in desperation, pushing her legs harder, faster.

Her muscles ached as she pushed them harder and harder. Her feet barely touched the ground as she ran up the thin trail that led through bushes on fire, and burning trees.

Through the plumes of smoke, she could see the phoenix spewing fire and lava. She felt utterly helpless.

"Wreck!" she screamed.

The burning trees ahead were clouded with a swarm of something she didn't understand. Bats? Their screeching deafened her as they engulfed her, and a surge of sickening power blasted through her, wrenching a scream from her throat with the pain.

She was thrown to the ground. She landed on her hands and knees with a grunt, trying desperately to drag air into her lungs. The scent of smoke and magic choked her. Tears streaming from her burning eyes, she looked up to see something that would haunt her forever.

Horror consumed her as she slowly stood to her full height. The blue dragon's head was three times her height, and the vacant, staring eyes of Damon Daye broke her heart in two.

"Stop him," someone said from the edge of the flames surrounding them. Ace of the Fastlanders stood there, streaked with soot, eyes full of heartache. "Stop Wreck."

A sob escaped her as she fell to her knees in front of the body of the blue dragon. His scales were scarred and damaged, and some of his spikes had been broken off. His body took up most of the clearing, and his wings were draped over the trees in the woods. A sob racked her body as she slowly scanned the clearing, taking in the devastation. There was no movement, no screaming. No sounds of war. No trailer homes left standing. There was just…fire.

A whooshing sounded, and she covered her head as an enormous red dragon swooped down and scooped ash, then drove its wings against the air currents and aimed for the sky again, chewing on the ashes.

She'd been flattened by the wind the dragon had created.

"That dragon doesn't know what to do with a creature like my boy. He has no mind right now. The dragons never knew what to do with us. We can drive them into a mindless frenzy."

With a gasp, she turned, and she saw a man through the fire. He was older, with gray hair cut short, and a grizzled silver beard adorning his jaw. He was lean, and tall, and his eyes were gold with flames in them. He had eyes like Wreck.

He smiled. "Did you know a phoenix could do that? He can ruin everything and everyone around him." He canted his head to the side. "That's our power. The humans think the dragons are the be-all and end-all, but look at my boy in the sky. He's the end of the world, not the dragons." The man sounded almost…proud. "I've been watching you, girl. I was worried for a second that you would steal his destiny from him, but look what he's done." The man spread his arms and looked around the burning trailer park. "Even with you around, he's done exactly what he was always supposed to do."

"And what's that?" she asked.

"Destroy. It's in his blood."

And it hit her. Wreck had told her he'd seen his dad. The one he'd killed. He'd been haunted by him.

"You're not real," she said, her voice hitching. "I can't smell you."

"I smell like smoke. I'm all you smell right now."

"You're wrong about him," she whispered.

"He's killed them all." He lifted his chin higher into the air. "He's killed Damon's Mountains. The others who started this war and banded together to destroy Damon's Mountains won't go down in history for this destruction. My boy will. Look around, girl. There's no one here but you and me, and I've been dead a long time. Even the bat-boy flew away like ashes in the wind. He knows you can't stop the fire. Damon thought he could save my kid all this time, but Wreck never needed saving." The ghost of his father lifted his chin higher into the air, and an evil smile curved his lips. "Damon did."

Heart hurting, she closed her eyes against the pain in her chest. "He cares," she gritted out.

"Part of the man cares. The animal does not."

And as she looked up into the sky to see the phoenix heading back toward them, she had a moment where she questioned if his father was right.

She had a moment of weakness.

She let his father's words touch her heart, and it felt dark and empty and hopeless.

His father had pointed out that there was no life here, and there wasn't. Had anyone escaped? Besides Lucia, Hallie, Ruger, Ace, Riyah, and Sloane? And the red dragon up in the sky who was flying with no purpose, looking around at the devastation below him, at the mass of flames and lava that consumed every inch of this place. Had anyone else escaped? Tears streaming down her face, she looked at the vacant eyes of the blue dragon. She didn't think so.

Across the clearing where the trailer homes used to stand, she could see mounds of bodies burning. Were those her friends?

For a moment, she thought his father was right, and this had been Wreck's destiny all along…but then she remembered something.

She remembered how his face had softened when he'd watched Ruger open his trading card. She remembered how protective he was of the girls when they'd gone out for karaoke. She remembered how Gunner had approached him in the hallway of that bar and told Wreck he respected how he'd handled things with her mother, and she remembered the look on Wreck's face when he shook Gunner's hand. He hadn't even burned Gunner that time. She remembered the funny stories he'd told her about the Fastlanders. She'd felt the care in his voice as he'd spoken about them.

She remembered how tender he'd gone when she'd asked him to save Riyah.

She remembered how gentle his lips had gone when he'd kissed her.

She remembered how terrified he was to touch her the night he'd burned his home.

He didn't like hurting people.

Wreck wasn't bad.

He wasn't evil.

He was powerful, yes, but he cared.

Deep down, he cared.

Timber tilted her head toward the sky, and at a normal volume, she uttered his name. "Josiah."

The phoenix screeched a metal-on-metal sound.

"Stop that, girl," his father ordered, anger infused in his words.

She inhaled deeply and lifted her voice to the sky. "This isn't you, Josiah. It never was."

Another screech, and the enormous phoenix dove for her, lifting up at the last second. She didn't flinch. He wouldn't hurt her. He wouldn't.

"You and I have only just begun our story. If you leave these mountains burning, you'll never be okay again, and I need you to be okay."

"Stop it right now!" his father screamed from right beside her.

He couldn't touch her. He wasn't real.

As his father faded away, she lifted her voice higher, clenching her hands into fists. "Josiah Itall, can you hear me? I need us to be okay. I need our friends to be okay." Her face crumpled, and she gripped her hair tightly as tears streamed down her face. She looked back into Damon's empty eyes. She could so easily see herself reflected there. Naked. Streaked with soot and blood. Dried crimson painted the right side of her face, and her eyes glowed bright-blue. She didn't even recognize herself, and probably never would again after tonight. "Josiah. For me, I need you to bring them back." She tilted her face to the sky, and at the top of her lungs, she screamed, "Bring them back, or kill me with them! Give me your fire!"

And as that phoenix she loved and believed in spewed red fire in a trail aimed right for her, she knew what to do. She had to succumb either way. Burn alive, or burn to live, it would be up to the phoenix, not the man. She had to trust that he loved her enough.

Tears streaking through the blood and soot on her face, she stood and held her fists out, threw her head back and screamed, "I love you, Josiah!" When his fire hit her, she fell to the earth and slammed her fists onto the burned ground, and a wave of power blasted from her. Her body was incinerated. That's what it felt like, but she still existed. Screaming, she forced her eyes open to witness the green flames covering the land as far as she could see. It felt like a thousand deaths.

Her skin melted off, and then repaired, melted off…repaired.

The wind and the power of the flames were too much for her to handle. She had to dig her fingers into the dirt so she wouldn't blow away. She closed her eyes against the pain and screamed in agony, and as suddenly as the fire started…it stopped.

Dragging a breath into her suffocating lungs, she curled in on herself and pried her eyes open. She was face-to-face with the enormous head of the blue dragon. His mouth was parted, and his razor-sharp teeth were exposed. His spikes and horns didn't look like weapons now. Not when he was lying here with no life in him.

The dragon was burning, but the flames were green.

Something hit the ground hard. She flinched at the impact, and stared in horror as she realized what had just landed in the clearing.

Wreck knelt there, arms out, every muscle in his body tensed. He screamed, and another pulse of green flames extended from him. He opened his eyes, and they landed on hers. She could see him there. She could see his soul. It was good. He was good.

His face crumpled, and he said, "I love you too. Timber, I love you too." And then he tensed, and another wave of forest-green flames consumed everything, blurring her vision completely.

She was the one who saw life come back to the dragon's eyes as his reptilian pupil constricted and the low rumble of his snarl vibrated the earth underneath her body.

She was the only witness when Damon's blue dragon blinked, and inhaled deeply.

She witnessed the fire on the burning mounds of her friends extinguish, and one by one, they propped up off the ground. Timber was the one who watched her friends come back to life, and the enemies of the Holland Pride war too.

She watched the shoots of bright-green grass cover the ground in a wave, and travel down the hillside. She was the one who saw the gashes across her arms and stomach heal in moments.

She watched as the ashes of the trailer park gathered into the sky in a slow-moving tornado, and then reconstructed board by board, roof shingle by roof shingle, in a matter of moments. The trailer park was rebuilt in the green fire.

She would always carry that with her, for as long or as short as she lived.

Timber was also the only one who saw Wreck slump over in the middle of the clearing.

She knew it was bad.

Oh, she knew.

He'd told her the green flames hurt him. She'd watched his eyes roll back in his head, and the life drain from his body to save everyone.

Tears streaked her face as she staggered toward him, but she knew. Oh, she knew.

Timber, I love you too.

It was the last thing he said. Of course that was his goodbye. He was giving her something she could cling to for all her life after he was gone.

Sobs escaping her, she staggered toward him over the ground that was now growing little yellow dandelions.

Behind her, Damon Daye's dragon was pushing up on his powerful arms, and everything was coming back to life, but all she could focus on was Wreck's limp body.

Everyone would be okay. She knew it. Everyone but the one who meant everything to her.

Dragging her legs, she made her way to him and curled around him, sobbing. Already he was cold. He was too cold.

"Josiah," she cried. "Josiah, don't leave me." But she knew he wasn't here anymore. He'd sacrificed himself to save Damon's Mountains from this stupid war. From himself.

Her body convulsed with her crying as she hugged his limp body closer.

"Baby," Corey drawled, resting her hand on Timber's back.

"I don't want him to be gone," she croaked out, heartbroken. "I want to go with him."

"You can't go with him," Corey said softly, rubbing her back.

A roar rattled the trailer park as Timber broke down. It was her making that awful noise, she came to realize, but she didn't care. Everyone got to live but him.

Even the bad guys.

She watched a trio of lions stagger away, eyes on them, looking confused.

"Fuck you!" she shrieked at them. "You should be dead. You should be dead! You don't belong here. You came here to hurt these people. You planned all this. What did they do to you? Huh? What! You shouldn't be allowed to live!" More lions, and a herd of boars, slunk off into the woods, eyes on the ground, tails tucked, moving low to the ground. She hoped tonight would haunt them for always. She hoped they never slept in peace again. She hoped her face visited their nightmares. "It's not fair," she sobbed softly.

"I know," Corey murmured. Her words were tear-soaked.

Another roar sounded, and Damon was up. He hovered over her and Wreck as Corey backed away.

"Let the dragon have him," Corey said.

"He's mine."

"Let him honor Wreck. He's special to him."

She closed her eyes against the burning tears, and let him go. Damon beat his wings against the wind and grabbed up Wreck's body. He lifted into the air and went east.

When he was nearly out of sight, he dove down and seemed to disappear in the trees, then lifted back up. He repeated that over and over as the others gathered in the clearing.

"What's he doing?" Timber asked numbly.

"He's trying to feed him ash," Corey said, wrapping her arms around her.

Her heart was broken. Such pain should not exist in a person's soul. She pointed to some of the attackers, slinking away. "They should not be allowed to live. They should not get away with this."

"They won't," Corey assured her. "They won't make it out of the territory. Listen."

Her ears caught the sound of police sirens down toward the main road.

"They'll be picked up," Corey told her. "If they're lucky, they'll go to the shifter prisons where we can't reach them. If the police let them go?" She arched her eyebrows, and Timber understood. Those that needed to take vengeance could take it. Either they would go to shifter prison, or they would be looking over their shoulders for the rest of their lives.

In the sky, she could barely make out the silhouette of Damon dipping down to drag Wreck through ashes again.

Corey hugged her tighter, and Timber melted into her arms and fell apart, just…sobbing. Around the territory, in a large circle, the dragon was dipping Wreck down and dragging him through ashes, and there were others crying around them. The grass had grown two feet tall now, and wildflowers peppered the ground.

His last act was to make it beautiful here.

The others began gathering close and touching her, but nothing could put her broken pieces back together except Wreck.

Nothing except Josiah.

"Bring him to me!" someone yelled from the edge of the blossoming trees.

It was Riyah. She was coming through the trees with Lucia, and a man Timber didn't recognize. He was older, with brown hair and bright-green eyes. He walked with a limp.

"Beaston," Corey whispered.

"Damon," Beaston called to the sky. "Bring him to me."

"Everyone, come here," Riyah ordered, gesturing for the gathering masses to meet in the middle of the clearing. "I need everyone touching his mate. Everyone touch Timber, or touch someone touching her."

A hand pressed to her back, and then another. Another hand touched her arm, and another. The back of her head was touched as Lucia came to kneel on one side of her, and Riyah on the other. Riyah was crying. "I'm going to try. You have to do your part."

"What's my part?" Timber gasped out, voice hitching.

"You're the side of him that heals," Lucia murmured, holding her hand tight. "I can see it. He isn't the green flames." Her voice hitched. " You are."

Gunner stepped forward and held out his arms. He caught Wreck as the dragon dropped him close to the ground. Wreck was covered in ashes, and was barely recognizable.

Gunner looked heartbroken as he knelt and set Wreck's body in front of Timber. "No matter what, it has been an honor to have him in my Crew."

She could see it in his eyes. They were full of hopelessness. He didn't believe this would work.

Timber didn't know what to think as Riyah pulled her hand to Wreck's cold body and began to say something under her breath in a language she didn't recognize.

A few more lines, and a tingling began inside of Timber. It started in her middle, and then the buzzing sensation spread outward. She pursed her lips and concentrated on her hand, pressed to Wreck's chest, right over his still heart.

Please. Let him live. He is good. Let him live.

Riyah started her chant over, and Timber squeezed her eyes closed, concentrating as she said her own words in her mind. Please. Please, please, please. Let him come back to me.

Time dragged as Riyah chanted, and everyone was so quiet. The weight of everyone's hope was like a blanket over the clearing. Above them, Damon and Vyr were circling. Waiting.

Come on. Come on, Josiah. Come back to me.

Riyah lifted her voice, and it sounded strained as she chanted.

Please. "My heart," she whispered brokenly. "Come back to me."

A tiny green flicker appeared at her fingertips. She gasped, but when she looked at Corey to see if she'd seen it, Corey had her eyes closed. She seemed to be praying, tears streaking down her cheeks. Sloane was on her other side doing the same.

"Come on, Wreck. Don't let me do this life alone." Another spark of green appeared at her fingertips, and now she was in it. Now she believed. She had to. She couldn't live without him.

"Come on, baby," she said louder, pressing her other hand to his chest. "Come back to me."

Her hands caught fire, and it was all green. She could do this. She could do this!

Timber closed her eyes and imagined it engulfing them. When she opened her eyes again, everyone had jumped back from them, and it was just her and Wreck in a ball of roaring green.

She placed her flaming hand against his cheek and leaned down, kissed his lips. He inhaled deeply and his eyes flew open, and she could see the beautiful red flames in his eyes.

Wreck looked around, chest heaving, and then back to her. "What have you done?" he asked.

"I wasn't ready." She hoped he understood. She wasn't ready to say goodbye. She wasn't ready to lose him. She wasn't ready to walk this world without him.

He searched her eyes, and then leaned his cheek into her hand. "The world was better off without me, silly girl."

"Maybe." A slow smile took her face. "Maybe not."

The flames faded and left her there with Wreck. With her Josiah. Behind them, the sound of cheering was deafening. He sat up, dragged her into his lap, and hugged her tight, his cheek resting against the top of her head.

They were both covered in blood and ashes, but she didn't care about that here in the clearing of the Fastlander trailer park. The green flames had rebuilt the trailers. They looked even bigger and nicer now. Ten-ten was now a two-story. All of them had enormous pink rosebushes blossoming in front, the thorny limbs climbing the walls. The firepit had been rebuilt to perfection. The trees in the forest were twice the size of what they once were, and had bright green leaves and flowering blooms in bright oranges, pinks, and yellows. The road even looked newly-graveled.

Everyone was alive, that she could see.

They were currently hugging in three feet of weeds and mutant dandelions with yellow flowers the size of her head.

"I bet you made my dick bigger," Owen announced. "It feels bigger! Who else feels like they just got superpowers? I might be able to shoot laser beams out of my eyes now. Is it working?" He opened his eyes wide and stared at trees. No laser beams came out of him. "I bet my truck has less miles on it now. I'm going to check! Wreck! Do your flame thrower on my truck again and give me better exhaust." He bolted for his truck, which looked like it had just been through a car wash.

She rocked her head against Wreck as she laughed in utter relief. Everything was going to be fine. "You're a monster," she whispered, thinking she couldn't ever love a man as much as she did in this moment.

"So are you," he murmured, brushing his fingertip under her eye. She looked up at him and just melted into the glowing-gold color of his gaze. She couldn't even guess what she looked like right now, but her eyes were probably glowing too.

"We match now," she whispered.

"We matched from the very beginning."

She sat up straighter and looked around at the groups of people talking low. "I killed people tonight, and turned into a bear."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, you probably brought most of them back to life, and the next time you think I'm cheating on you, you can just claw me."

Her face fell. "About that. I'm sorry. I got tricked."

He chuckled and pulled her close, swayed gently. "It's okay. Someday you're going to figure out what you are to me, and you won't question your place in my life anymore."

"What am I?" she asked softly.

"Silly girl." He kissed the side of her head, and kept swaying her. He inhaled deeply, and slowly let his breath out. "You're everything."

She could hear truth now, and his words were full of honesty. Timber's face crumpled. She hugged him up tight and cried against the soot on his skin. Silly boy. Silly boy.

Didn't he know?

Didn't he understand?

He was everything to her, too.