Page 53 of Ignite

“We trust him to keep himself and us safe. Can we trust you to do the same for her?”

That question had only one answer. It was tough and something he really didn’t want to do, but there was very little choice in the matter.

He’d face the consequences later as long as his woman and her family stayed protected.

Carefully, he moved Jazz from underneath his arm and settled her back on the couch. He tossed a fleece blanket with a big purple nebula on it over her and waited to make sure she stayed asleep. Outside on the landing, he pulled out his phone and dialed Camshaft. “I need you to come to my place and keep watch until I get back.”

The sounds of pumping music came through the speaker. “We have a full house here, brother, but I can send Tugger over there.”

Wolf didn’t particularly want the newest recruit to guard his family, but he had little choice. Tugger was named after the winch at the mines that lifted heavy equipment from the earth’s depths. The man wasn’t the brightest bulb in the pack, but he was available, and Wolf didn’t plan to be gone any longer than he had to. “Do it.”

Wolf waited until the younger man showed up, then left the house and headed out on his bike, crossing over the bridge and into the city. People still roamed the streets at this hour, but he ignored them. His focus was on a different goal, one he never thought he’d have to take up again, but circumstances had come full circle, and he needed to step up.

Once he reached the storage facility, he had to scroll through his phone to find the notes on the combination code. The buttons beeped as he entered the numbers, and the gate rolled back. Three minutes later, he stood in front of the unit he’d rented years ago. He never understood why he didn’t get rid of the contents a long time ago. Perhaps somewhere in his subconscious, he thought he’d have to open this part of his life again. He sighed and looked up the second code.

The air in the unit was musty and warm. There was a single bulb hanging from the ceiling, and he pulled the string to turn it on. Two sets of shelves graced the walls of the narrow space; each one held locked boxes of various sizes. With laser focus, Wolf moved between them and started opening and inspecting.

32

Jazz came awakewhen Freya jumped on her and buried her claws in her thighs. “Ugh, I got it, I got it. Breakfast is coming.”

Her normally placid cat wasn’t having it. Instead of the insistent meow, the cat screeched and slapped her several times in the face. The crazy behavior was enough to make Jazz fully wake up. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

The cat crouched on Jazz’s chest, trembling and staring with wide eyes. Saliva dripped from her panting mouth, and she growled instead of purred.

That’s when Jazz noticed the smell. Wood and chemical. Noxious. Smoky. Not like a campfire, but like?—

Oh shit!

She sat up and gagged as she sucked in a lungful of smoke. It was thick, rising in a steady haze up the stairs from the bottom of the house. The floor under her feet radiated heat. What the hell was happening?

But her instincts already told her.

Shit! Dammit! Fuck!

Where is Wolf?

She exploded off the couch and screamed for the boys. “Ian! Ivan! Get out of the house!” She snatched Isaac from his crib and scooped up Freya.

Ian stumbled into the living space and started coughing. The smoke was getting thicker.

“What’s that smell?” he mumbled.

“There’s a fire. Move faster.”

“I need shoes.”

“I’ll get them.”

“I don’t know where they are.”

The fire alarm finally kicked in and let out a shrill scream. Jazz lost it. “I don’t care about your shoes! Get out of the house! Now!”

She half dragged Ivan from the bed, but he didn’t act out for once. Maybe it was the urgency in her voice that got the little boy to move, or the fact that the room was filling up with smoke. Jazz snagged her cell phone from her computer table as she pushed the two kids to the front door. She stopped short of stepping out and stared in horror at what she saw.

The walkway was gone. Pulled down or broken out so they couldn’t cross it to the street. And there was no way to get out through the bottom floor.

They were stuck in a burning house.

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