Page 55 of Ignite

This is what it must be like on Venus with all the sulfuric clouds and heat. What an absurd thought at this time.

A flurry of activity caught her attention. Several paramedics were working on a strange man who was lying on his back in a pool of blood. She pointed to him, trying hard to ask a question.

Wolf squatted down awkwardly, balancing himself and the baby. “Tugger, your bodyguard for the night. The medics say a car might have hit him.”

“Got… call… Liz,” she choked out. “How… boys?”

“In a minute, baby. Let them take care of you. The boys are fine. All of them. They didn’t breathe that shit nearly as long as you did.”

Dizziness hit her, and she rolled to her back. No, that was a fireman who moved her. An oxygen mask came down over her mouth and nose, and cool, clean air filled her starving organs.

“Vitals are good. You’re a very lucky lady.”

She tried to give him the live-long-and-prosper sign, but she was too tired to move. Her fingers waggled at the hard drive still jammed in her waistband, and Wolf cursed under his breath as he plucked it from her stomach. One of the paramedics took the baby to be examined, and Wolf pulled out his phone. “Ian, what’s your mom’s number?”

The boy’s face was streaked with tears as he stammered out the number. Ivan wailed and lay down on the ground next to his aunt as if he could absorb into her. “Please be okay, Auntie J!”

She shifted her arm around the boy and continued to cough. “I’m gonna be fine, Tribble-butt. Just gotta get some clean air in me.”

The oxygen mask helped a lot, and the kids were a great distraction from her own pain. She didn’t want to think about what just happened. Her house, furniture, and clothes. All her treasured memorabilia. Her precious books, pictures, and memories. Gone. Just gone.

It hurt.

It hurt as a personal violation.

No way was the fire an accident. Both sides of the house had been alight. The acidic chemical smell had to be some sort of accelerant.

Someone had hurt Tugger and set this up deliberately. The Slaggers were her first thought, but they didn’t have anyone capable of finding her via a deep network dive. She had covered her tracks too well for anyone but a hardcore professional to find her.

An icy chill arrowed down her spine. Whoever went after the other shielders had come to town. It was the only possibility that made sense. She needed to talk to Copperpot ASAP.

Once she had her voice back. Her throat felt swollen and heavy.

She heard Wolf yelling in the background.

“Goddammit, woman, get your fucking ass here! Now!”

Must be having trouble getting Liz to cooperate.Jazz wasn’t surprised, but it made her angry. Liz and responsibility mixed like oil and water.

She moved to sit up, and Ian did his best to help her. “It’s almost daytime. Where are you gonna live now?”

The innocent question was a good one. She could take the boys to their grandparents’ house, but that would probably stir up drama she just didn’t want to handle at this time. All of her bank cards were gone. Her computer too. She’d dropped her phone somewhere in the burning tangle of bushes when she crawled across the ladder, so it was probably gone as well. At least she’d kept the hard drive safe. Her eyes still burned and watered from the smoke. “I’ll think of something, kiddo. For sure.”

Ian sniffed as he sat next to her. “My dad’s never around, and Mom says we’re a pain in her ass. Gramma complains about us all the time. Grampa just sits around the house.” His face screwed up in pain, and he started crying. “Nobody wants us, and your house is all burned up.”

An imaginary knife cleaved Jazz’s heart in two. “Hey, buddy, I got your back. I really, really do. Pinkie promise and everything. I know your mom loves you, even though she yells a lot and stuff. We’ll have an adventure, yeah? We’ll go get pancakes at Denny’s for breakfast with an ocean of syrup. I’ll figure everything else out later, okay?”

She hated this. Her nephew was too young to have to deal with all the shit life just heaped on him. Not even in school yet and already he had to grow up fast because his parents couldn’t be bothered to actually do the job.

Freya!“Where’s my cat?” she croaked.

Ivan pointed. “Over there.”

Freya had evidently forgiven Wolf for tossing her across the dip. She sat next to him with her leg in the air as she groomed her fur. He brushed the phone’s screen with his thumb and addressed the ragtag group.

“Hospital first. Quillon’s wife kept her place as an Airbnb rental. Three bedrooms, and it’s open. That’s where we’re going to go once we get everyone checked out.”

Ivan popped up from Jazz’s side. “Can we still have Denny’s pancakes?”

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