Page 24 of Redwood Blaze
No. I’ll never be fine if I keep running.
Instead, I take a deep breath, feeling the rage ebb away just a little. He’s waiting for me to falter, to give in to his whims. I want to scream, but I can’t afford the backlash. Not now. It’s better to give the narcissist what he wants than tempt him to do what I don’t want him to.
“Fine,” I say finally, swallowing hard. “You want something nice? Gideon, you handle the fire like you handle everything else in your life— recklessly and without a care for what might happen to other people. And at least you’re consistent. There. Happy?”
There’s silence on the line, but it’s not the end.
It never is.
My heart races. Adrenaline coursing through me. I’ve said more than I intended. His reaction is likely to be like the crackle of burning wood— sharp and unpredictable.
“I guess that’s better,” he finally says. An odd teasing tone returns. One I know holds retribution, but he’s waiting for the perfect time. “You’ll learn a real lesson, Millicent. You always do.”
And just like that, I’m reminded of why I have to keep giving him what he wants, no matter how much it grates against my soul. In this game, sometimes surviving means playing by his rules, at least for a little longer.
“Where is Rusty?” I ask.
“Right where I left him.”
“Where is that, Gideon?”
This cat and mouse has to end.
“He’s got a fuckin’ beacon on his shoulder. I hit it. Someone should be saving his ass soon.”
Creates a problem to solve and then be a hero?Total narcissist.
“I gotta go. It’s getting too hot for me. Never liked that about this fuckin’ job. It was like living in hell.”
Well, you would know, devil.
ELEVEN
MILLIE
I grabthe bag I created from what was in my warbag. It’s not everything, but it’s protection if I get caught in the fire, I need to be prepared. I pull out my hard hat and my coat. Always better to be ready than not.
I take out on a light jog. The scent of charred wood is ever present on the mountains. It’s only December and January that let us have the biggest reprieve. Otherwise, we’re on the clock twenty-four seven. Burnout is real. It takes a strong person to stay awake for seventy-two hours straight. We don’t do it often, or at least try not to, but when it happens, it happens. No one is going to lay down and just let the fire take them.
Callum jumps into my mind. Please let him be okay.
The fire’s not far and it’s moving east with the wind, so there’s little chance I’ll run into it —or rather it’ll run into me— but never no chance.
I pull out my phone and dial HQ.
It rings and rings and rings. The pit in my stomach for Callum deepens. They might all be out fighting or Gideon might have taken them out, too.
I dial Cole’s SAT phone.
“Cole,” is all he says.
“Hey, it’s Millie, I’m on my way toward you.”
“Why?”
“Cole, there’s a man, Blake, who is pretending to be a hotshot, probably a transfer from Diamond Ridge. He’s my ex and he’s a psycho. He’s done something to Callum.”
“Why would he hurt Callum?” he gets through the sentence and then chuckles. “Never mind. I know why. You two actually a thing, finally?”
