Page 212 of Her Reluctant Hero
He dropped to his belly at the opening. She stared up at him, her face pale and drawn. He shouldn’t have left her alone without explanation. He had just been thinking about getting the others on the helicopter.
“Peyton!”
Her eyes snapped into focus. “You didn’t leave me,” she said, her voice breathy like it had been when he pulled her out of the tunnel.
“No, I didn’t leave you.” He prayed for the strength to pull her up as he stretched a hand to her. She handed him their packs first, smart girl, standing on her toes to push them up the tunnel. He tossed them aside, ignoring the shouts of the helitack crew.
He reached down and she gripped his forearms. The strain tightened his back, his buttocks, his shoulders, his throat, even the back of his head as he lifted. He opened his eyes to see her feet dangling. He was bearing all her weight on his shoulders. His ribs felt like they’d crack against the rocks.
Her swinging legs found purchase in the tunnel and he felt the relief instantly in his chest. She scrambled up, releasing one of his arms to grab the rim, helping him help her out.
“Good girl, good girl,” he murmured, and dragged her free.
She lay on her belly, her face against the hot ground as she fought for breath; he rolled onto his back, one hand on his chest as he gulped air into his aching lungs.
“You’re out,” he managed at last.
“Thanks.” Her voice was muffled against the ground.
Then he heard the sound. He snapped his head up and looked around.
The helicopter rotors had masked the noise of the fire, and now a wall of flames rose between Gabe and Peyton and the helicopter.
The dragon was back on the mountain.
He leapt to his feet, dragging her with him, forgetting his earlier pain. No time to gauge her reaction, to worry about her fear as he scanned for a way around the flames to the chopper.
What the hell was the fire feeding on? Nothing but soot and blackened grass had been between them and the helicopter. The soot must’ve been covering something flammable because flames shot up between the rocks where he and Peyton stood and the hillock where the chopper waited.
He dragged Peyton back from the fire, farther onto the mountain, aware of the fresh fuel available in the cracks between the rocks. Tension radiated up her arm, resistance as she tried to head for the chopper.
“We’re going the wrong way!”
“We’re not going to make the helicopter.” Why did she make him say it? Damn, putting it into words meant he had to think of another escape route.
“What? No. We can go down and circle back.” She pointed.
“Uh-uh, we can’t.” He fought to keep his own desperation from his voice, but he had to be realistic. “Waiting for us will just put them in danger.”
He raised his arms in a signal to the helicopter. The helitack pilot nodded an acknowledgment and lifted off.
Peyton wailed her despair. “Wait! Don’t do that.” She started for the chopper but he jerked her back. She whirled on him, eyes unfocused in her anger and fear. “What about us?”
Gabe couldn’t take time to answer. He released her and hopped down the rocks to retrieve their packs before the fire did, not allowing himself to watch as the chopper took off. Did she think he wasn’t exhausted? But their primary purpose had been rescuing the campers and they’d accomplished it. That was something to be proud of.
Now they had to get back to the fire camp on their own.
