Page 40 of Burn Bright
The trees were bare from the winter, and the timber should have been too wet to burn, but this was no ordinary fire. A birch crackled and hissed as flames trailed their way up its trunk. Another bush blazed, and a lungful of smoke chokedme.
There was fire all around me. I'd backed myself against a small cliff, to keep the draugur off my back, and now there was no wayout.
"Neva!"
A hazy shape leapt the flames, landing in front of me. Cas. Behind him men were yelling, but the smoke made it hard to gauge what was goingon.
"Cas," I rasped. What was he doing? We were both trappednow.
Tearing his shirt off, he draped it over my head, and then swept me up into his arms. "Holdon!"
I could barely see. I couldn'tbreathe.
We launched through the flames circling me, and then Cas was running. All I could do was press my face to his neck, and hope he knew where he wasgoing.
Finally we burst free of the trees. The oppressive heat was gone; on another day I might have still thought it hot, but after the inferno, this wasnothing.
The prince and the remainder of the guards had their backs to the river. Behind us, trees blazed with unholyglee.
The entire forest could goup.
I stared at it in horror as Cas slowly set medown.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time," I rasped, coughing a little more. "I didn't expect them to burn like that! They were covered in mud and moss. They shouldn't have burned likethat."
Cas cupped his hands and dipped them in the water, holding it to my lips. The yellow in his eyes seemed a little more pronounced. Sweat tracked down his ashen face, and his hair was slick with moisture. "They were going to kill us if we didn't do anything. You saved our lives." His voice lowered. "You used thefeather?"
I'd lost it in the madness. My father's one treasure. Tears wet my dry eyes, almost a relief, as Inodded.
Water slid down my throat, washing down the taste of smoke. I knelt at his side and drank thirstily, plunging my hand into the river time after time. We had to move. We had to get out of here. A squirrel raced past me, darting along the shores of the river. Even the animals werefleeing.
But how could you escape a forest fire when you were in the heart ofit?
Especially when your legs were weighted like they were filled with lead, and your lungs felt like anoven.
"Is everyone able to stand?" Evaron bellowed, checking over the handful of guardsremaining.
Cas plunged his shirt into the river, and wrung it out, draping it over the back of my neck. I moaned.Bliss.
"Where is everyone?" Iasked.
His face remained grim, as he knelt at my feet and checked me over for burns. Ash marred the hard muscle on his chest. "The draugur cut down over half the company. This is all thatremains."
The prince had been here well before wearrived.
The reality of the situation floored me. "You came back forme."
Cas looked up, his hands softening on my ankles. "Always." His harsh expression softened. "Neva, you saved our lives. I couldn't leave youbehind."
He'd been forced to make a choice; follow his prince, or save me. And he'd chosenme.
I reached out and stroked the raw mark along his cheek, "You'reburnt."
And here he was tendingme.
Whipping the damp shirt from behind my neck, I held it to his cheek gently. Cas closed his eyes, as though nobody had ever tended tohimbefore. Then he sighed. "I'll heal. One of the benefits of being wolvren. Now, can you stand? We need to getmoving."
Cas hauled me to my feet, shouldering the pack he'd saved. Of course. His fur would be inside it. Behind us, the trees still smoldered, but it wasn't the conflagration I'd been expecting. I stopped beside the prince. All of them werestaring.
"What's happening?" Iasked.
One by one the fires were dying down, as if someone snuffed themout.
Hussar drew his sword, his arm shaking with fatigue. "There's thebitch."
