Page 4 of Embers of Love

“Timmy’s our cat!”

“It’s alright, Henry,”the father triedto get the child to calmdown.He turned to Ember, looking apologetic.“The cat would’ve gotten out by now. It’s alright.”

They’vealready accepted the loss? Not on my watch

“I’m going in! There might be a cat trapped inside!”

“What?!”Haley looked surprised but Ember grinned back, pulling her breathing mask on. “Silva—you are with me.” She nodded at Leilani and Leilani obediently put her own mask on. “Johnson, Rodriguez—sort the water.”

“Ember! Wai?—”

Ember ran through the door followed by Leilani. She was immediately engulfed by the smoke.Oneof the worst things about entering a burning buildingwas the visual obstruction.Inexperienced folks could easily get disoriented. The house itselfwasn’tlarge. Ember knew itwouldn’ttake too much time to clear all the rooms.

They quickly checked downstairs, and Ember decided if the cat was down there it was not going to be alive. If Ember had to bet, the cat would be hiding somewhere upstairs. The stairs were not compromised by the fire so she nodded and indicated to Leilani and they made their way upstairs. Ember broke through a couple of windows with her axe to clear some smoke so they had some visibility. There was no fire up here apart from the back windows.

No sign of the cat in the first two bedrooms.Sheburst into the third room upstairs. The last room was the one in the back.Since the fire had started in the backyard,it was likelythis portion of the house was the most affected.Floors might be compromised. Ember moved carefully checking the floor as she went but without hesitation.

The fire had gutted most of the rear wall. The glass in the window had shattered from the heat. Despite the crackling flames,sheheard the cat right away.Hewas meowing for help from somewhere in the room. Itdidn’ttake long for her to locate the cat, hidingawayunder the bed. It was curled up in the corner, eyes wide with terror as she dropped to her knees.

Ember tried to reach for him, but he was too far inside, and her gear made it difficult to crawlfurtherunder the bed. Shedidn’thave much time. She had to be careful as she could hear the fire in the room below. She didn’t want to risk it coming through the floor.

With no time to waste, Ember grabbed the entire bedframe and lifted it up. All that time in the gym was paying off. The sudden lack of cover terrified the cat. It freaked and made a dash for the closet. Ember tried to reach out and grab it, but she was too occupied with the bed frame. Chasing the cat again would cause her to lose more time that shedidn’thave.

“Got it!” Ember heard from behind.

Leilani rushed in and scooped the catupin her arms before it could find a new hiding place.

Perfect. Leilani is a cat lesbian—I knew she was the best bet for a cat rescue.

“Let’s go!” Leilani called to her.

Relieved, Ember let go of the bedframe, letting it lean against the opposite wall as they moved as fast as they could out of the room. The instant she stepped out of the room, there was a loud crack and part of the floor came away where the bed frame had been. Emberdidn’tstop to see what else was damaged. The sound of destruction only spurred her to move faster. They flew down the stairs and out of the house with the cat in a blink.

Embermade her way towardHaley, Elle, and Captain Hunter while Leilani brought Timmy back to the family. From there, now they had the hydrant connected and the big hose out, all it took was getting the hose around the property, going through the neighbor’s house to get to the back, where they blasted the house with high-pressure water. It took another quarter of an hour before they put it all out completely.Ember directed operations and all went smoothly.

They were in the middle of packing things up when one of the kids rushed in to give Ember a hug.

“Thank you! You saved Timmy!”

Ember laughed, ruffling the kid’s afro. “Just doing my job.”

“You’re becoming something of a local hero, Ember Thompson,”Captain Hunter commented, observing them with a raised eyebrow.“That was some next-level cat heroics today.”

Ember understood she had made a bold decision to save a cat, which luckily had worked well. It wasn’t really against protocol, but she knew that not every captain would agree that saving a cat necessitated the level of response that Ember and Leilani had given.

“Sorry about that,”Ember apologized, acknowledging her fault. Leilani glanced at her and looked away guiltily.

“I love cats, Ember. I would have made the same call. I just might have been a bit more cautious in the building,”she said, searching for the right words.“But, when you love someone, there’s—it’s just different. You want to protect yourself more. You’ll understand when you find someone.”

Ember didn’t reply, but the words stuck with her. Would she ever find someone? She cared about the lives she saved, and she had had some flings in her time, but she had certainly never been in love in the way that Leilani was with Adaze. Or Captain Hunter was with Kaia. Or Elle was with Maya Monroe, the doctor. For Ember, this job was about thrills, and her personal life was about thrills, and that was all just fine.

“RUNNING INTO A BURNING BUILDING TO SAVE A CAT! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!”

Everyone near thechief’soffice winced at the sound of her voice. She was pissed alright. Chief Thompson always saved her top level of pissed for Ember. That was the wonderful thing about your mom being the big bad boss. However, it was a rare sight. Chief Becky Thompson wasnormallyknown for being level-headed and good-natured. Until it came to her daughter.

“Iwas just doing my job,”Ember replied, her voice steady.

“And you couldn’t wait to confirm it was safe to go into the burning house for a cat?” Ember should have known. Her mom had never been a big cat fan. Ember preferred dogs if she was honest, but she knew how much people loved their pets and she felt like saving a cat was nearly as good as saving any other family member.

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