Page 115 of Three to Fall

Someone screamed, and then another. Until screams cut through the night, terrifyingly real, even though I was frozen to the spot.

People shouted, and Gray put his phone to his ear, barking down the line at a 911 dispatcher.

“Hayley Jade!” Her name came out as a hoarse shout, and I spun around, searching through the group for her.

Kids and adults alike ran everywhere, food dropped in the process of everyone trying to find their families and War trying to herd everyone back from the danger.

Hawk and Hayden came sprinting out of the clubhouse, both of them shirtless, their jeans undone, boot laces trailing on the ground, but Hayley Jade wasn’t with either of them.

“Jax! Hayley Jade!” The scream hurt my throat. I stumbled desperately, nearly tripping over a chair that had been knocked over.

“I’ve got her, Kara!” someone shouted behind me.

Relief flooded through me, catching sight of Hayley Jade being guided back with the other kids by Queenie and Jax.

“The firefighters are twenty minutes away,” Grayson muttered, staring at the flames gaining traction by the second.

Hayden surveyed the scene. “There’s nothing behind us but more fuel for it to burn.”

Grayson nodded. “If it really gets going, it’ll be quick. Outrunning it with all those kids…”

My heart sank.

Hawk swore under his breath. “There’s a lot of us. We can put it out if we move fast.”

Terror gripped my throat. But there was no other way. We were on our own. Too remote to wait for help.

Hawk sprinted for the garden shed, pulling out a shovel and then running for the flames. Hayden and Grayson followed a moment later, the three of them sprinting toward the danger with nothing more than garden tools as weapons.

Hayden glanced back at me, shoveling dirt on top of the flames to snuff them out. “Stay with Hayley Jade!”

But it was clear to me, even as the rest of the Slayers joined the fight, that we needed more sets of hands than just the men. I looked around frantically, spotting the heavy cloth grill cover.

I caught Queenie’s eye, and neither of us had to say anything. I knew she’d protect those kids with her life. Bliss pushed Ridge into Rebel’s arms and shouted for her to go with Queenie and the kids.

Rebel seemed like she wanted to argue, but she was heavily pregnant, and Bliss didn’t stop to see if she agreed or not.

And neither did I. There was no time for arguing. Or discussions. Or negotiations over who would stay behind and who would go to the flames.

The men didn’t get to be protective.

We needed everyone to fight.

We all knew it.

I picked the cloth covering up and ran toward the flames, coughing into the thicker smoke. I hit the nearest flame with the bag, smothering it, and then again. And again.

Around me, my family did the same. Bliss had found a blanket and had taken up a spot beside me, beating back the flames the same way I was. Others dug up dirt to throw onto it. Heavy motorcycle boots stomped out what they could.

The two kitchen extinguishers Hayden had insisted on installing when he’d first started cooking here made the biggest dent in the flames, but we hit back with whatever we could find.

Smoke got in my eyes. The heat from the flames burned.

But by the time sirens rang in the distance, the fire was out.

Cheers went up as Hawk stomped out the last ember. Soot and dirt streaked his torso and face.

Grayson strode through the trees, gaze running all over my body when he found me. “Are you hurt?”

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