Page 142 of Stay for Me

I’d been sucked back in, my memories mixing with my deepest fears that had crawled up from the trenches of hell, their talons clawing at my skin, breaking it.

I blinked again, and the weight in my arms shifted, the cold body suddenly warm with life, barely hanging on.

Honey blonde hair, soaked with dirt and blood.

Fair skin, marked with bruises and cuts.

Hazel eyes, the forest within them burning, scorching her soul.

“Firefly,” I rasped, gasping for air.

“Call Grayson!” someone shouted.

I felt heavy hands on my shoulders then, pushing me back—away from the nightmare, away from Diana. My back hit something hard, and then all I could hear was Kings’ voice.

“Alright fucker,” he growled. “You told me years ago if I didn’t snap out of it, you’d break my nose. Now I’m returning the favor.” He shook me, the edges of the ranch coming back into view, the heaviness in my soul fading back into the depths, the talons plucked from my flesh, the wounds closing. “Come back to the present, Mags. Right fuckin’ now, dammit, or I’ll break your nose and your jaw.”

I shook my head, and the sunlight was back, the burning sensation on the left side of my body spreading over the healthy skin. I was burning alive again, trapped in hell.

Something was put to my ear again, and Grayson’s voice was there. “Mags, snap out of it,” he ordered.

“I’m…,” I pushed out, rubbing my chest. “I’m burning.”

Denver’s voice was still close. “Burning?” he whispered.

“No, you’re not,” Grayson clipped.

The smell of burning flesh filled my nose, talons penetrating my back, shredding the scar tissue. I looked down at my hands, finding Diana back in my arms, the flames around her now, scorching her hair. “Diana’s going to burn with me,” I rasped, shaking my head. The image was still there, branded into my retinas. “I can’t—”

“The fire will never touch you again, brother,” Gray promised. “Told you that when I dragged you out, told you that every damn day in the hospital.”

I pressed the heel of my palms against my eyes, the memories tugging at me.

“You come back to the present, Mags. Right the fuck now,” he ordered. “Take a breath and hold it for ten seconds.”

I inhaled, expecting smoke but getting clean, fresh air instead. I filled my lungs and held.

“One,” Denver counted, his hand on my shoulder squeezing. As he continued counting softly, I opened my eyes, finding my home right in front of me.

“Five,” he counted.

My heart drummed in my ears. I was here. The fire was in the past. I was healed. Diana would never touch the fire; she would never be burned.

“Ten,” Kings finished.

“Release it,” Grayson commanded.

I let it out slowly, feeling reality settle around me.

“Good?” Grayson asked.

I reached up to take the phone and twisted my neck to find Beau holding it for me. “I’m good,” I said, not only to Gray, but to all the cowboys around me. Beau’s blue eyes flashed worry, but he nodded once, handing me the phone. I looked around, finding all the cowboys off their horses, brows furrowed, jaws set with concern.

“Don’t blame you for getting dragged back, Mags,” Grayson muttered in my ear. “But you’re never going back.”

“I’m never going back,” I said, looking up to the sky, my hat shifting against the wood of the barn.

“Chase is on his way here,” Mason informed us all.

---