Page 4 of Frostbite & Mistletoe
Then he turned and ran to join Maggie in putting on his gear.
A muffled roar rolled out of the building. She heard a back window blow out, and saw the golden glow of flames on the gravel. Her knees buckled.
She hardly noticed when Zoey draped a blanket around her shivering shoulders.
Kymberlie’s wolf howled in her mind, wild with anger and loss. Sirens wailed in the distance, but she knew, deep down, that they’d arrive too late.
The Hair of the Dog was burning down in front of her, along with all her hopes and dreams. And she was powerless to stop it.
Chapter Two
Gabriel Egan gripped the dashboard of the fire truck to steady himself as Evan Swanson turned off the highway and took the corner into the club’s parking lot just a little too fast.
Smoke billowed from the west side of The Hair of the Dog, dark plumes visible against the night sky.
A crowd stood watching from the wide gravel parking lot. No one looked hurt or panicked. Gabe breathed out a sigh of relief.
“Looks like everyone got out okay,” he said to Evan, a burly, dark-haired bear shifter who was one of several Swanson volunteers in the Bearpaw Ridge Fire Department.
Evan nodded as he pulled the truck between the club and the onlookers.“That’s a relief. I’m sure the place was packed tonight. It could’ve been really bad.”
Ice crawled down Gabriel’s spine as ugly memories surfaced of another club in another town. He pushed them aside.No time for that.He needed to keep his head in the here and now.
This was his first actual fire call since he’d joined his new town’s volunteer fire department a couple of months ago. Until now, they’d been called to respond to medical emergencies of various kinds and a bunch of motor vehicle crashes.
The fire engine lurched to a stop, and Gabriel was out almost before the wheels stopped rolling. The night air hit him with a blast of smoke and spilled beer, tinged with an undercurrent of fear—a scent he’d recognize anywhere.
His sabertooth instincts heightened his senses, making the smells sharper, the sounds clearer. Like everywhere else in Bearpaw Ridge, the crowd was a mix of Ordinary humans and various kinds of shifters.
The casual—and peaceful—coexistence of different shifter lineages here had surprised him when he first arrived and joined the Cougar Lake Sabertooth Pride. Which, to his shock, included at least two bear shifters mated to pride members, including one of the pride’s governing council members.
He shouldered his self-contained breathing apparatus, giving the tank’s gauge a quick check as he jogged toward the entrance.
The crowd parted around him, faces turning with mixtures of relief and concern. Some folks were coughing, others clutching drinks they’d brought with them in the evacuation. Gabriel scanned for injuries but saw mostly just shock and avid interest.
The Hair of the Dog was housed in what looked like a genuine old saloon. Wood frame, western façade, cedar shake roof. It looked like a real firetrap.
Smoke wasn’t pouring from the main entrance, which was a good sign.
As Evan jumped down from the truck, the pump engine pulled in behind them.
Then Gabriel spotted two familiar figures in turnouts. His fellow BPRFD volunteers, Maggie Swanson and her mate, Cade, stood at the front of the crowd. They were at work establishing a perimeter, directing patrons to keep the parking lot entrance clear.
“Maggie!” Gabriel called, jogging toward them.“Status?”
“Gabriel!” She turned, relief flickering across her features.“Everyone’s out of the building and accounted for. Fire started in the back storeroom—looks electrical. It’s working down the hallway toward the kitchen, but the sprinklers kept it from spreading into the bar.”
“Power off?”
“Cade shut the main breaker,” she said, nodding toward her husband.“We tried a hand extinguisher, but it’s too far gone.”
Gabriel glanced toward the rear of the building. Smoke poured from the back of the building, the windows lit orange by the glow inside.“Any hydrants nearby?”
Maggie gave a quick headshake.“Nope. Closest one’s back by the highway turnoff. But the river’s right there.”
She pointed to a line of bushes and cottonwood trees along the back edge of the parking lot. Through a break in the vegetation, Gabriel spotted dark water sparkling in the moonlight.
Gabriel grimaced.“All right. We’ll nurse off the engine tank until the tender’s ready. If we run low, we’ll draft from the river.” He shot her a look.“You okay with my taking command here?”
