you find someone, know you have my blessing.”
The wind from the ocean stung Russ’s eyes, and he blinked to clear them.
Anthony was gone.
Russ woke to the sound of the alarm signal on his phone. Liam startled, looking momentarily panicked, waking in an unfamiliar place.
“Shh, you’re safe,” Russ soothed. “It’s my phone.”
“There’s another fire?”
“Yeah, probably.” Russ grabbed his phone and saw that it was just after five in the morning. He listened to the message and swore under his breath.
“I’ve got to go in. There’s a blaze. I swear, things aren’t normally like this. I’ve been with the department for ten years, and I’ve never seen it like this before.”
He leaned down to kiss Liam, who still looked adorably sleepy. “Come on, I’ll drive you home. Believe me, this isn’t how I wanted our morning to go.”
Liam reached up to cup the back of Russ’s head, lengthening the kiss for a few more seconds. He drew back and looked into Russ’s eyes. “Be careful. Please.”
“Always.”
They dressed quickly, and Russ followed Liam out of the door and into the cold pre-dawn morning, locking up behind them. “Sorry about this,” he said, disappointed at the rushed end to their date.
“It’s okay,” Liam assured him. “I had a friend in Ithaca who was dating a doctor. Same kind of thing happened. It goes with the territory. Just remember what I told you. Take extra precautions.”
Russ’s heart warmed at the concern in Liam’s voice, and his easy acceptance of the interruption. “I’ll take a raincheck on waking up with you when we can do it right,” he said as they got into his car.
“I like that idea.”
Few cars were on the street at this hour, but as they neared the center of town, Russ heard the fire sirens. He drove past the station and into the driveway to Liam’s house, saying another hurried goodbye with a quick kiss and watching until Liam entered the bungalow, wary of having Liam walk home in the darkness with a Huntsman on the loose. Then he headed to the firehouse and walked right into the heart of the storm.
“What happened?” Russ woke slowly, surfacing into pain. His throat and nasal passages felt raw, and his eyes stung so badly he slammed them shut as soon as they opened. The low beep and hum of machinery told him he was in a hospital, as if even his damaged nose couldn’t smell the antiseptic.
“A beam came down,” Drew said from his bedside. “Justin would have been right under it. You tackled him, and it mostly missed you both.”
“Mostly?” Russ’s voice sounded like he had gargled glass, and felt like it too.
“A lot of flaming crap fell with it, damaged your helmet, which is why the smoke got to you. It took us a bit to figure out how to get you out of there without having the whole place come down around our ears.”
“How bad?” Russ managed. Drew held a Styrofoam cup with a straw for Russ to drink. The ice water soothed his throat.
“They want to hold you overnight for observation. Smoke inhalation. You’ll have some spectacular technicolor bruises from where debris hit, but your suit protected you. If you weren’t a shifter, you’d be a lot worse.”
Fox Hollow had its own hospital since shifters and those with supernatural abilities could hardly go to a regular facility. Thanks to generous funding from the community and the Institute, the hospital had everything necessary to handle even critical cases.
“Justin?”
“Not quite as lucky,” Drew admitted, replacing the cup on the nightstand when Russ waved it away. “He’s going to be okay,” he said quickly, holding up a hand to still Russ. “But he landed hard and fucked up his knee. He’s in surgery. I talked to Ty’s mom—she’s Justin’s emergency contact, since he doesn’t have family around here. She told me the doctor said they think they can fix it, but it’ll be a long recovery, and he might be off the truck for good, depending on how it heals.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah,” Drew replied. “But it’s still better than what would have happened if the beam had fallen differently. Dammit, Russ, we could have lost both of you.”
Firefighting was dangerous work. Everyone who put on a turnout suit knew that. Drills and training repeated that truth, so no one grew complacent. Still, Russ had ten years without a serious injury, so he should have figured his luck would run out at some point.
“Liam?”
“I called him once the nurses got you settled. He’s been here the