This Anna had already dismissed the dead humans from her thoughts and glided through the forest ahead of us. There was not a glimmer of hesitation or remorse in her.
I exchanged a glance with my brother but moved into position behind Anna as we followed after her. Something was wrong with her, but I’d always have her back. We’d figure this out.
My nose wrinkled as I smelled smoke. The overpowering scent of gunpowder from our firefight must have hidden it from me when we were on the beach.
Anna stopped in front of us, frozen for a heartbeat.
“Get him,” she said as she pointed at the second floor of the house.
Before I could ask who she was talking about, she was gone in a flash.
“Shit,” Mason cursed as she disappeared.
“What the fuck?” I added for good measure.
James narrowed his eyes at the house.
“She’s right. The fire must have started on the other side of the house, but it’s quickly moving throughout.”
Fire? After another moment, I realized what he meant. The smell of smoke was strong, and I could see the faint flicker of flames through one of the lower windows.
“Caleb,” Mason and I said at the same time. That’s who Anna was talking about.
“Let’s move,” James ordered.
The three of us formed a triangle as we sprinted to the house, our weapons at the ready. Only an enemy would have set our stronghold on fire.
“Caleb!” James called through the bond. “Move downstairs to the front of the house, we’re coming for you.”
“I can’t leave,” Caleb argued back. “Some of the guys are pinned down and need me to advise them on enemy positions.”
James burst through the front door, and the flames in the kitchen were immediately obvious. I sent the image to Caleb through our bond.
“Fuck!” he answered.
I heard faint high-pitched barking from upstairs, and Mason and I exchanged a glance. The pups. Caleb wouldn’t leave without them, and neither would we.
Mason and I both moved toward the stairs at the same time. Luckily, the stairs and the hallway were safe enough to walk through, but smoke was pouring out from beneath the bedroom doors to our left. Flames would probably be breaking through at any moment, and we needed to get the fuck out of here.
Caleb’s door opened, and I heard him curse as smoke poured from the hallway into his room. He’d probably been so consumed with his work that he didn’t realize the fire was here in the house and not further out where the battle was raging.
Caleb was holding Thor in his hands as the poor pup squirmed to get away.
“Loki ran under the bed when I opened the gate!” Caleb called to us in desperation. “I think the smell of the smoke spooked him.”
“Head downstairs,” Mason ordered. “We’ll get him.”
Caleb secured his struggling puppy under his arm and ran for the stairway as Mason and I darted into his room. I ignored the wall of monitors that Caleb had been using to monitor the battle. There was nothing we could do to help right now. Our mission was to rescue a helpless and scared pup.
Mason and I stood on opposite sides of the bed and flipped the mattress. Loki was huddled in one corner, his dark head pressed to the ground, and his eyes wide with fear.
“It’s okay,” I murmured to him as I held out my hand. “Come here, and I’ll give you a treat.”
The house gave a loud groan, and then there was a crash that indicated the fire was causing enough structural damage to cause a wall to collapse.
The sound terrified Loki, and he darted between Mason and I to hide under Caleb’s desk.
“Fuck,” I cursed.
“Grab him if he gets past me,” Mason told me before getting down on his knees to reach under the desk.
“Got him!” Mason shouted. He tucked the pup under his arm, and we both ran for it.
The hallway was now filled with smoke so thick that we could barely see. I folded an arm over my mouth as I cautiously moved forward. Heat blasted from the bedrooms on fire, and I’m sure it was only moments before the fire would be through the walls and doors on that side of the house. We only had seconds to make it out.
Once the stairway was in sight, I took the stairs three at a time. Mason was slower, as his balance was off from carrying the little dog, and I stopped to make sure he made it