I crouch along the front of the house as the sound of sirens roll up the street. My backup has finally arrived. I’m excited at the prospect of having a squad with guns, even though I watched many of the men walk out of the house, free already. I didn’t see Gareth or anyone who looked like him-presumably his brother.

I’m about to turn and address one of the police cars when a telltale scent hits me, and I freeze, turning back to look up at the house. It’s not noticeable yet but it will be. If there’s anything I know, it’s fire, and it spreads fucking fast. There is no time to wait for the cops to join me. I have to get to Scarlett, now. Those assholes think they can pull the same stunt they did last time but they aren’t counting on one thing.

Me, motherfuckers.

I run up the painted porch steps and kick in the front door, not caring about the damage. Of course, I rarely do. Buildings can be fixed. Dead people can’t.

A wave of hot smoke blows into my face, and I lift an arm to shield it, wishing for my fire suit as I press forward into the heat. Down the hallway, there is a doorway to the back, where I knocked out that guard.

Gareth and his brother make their way out that door but I don’t have time for them.

I have to get to Scarlett.

The fire is catching fast, and the scent of gas reaches me, so I know I have way less time than I want. I wind my way around the house, away from the flames. Part of me is afraid of what I might see—Scarlett, burned and charred. The image fills me with a sense of urgency, and I press on, seeing no one else as I make my way back through the kitchen and down a hallway.

“Scarlett!” I call.

The flames are loud, the wood around me creaking. I tear off a piece of my shirt and press it to my nose and mouth as I press on, a wave of flames meeting me in the hallway. There are two rooms to the side, and I have to check them. I have to check every room on this floor before I move up to the next level. I hope that I can find her sooner. With the gas involved, I have minutes, maybe less.

“Scarlett!” I scream again, and I think I hear a response through the wall of smoke. Holding my breath, I plunge through. The smoke burns my skin, ashes swirling around me as I peek into the first room.

This had to be where they started the fire. It’s already burned through, most of the room gleaming with embers as it burns itself out. I charge onward, thinking only of Scarlett. In spite of the stress, it feels good to be taking action, to be doing something after being on the sidelines for so long, grasping at straws.

Adrenaline pumps through my veins. Through all of this, Scarlett has been at the front of my mind. Even when my own life was threatened, I still put her first. I know in this moment that I love her, that I can’t live without her, and that knowledge gives me a surge of energy as I push through another cloud of smoke, my jeans catching fire at the knee. I quickly pat it out as I dive into the next room.

Scarlett’s eyes are wide as she watches the flames crawling toward her from across the room. I’m ecstatic to see her alive but we’re not out of this yet. I drop to my knees next to her, and she looks down at me, a little dazed from the smoke.

“Isaac? Am I dreaming?”

“No, you’re not. I’m going to get you out of here, Scarlett. Just hold on.”

“Not much else I can do, really,” she says, glancing at her tied hands and feet. I tug on a zip tie, and she cries out in pain.

“I don’t think that’s the best method. You got anything else?”

The fact that she’s a little loopy is probably a good thing. My eyes dart to the encroaching flames, and I know that she could go up in them if I don’t move faster. It doesn’t take a genius to see that she’s been doused as well.

They certainly took measures to make sure she didn’t survive this round.

I can’t wait to prove them wrong.

There is a desk in the room, and I pull open a drawer, sifting through the contents. Nothing in there is sharp enough to cut through the ties.

“Fuck. Scarlett, I’ll be right back, okay? I need to get something to cut those ties.”

“Do hurry, will you?” she says, her head lolling to the side as she watches me with red eyes.

She needs oxygen. She needs a lot of things. My heart is pounding as I bolt out the doorway and press through the smoke to get to the kitchen. My skin burns with every second I remain in that building, and there’s a chance that Scarlett doesn’t have another minute to spare.

A wooden block stacked with knives and kitchen shears stands on the counter, and I grab the scissors, turning back toward the inferno. I dive back in, sprinting through the heat, sweat pouring down my back.

The fire has nearly reached her. She won’t be able to save herself from the burns once it does. She looks up at me and grins.

“Fancy meeting you here. Mind cutting these?” She coughs the words out.

She nods down at her ties, and I move fast, swiping at the zip ties with my scissors and deftly removing them. When I cut the ones off her wrists, I notice the wound that goes all the way around, fresh blood pouring from her wrists as she slumps down.

“Whoa, there. We’re not out of this yet. Come on.”

She leans heavily on my shoulder. She doesn’t have the strength to get out of this on her own. I lift her into my arms and eye the door, knowing that I’m going to have to be extra careful on my way out. I have a gasoline-soaked woman on my hands. I might as well be walking into a flame with a fresh matchstick. I hold my breath and send up a quick prayer to anyone willing to listen before I rush out the door, remembering the path I took to get here.

I turn back toward the kitchen, a path I am now familiar with, sprinting as fast as I dare through the flames, holding Scarlett as close to my chest as possible, away from the fire. We burst into the kitchen, the smoke behind us as I pry open the back door, nearly stumbling over Kyle’s unconscious body. I consider dragging him out with us but Scarlett is my first priority. I’m not doing shit until I get her out of harm’s way.

I run around the side of the house, and more sirens wail nearby. A few cops call out as I run by, but I don’t stop.

“She’s hurt. She needs oxygen,” I say as I keep moving, not letting anyone touch her as I approach the waiting ambulance. When we stop there, I pry open the back door as the driver meets me in the back.

“What’s the issue?” he asks, eyeing Scarlett.

“Just inhaled a lot of smoke. Oxygen, now.”

The man nods and steps into the back of the ambulance, pulling out an oxygen tank and mask. Scarlett is limp in my arms now, and I lay her down on the small gurney in the back of the truck, checking her pulse as I do. Her heartbeat is fast but strong, and I stare down at her as I wait for her to open her eyes. The medic places the oxygen mask on her face, and I watch her chest rise and fall as she breathes in fresh air, her expression peaceful for what she’s been through. I should be relieved. I have Scarlett back, and we are relatively safe. I won’t feel at ease until she opens her eyes and personally tells me she’s fine.

She has to wake up. Please, wake up.

Her eyelashes flutter, and a pair of blue eyes reveal themselves as she blinks back to consciousness. They search her surroundings until they land on me, and her hand reaches out for mine. I hold onto hers tight, trying my best not to squeeze as hard as I want to.

“You okay?” I ask.

She grins beneath the mask, and I know exactly what she’s saying. She doesn’t need the words.

You always ask me that.

I shrug and grin back at her.

“Can you blame a guy? This is the second fire I’ve had to pull you from, Smith.”

She looks as though she’s about to say something when her gaze grows distant, and her eyebrows narrow. When she looks back up at me, her grin blossoms into a smile. She says something but I can’t hear her through the oxygen mask.

“What was that?” I ask, and I look at the medic.

“She should be all right now that she’s regained consciousness. Miss, if you feel dizzy at all, please put the mask back on, okay?”

Scarlett nods in agreement, and I gently pull the mask from her face, freeing her to speak. I lean down to hear her better.

“I remember!”

Her voice is hoarse again from the smoke, and I’m reminded of the first time we met, in not so different circumstances. I want to crack a joke about how we must stop meeting like this but she’s on a roll, and I don’t want to break her stride.

“You remember what?”

She reaches for my face, tears streaming down her cheeks as she lets out a joyful laugh. “Everything,” she breathes, and she tugs my face down to hers, kissing me as she wraps her arms around my neck, holding me tight.

I kiss her back gently, not wanting to hurt her. I don’t know what condition she’s in yet, and I want her to feel safe. She will always be safe with me.

She ends the kiss, still beaming as I sit back up to look at her.

“That’s great news,” I say. I glance back and see a beautiful sight. Turning back to her, I grin. “Can you sit up? You might want to see this.”

She nods, and I help her to a seated position, pressing open the ambulance doors for a better view. Gareth and Richie Briggs are cuffed as the cops escort them to a police vehicle.

“We’ve been looking for dirt on you for a long time, Richie,” an officer says. “I imagine I’ll get promoted for this.”

Before Richie can respond, both brothers are placed into the back of a police car, the door giving a resounding slam behind them. Behind all of this. I look down at Scarlett, and she meets my gaze.

“So that’s that, then,” she says with a sigh. I can feel her relief. We’re finally at the end of this nightmare. “Hey, Isaac?”

“What can I do?” I ask, and she chuckles. But I’m serious. I’m ready to give her anything she needs, even if it means going to the moon for some rocks.

“Nothing. I want to say that I love you back. I didn’t get a chance to tell you before. I almost lost that chance. Lucky for me, I have you.”

“You absolutely do,” I agree, and I cradle her face in my palm, cherishing her. “And I wasn’t just talking when I said it before. I love you, too.”

She takes my other hand in hers and closes her eyes, her expression blissful. “Good,” she says.

And I have to agree.