His lungs burned in his chest, but he didn't dare draw in a breath. He could taste how thick the smoke was, bitter and acrid on his tongue. Even a single lungful would put him helpless on the floor, coughing his guts out.
Holding his breath, he charged down a flight of stairs, leaping the ones that had already fallen in. Embers swirled around him. His uniform jacket and trousers protected him from most of them, but some still burned the bare skin of his neck and face. Chase barely felt the pain. His stallion danced in agitation, urging him on.
There. There!
Chase scooped her up, cradling her protectively against his chest. There was no time to check whether she was breathing. His own lungs were burning, every instinct in his body desperate to draw in air. White spots danced behind his closed eyes as he blindly raced back up the stairs.
His chest felt like he was being squeezed by iron bands. Chase stumbled, strength draining out of his legs as his body cried out to breathe. Only the weight in his arms kept him moving forward. His entire world narrowed to the single desperate need to get his precious burden to safety.
Just one more step. Just one more. One more—
He stumbled out into light and cool air. Chase collapsed to his knees, still cradling her tightly in his arms. Clean air had never tasted so good. For a moment, all he could do was blink his streaming eyes, and breathe.
Ash seized him under the arms. The phoenix shifter dragged both Chase and the woman he'd rescued further away from the burning building. “Hugh!” he shouted.
A second later, Chase felt Hugh's bare hand on his neck. A familiar, comforting warmth spread out from the paramedic's touch. The pain from his burns eased as Hugh's healing talent took effect.
“I'm okay,” Chase said, jerking away. “Concentrate on her. Please, now!”
Hugh shot him a curious look, but transferred his focus to the rescued woman instead. Chase watched anxiously as the paramedic ran his bare hands over her throat and face. She was pale and motionless, limp in Chase's arms. Terror filled him, as thick and deadly as smoke in his lungs.
When she finally took a breath, all the air rushed out of him. He sagged in relief.
“That's it,” he said to her, stroking her singed red hair back from her beautiful face. “There you are. There you are at last.”
“Chase. Explain yourself.” Chase had never heard Ash so coldly furious. A faint heat-haze shimmered in the air around his shoulders, in the shape of burning wings. “What is going on here?”
“Commander Ash, allow me to introduce Constance West.” Chase never took his eyes off Connie's face. A broad grin spread across his own face as she started to stir. “That's it. You're okay, Connie. Everything's going to be okay.”
Connie's eyelids fluttered open. She looked straight up at Chase. Her eyes widened with recognition.
“Oh, no,” she croaked, and promptly fainted again.
Chase beamed up at the rest of the fire team. “She's my mate.”
CHAPTER THREE
Connie drifted up into consciousness to the reassuring sound of beeping equipment. A faint scent of roses mingled oddly with a stronger smell of disinfectant.
Hospital. I'm in a hospital. I think.
How did I get here?
She had a confused, dreamlike memory of being pulled out of a burning building. But she must have been hallucinating from smoke inhalation, because she could have sworn she'd been rescued by—
“Hello, Connie,” said an impossible, Irish voice.
Connie opened her dry, scratchy eyes, blinking. The vague blur of color next to her bedside resolved into an instantly familiar, infuriatingly handsome figure. The ghost from her past grinned down at her, as cocky and charismatic as ever.
Connie groaned aloud, closing her eyes again. “Chase Tiernach, go away.”
“All right,” Chase said, unexpectedly.
Connie reopened one suspicious eye. She couldn't see him anymore.
“Is this better?” Chase inquired solicitously from the foot of the bed.
“I mean go away entirely. Out of my room. Out of my life. Again.” Connie sank lower down in the bed, pulling the sheets over her head as if she could hide from her past under the covers. “What are you even doing here?”