No! Her swan beat its wings furiously, making her ears ring. He needs us! Turn around!
“Keep your feathers on,” Rose muttered, looking in her rear-view mirror to check that the policeman was out of sight. “I have a plan.”
Pulling over to the side of the road, Rose parked. She would have liked to conceal the car, but there was no hope of driving it deeper into the thick forest. She’d just have to hope that the police officer wouldn’t waste time looking for her when he spotted it. He was only doing his job, and she didn’t want him to get caught in the wildfire.
She also hoped that he wouldn’t be along for a few minutes. Bad enough that he’d find an abandoned vehicle. If he found her taking all of her clothes off next to it, he probably would haul her off in handcuffs to the nearest mental institution.
Kicking off her shoes, she shimmied awkwardly out of her shirt and shorts. Not for the first time, she wished that she was a mythic shifter, like a dragon or a pegasus. It must be nice, never having to worry about being caught buck naked. Unfortunately swans shifters couldn’t just magic their clothes away and back again.
At least she was big enough when shifted to be able to carry a few essentials with her. She grabbed her emergency pouch from the back seat, looping it around her neck. Then, stretching out her arms, she gave herself up to her swan.
As ever, the shift raced over her skin like a lover’s caress. She thrilled at the sensation of stretching into her other shape, becoming sleeker and stronger.
Anyone who thought a swan was just some lumbering, overgrown duck had never been one.
Her shining black wings stretched over eight feet from tip-to-tip. Her powerful webbed feet and scaled legs could propel her equally well across land or water. She’d taught more than one arrogant would-be alpha not to underestimate her just because she didn’t have claws and fangs.
Of course, the disadvantage of her size was that she needed a heck of a run-up to take off. Spreading her wings, she ran full-tilt along the road, flapping with all her strength. It was harder to get airborne from dry land rather than water, but she managed it, although it wasn’t the most graceful process.
Once she was in the air, it was much easier. Heat rising from the burning forest caught her outstretched wings, lifting her higher like a child tossing a ball. Safely above the treetops, she circled, arrowing back the way she’d come.
The police officer was back in his car, talking on his radio. He never even glanced up as she soared overhead. No
longer bound to follow the road, Rose turned her beak straight in the direction of her mate. The pull was even more urgent now, pulsing through her veins as strongly as her own heartbeat. It pulled her on irresistibly.
Straight toward the wall of fire burning on the horizon.
As she flew closer, she could see that it was literally a wall. The wilderness firefighters had cleared a wide strip through the forest. The deadly blaze roared hungrily right at the edge of the firebreak. Burning leaves and sparks fell harmlessly onto the barren earth, unable to cross.
A group of firefighters were falling back, exhaustion clear in their stumbling steps. They must have been working all night to finish the firebreak.
Her mate was so close. Could he be one of the firefighters? A little thrill went through her. Call it a cliché, but she’d always had a thing for a man in uniform.
Not, she had to admit, that they were a terribly appealing sight at the moment. Once-yellow safety gear was now mottled with ash and mud. The men were as filthy as their uniforms. Most of them were hastily throwing chainsaws and cutting tools into the back of an off-road vehicle, clearly eager to be gone, but a couple seemed to be having an argument.
Rose swooped as low as she dared, passing so close to the firefighters that a few of them ducked. She scanned every upturned face, hoping for that lighting-bolt of recognition… but she saw nothing but surprise and fatigue in their eyes. None of them were her mate.
“…still in there!”
She caught the snatch of words as she swept past a pair of men at the back of the group. On impulse, Rose landed. They were so caught up in their argument that they didn’t notice her sidling over to hear better.
“I’m telling you, I saw him.” One of the firefighters pointed into the forest, looking agitated. “Just let me go back and check!”
“Anyone still in there is dead!” The other, who she guessed was the leader from the grimy insignia on his helmet, shoved him back. “Now clear out! That’s an order!”
The other firefighter obeyed, though his reluctance was clear. With a last backward glance over his shoulder—and a double-take at Rose—he joined the others in the vehicle.
Rose’s heart lurched as the truck roared off down the road.
They’d left someone behind.
And her mate was still calling to her.
The heat of the fire beat against her skin even through her feathers. Gouts of flame leaped up from burning pines. It would be difficult enough to try to fly over the wildfire. To fly through it, searching for someone collapsed on the ground…
Terror gripped her so hard that she could barely open her wings. She spread them anyway. Steeling herself, she faced the inferno head-on…and saw him.
For a second, she thought she was imagining things. But there was a dark, wavering figure, blurred by smoke and heat haze.