Firefighter Unicorn (Fire & Rescue Shifters 6)

“I’m a paramedic and a firefighter,” he said without turning round. “It’s my job to rescue people, even when they’re bloody idiots. Now keep up.”

It was clear the conversation was over. Ivy could only trail at his heels, struggling to keep up with his longer legs. Inside, she was a turmoil of emotion. Confusion, hope, anger, delight…and underneath it all, a terrible, bone-gnawing guilt.

She’d made a deal with Gaze to find out Hugh’s secrets.

If it came down to protecting her sister or her mate…who would she choose?

Chapter 8

Hugh had been angry enough before. Now, having seen Ivy’s apartment when they’d made a brief stop to pick up her things, he was bloody furious.

“Did you know how they were living, Griff?” he demanded into his phone—quietly, since Ivy was in his guest room overhead and he didn’t want her to overhear. “There were holes in the floor. I thought you said you’d helped them get an apartment! That wasn’t an apartment, it was a fire-trap waiting for its chance to star in a tragic local news story!”

“It was the best I could do.” Griff’s rich Scottish voice sounded rather less patient than normal. “Rory, no! For the last time, don’t do that with your peas! Ross, use your own spoon, not Danny’s—and there go the peas again. Hugh, do you really need to talk now?”

Hugh held the phone away from his ear as a deafening clatter crackled out of the speaker. It sounded like someone had just thrown an entire cutlery drawer on the floor. Quite possibly someone had. Hugh was beginning to suspect that one—or both of—Griff’s year-old twins might possess the power of telekinesis.

“Look at it this way,” he said, when the din had abated marginally. “I’m giving you an excuse to skip out on feeding time at the zoo.”

“Hayley, my love, could you take over here? Sorry, Hugh says it’s important.” The background noise faded away, thankfully. “Right. What were you yelling at me about again?”

“Ivy and Hope’s apartment. Or rather, hovel. That decrepit pile of bricks should have been demolished thirty years ago. Couldn’t you have found them anything better?”

“I offered to help cover the cost of a decent place, but they wouldn’t accept a single penny from me.” Griff sighed. “All they would let me do was negotiate with the landlord for them, so that they could afford anything on Ivy’s wages.”

“And that’s another thing! She told me what she does for a living.” Hugh clenched his free fist, his temper rising again. “A whip-smart woman like Ivy, and she spends her days scrubbing toilets?”

“Says the Eton and Oxford-educated man who spends most days elbow-deep in bodily fluids himself,” Griff said dryly. “You do realize that you could have been angry about this for two entire years, right? At least I’ve been trying to help them.”

Hugh winced, his friend’s words slicing through him like a scalpel. Griff had been the only member of Alpha Team—probably the only shifter in Brighton—who’d been willing to even talk to Ivy after what had happened with Chase’s mate. In the past, Hugh had thought it foolish, not to mention a betrayal of Chase. Now he could only be thankful for the griffin shifter’s kind heart. How much worse could things have been for Ivy and Hope if Griff hadn’t stepped in?

How much better could things have been for them if we had? his unicorn said, with its usual knack for spearing him straight in the guilt.

“Well, I’m…I’m helping now,” he said, rather lamely.

“I’m glad you are,” Griff said.

“Even if I’m astonished that Ivy’s accepting it. She’s suspicious of any sort of assistance, poor lass. I told her that they could always come to me if they needed anything, but she’s only ever done that once. And unfortunately, on that occasion, I couldn’t help.”

“What did she want?”

Griff blew out his breath. “For me to persuade Ash to burn out her wyvern.”

Hugh let out a startled curse word. “Seriously?”

“Oh yes.” The griffin shifter’s tone was grim. “Thankfully he refused.”

The Phoenix’s most feared power was his ability to permanently destroy a shifter’s inner animal. Hugh had only seen Ash do it on a handful of occasions, as a last resort to neutralize dangerous criminals. He hoped never to have to witness it again.

It did more than just remove a shifter’s abilities. It burned away part of their soul, fundamentally changing their core nature. The thought of Ivy’s fierce, stubborn personality going up in smoke, leaving behind a vacant-eyed, smiling husk…just the mental image made his unicorn flatten its ears in distress.

“I can’t believe Ivy even asked,” Hugh said. “Didn’t you tell her she was basically volunteering for a lobotomy?”

“I tried. But she was desperate. She’d gladly sacrifice half her mind and soul if it meant she’d be able to touch her sister. But Ash wouldn’t even contemplate it. You know how he feels about using his power that way.”

Hugh made a mental note to buy Ash a beer at the next pub night. Of course, the Phoenix would only stare at it in polite bafflement—Hugh had never seen him drink anything stronger than water—but it was the thought that counted.

“Let’s all be grateful for his restraint,” he said. “Pass me over to Hope, will you? I need to talk to her about a change of plan.”