“No. No crazy talk. We’re in this together.” Pulse galloping, he seriously wasn’t sure he could handle whatever desperate thing Linc was about to say.

“You’re really not going anywhere, are you?” Linc held his gaze again, tone suggesting he was talking about far more than packing out.

“Nope.” Jacob answered for all possible meanings. He wasn’t leaving Linc and Garrick here, wasn’t going to abandon his quest for more from Linc either. He could see that now. He was frustrated and angry and fed up, but he still wasn’t giving up. Not yet. Linc had quite possibly saved his life, no thought to his own. And that meant something. Was worth something. And at that moment, he had to believe that they would make it through. On all levels.

“I—” Linc’s words were cut off by the drone of an approaching plane. The sky was still hazy with smoke, and the wind appeared to have changed direction slightly but not died down. He flipped the comm set back on. “What’s the status?”

“Crew did a practice pass. No go. They’re doing another one now,” Ray reported, voice clipped. “Fire is shifting. We’re expecting more reports shortly.”

Never had Jacob prayed as hard as he did in the next few minutes. Not only for himself, but for Linc and Garrick, especially. Garrick might not make it if the rescue crews couldn’t reach them, even if the fire shelters held. His color was awful, a pale greenish-gray, and his skin was clammy to the touch.

“Okay. Four jumpers and cargo are away. They’re being pushed downwind of the drop zone. Could have a hike to get to you, but their spotter is trying to keep them out of the trees.”

Jacob glanced up in time to see little dots on the hazy horizon, each representing all his hopes for Linc and Garrick. Please let them find us in time. Give us enough time to get this right. Next to him, Linc grabbed his uninjured hand, squeezed, and Jacob had to believe something out there was hearing his unspoken pleas.

Chapter Twenty

Linc had been in some close calls before and made it through some harrowing tales, but he’d seldom cared so deeply about making it through. All of them. Garrick, who was going to survive even if Linc had to bargain with a slew of demons to secure his future, and Jacob, who was being an idiot, but was still the idiot Linc needed like the region needed rain. If Jacob wasn’t going to listen to reason and pack out on his own, then Linc was going to make it through if only to shake him for being so damn stubborn. Again. And still Linc grabbed his hand, held on, as they watched the rescue crew parachute in. Somehow all his rules about personal contact on the job seemed irrelevant now.

The shapes got bigger before disappearing, another tense wait for news. Meanwhile, he eyed the emergency fire shelters, knowing there was still a good chance they might be needed. On the ground, Garrick groaned again, and Jacob released Linc’s hand to go check on him.

“We’re getting you out of here,” Jacob told him, far more upbeat than Linc could have managed under the circumstances. “You just hang on, okay? Four jumpers are on their way. They should be touching down any second and making their way here. Wind’s turning. I can feel it. All you have to do is hold on.”

But when back at Linc’s side, his eyes were grave, mouth a hard, thin line. “I’m not lying about the wind, but he’s not going to make it if we can’t pack him out ASAP.”

“He’s a fighter.” Linc had seen many a fighter go down over the years, but it seemed like the thing to say, both for Jacob and also himself because fucking hell this sucked. He hated whatever was going on with his leg, rendering him unable to help Jacob as much as he wanted. And it wasn’t just his leg—his head swam like he’d pounded shots for hours, a massive headache that made talking harder than it needed to be. And the combination of the leg and head meant that the burden of action was all on Jacob. Even if moving Garrick without a backboard were advisable, which it wasn’t, he was too much for Jacob alone to carry, even if Jacob was one of the more fit jumpers. So, here they were. Stuck. Fire bearing down on them. Waiting for—

Crackle. Buzz. The comm set sputtered to life again. “We’ve had contact with the crew on the ground.”

“Thank God,” Jacob exhaled hard, sagging against Linc.

“Yup.” Ray sounded far more upbeat than he had a few moments earlier. “They got carried almost a mile off the landing zone, some even farther down, and one got treed, and there were some cargo issues. But they’re en route to you now. We’re looking at a limited window for a chopper if you guys can haul ass to an evac point we’ve marked downstream from the creek. Road’s a no go.”

Tags: Annabeth Albert Hotshots M-M Romance
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