“Hawk, I’ll drive.” Fear tightening his guts, Bull ran across the lawn to the house with Gryff at his heels. “Buddy, guard the place.”

He got an acknowledging woof.

With Hawk in the passenger seat, Bull drove his pickup down the road. Ahead of him, Gabe’s Jeep turned onto Swan Avenue. They went past the lake and onto Lake Road. The vehicle skidded to a stop at Frankie’s as Gabe kept going to the last of the four blazing buildings.

In the few minutes it’d taken to get there, flames had engulfed Frankie’s cabin.

“You see her?” Hawk jumped out.

Throat-clogging smoke filled the air, and Bull coughed as he scanned for her small figure.

No one. Fear rose even higher inside him.

Her door and windows were aflame, bright orange against the dark cabin walls. The heavy logs shouldn’t have caught fire so quickly. The pattern was too deliberate.

This was arson.

Outside the light cast by the flames, the shadows were thick enough to hide…anyone. Bull’s pulse quickened as his lizard brain awoke, screaming about danger. He silenced the little voice and stayed focused on the goal: find his woman. “Go on. I got this.”

As Hawk ran for the next cabin, Bull jogged around Frankie’s. A waft of wind sent embers through the air. “Frankie!”

“Here!”

At the sound of her voice, relief punched into his chest like a bullet. “Where?”

“In here.” A hand appeared through a busted-out window. “I can’t g—” Coughing interrupted her. Flames from behind silhouetted Frankie—but she was alive and on her feet.

For the moment. Fuck. The rectangular bathroom window was far too small for a person. Probably why it hadn’t been lit on fire. His gut tightened. The door and other windows were burning. This was the only way out—or she’d die. “Hold on, sweetheart.”

He grabbed the sill and yanked. Not quite enough. He roared, “Hawk, need you!”

“Coming!” As Hawk appeared from around the corner, Bull moved his grip to one side of the window frame. “Need an assist.”

Hawk grabbed the other side of the sill.

“Now.”

They yanked together—and ripped out the sill as well as the wood below it. Thank fuck.

“You good?” Hawk caught Bull’s nod, then sprinted toward the other cabins.

Coughing as smoke eddied around him, Bull punched out the last of the jagged glass. “Turn sideways, sweetheart. I’ll brace you.”

Still coughing, she nodded. It was going to be a tight fit.

From the direction of Rescue, sirens were approaching, barely audible over the roaring crackle of the fire.

Frankie tried to squirm out the narrow window but turned sideways; she couldn’t use her feet to push.