Scars Deeper Than Fire

He meant it.

Shoved off the teammate trying to stop him and sprinted straight into the fire.

"If I die, it's on you! Every one of you! You'll pay for it with your lives!"

The way he said it made my skin crawl.

As my husband, he knew better than anyone what it cost me to become a fire captain.

He knew these guys put their lives on the line every single call.

He knew what my injuries looked like after every mission.

He knew what failure meant for a team like ours.

And he still chose to screw us over.

I spun to my team. "Cover the evac. I'll deal with him."

They nodded, tight-faced, and kept moving.

I stayed behind, digging through wreckage for the junk he wanted—photos of him with her.

Most were already toasted.

As I reached for them, Axel yelled behind me, "Don't wreck them! I want them whole! And the album! And the prenatal reports! I put everything together!"

He'd packed it all in some fancy box, stuffed with sappy notes for the baby they were expecting.

On top? A picture of me and him.

My face was scratched out, buried under the nastiest insults I'd ever seen.

Axel's handwriting. No doubt.

"Hurry up! Don't mess it up! How's a woman even a fire captain? Freakin' joke! First thing I'm doing when I get out is reporting you! If my stuff's wrecked, you're DONE!"

One of the frames slipped out of my hand and shattered. Flames ate it in seconds.

Axel lost it. "Why don't you just die! That frame—she picked it out! It was her favorite!"

Then came the low, ugly rumble.

Gas.

"Did you shut off the gas line?"

Axel didn't even look up. Just snatched his box and bolted.

I spun around—

The fire had turned into a full-blown monster.

Axel saw it too. Shoved the last few guys out and slammed the door shut.

"What are you doing? Our captain's still in there!"

"Unlock it!"

Axel barked, "We have to lock it! If the gas spreads, we're all dead! She's the captain—she can handle it! MOVE!"

Right then, the building blew.

I tried blocking the fire with whatever I could, but the locked door trapped me.

Suddenly, the blast slammed me out of the room.

Glass ripped into my arms, legs, everything.

If one of my guys hadn't caught me, I would've dropped thirty stories straight into the pavement.

"Captain!"

They hauled me into the emergency stairwell.

Outside, Axel was already there.

Cradling her.

Whispering like we hadn't just almost died.

"It's okay, honey. It's over now. Don't be scared. I'm here."