“That’s different. You almost married the guy. I slept with Sam once. Once. How many times did you sleep with Jamie—” Cody growled. “Don’t answer that.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry. I know I’ve been an ass, but it was hell watching him near you, knowing you were mine. I probably didn’t react well when I found out he’d been keeping a lot more than his eyes on you—” He sighed. “Can we not talk about this?”
“Fine with me.”
Cody grew quiet for the rest of the drive. He turned toward her house without having to ask for directions.
“How many times did you come by my house?”
His jaw twitched. “Several.”
All those years she hated him, he kept watch over her, making sure she was safe, knowing she was his mate and that he couldn’t do anything about it. A spark of anger toward Renee flared in Shay’s chest, but she remembered Renee’s dead, staring eyes and ached with sadness instead, for Renee, the victims, Cody, and herself. Renee had seen how upset Shay was after it happened. She probably believed she was protecting Shay. Everyone seemed to want to protect Shay, but she had paid the cost.
“Will you show me where my parents lived before we go back?”
“Sure.” They rounded the corner, and Cody screeched to a halt in front of Shay’s house. Black smoke rolled from the upper windows. Cody jumped out of the vehicle. “Call for help. Stay here.” He raced up the steps and put his hand against the door, testing for heat before he opened it. A puff of smoke seeped out. He covered his mouth and nose with his shirt and disappeared.
Shay jumped out of the car and ran.
Chapter 16
Smoke filled the house. The kitchen was in flames, the striped curtains she and Lucy had made three months before, ablaze. The oriental rug and sofa it had taken Shay months to find was smoking. Her stuff. Her life. Gone. She ran to her bedroom and met Cody, loaded down with a laundry basket, the phone at his ear. “Get outside! I got clothes and your laptop. Go. Now! And cover your mouth.”
She covered her mouth and nose. Cody let his drop and took her arm, pulling her out of the bedroom, tugging at her when she stopped to grab a picture Renee had given her. The living room and kitchen were fully engulfed with flames. Heat blasted Shay’s skin. She and Cody were both coughing as they hurried for the door. Shay turned back for one last look at her sanctuary, in flames.
On the porch, she gulped in fresh air. Cody led her onto the lawn. Tears streamed down his face from the smoke. He set down the laundry basket, and the distant wail of fire engines sounded.
“Damn!”
“What?” Cody yelled over the screaming fire engines.
“My jewelry box—no! Cody, don’t!” She clutched at his arm. “It’s not worth it!”
He pulled free and rushed toward the house. Fire glowed red at the windows. Red eyes. Death. Shay had a vision of Cody fighting the vampires. “Cody!” she cried as he covered the lower half of his face again and ducked inside the monster’s mouth.
She ran toward the house, feet sluggish, heart thumping out each second like a ticking bomb. Between beats she heard shouts as the fire truck rolled to a stop. An explosion rocked the house. “Cody!” she screamed.
A big arm caught her around the waist, holding her back. “You can’t go in there,” a firefighter said.
“Cody’s in there,” Shay shrieked.
“Someone’s inside,” the firefighter yelled over his shoulder.
Shay struggled with him, trying to pull away. She had to find Cody, but each time she was blocked. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She sank to her knees, the grass cool beneath her as waves of heat rolled off the fire. She stared at the flames, unblinking, as the firefighters moved toward the house. A smoky form materialized in the doorway, and Cody burst out, coughing, his face and arms streaked with black, her jewelry box cradled under one arm. He uncovered his mouth, gasping for fresh air, as the firefighters hurried him off the porch. Shay searched his face, sooty, but not burned. With a soft cry, she flung her arms around him.
“It’s okay,” he said, squeezing her tightly.
Someone eased her back and checked Cody for injuries. He refused oxygen, and after a minute, he pulled her close, his arms sheltering her as they watched her house burn.
The firefighters gave it a good effort, spraying her house and the others nearby, but hers was too far gone. Neighbors gathered and watched, the horror of the flames reflected in their eyes. Shay surveyed the somber faces and realized one was missing.
“Lucy isn’t here.”
“Your neighbor? She’s probably running errands.”
“She never goes anywhere,” Shay said. “I do her shopping. There’s a woman from her church who sometimes helps out.”
“She’s probably with her, then.”
“Can we check on her?”
They started around the corner to Lucy’s house, when Shay heard tires screeching and a bang. Voices yelled, “Shay! Oh my God, Shay!”
Shay turned back and saw Nina climbing out of a black BMW parked with one wheel on the curb, the rear sticking out in the road and the front doors open. Nina and Matilda trotted across the grass toward the blazing front porch. A firefighter tried to stop Matilda. While they struggled, Nina darted past. A second firefighter caught her. They were yelling so loudly they couldn’t hear Shay calling them. When Shay reached them, the two women grabbed her in a hug, tears rolling down their cheeks. Matilda’s looked like a raccoon, with her mascara running.
The neighbors slowly drifted back to their unscathed homes, as the last of the fire was extinguished. Nina held Shay’s hand through it all, while Cody stood on the other side, his arm around her. Shay stared at the blackened
