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“So, nothing has got you all bristled?” She flashed a look of disbelief. “For real. Out with it.”
Fine. Venting to Aria always seemed to help, and she’d end up telling her at some point. “We were at the hospital and started talking. I don’t know what came over me, but…I kissed him.” She smiled at the memory. The warmth of his lips. The strength of his hands around her shoulders. A moment where she’d felt safe. But it had been over before it’d started. “He took a call and had to rush off.”
“He didn’t say why?”
Nova shook her head. “It was clear the call was important, but…I don’t know.” If she were honest, she was mad at herself for feeling something.
“Wow, I can’t believe you kissed him. Bold. Way to go. I’m proud of you, girl.” She reached over and patted her thigh. “So…how was it?”
Nova’s face betrayed her with a big goofy grin. “Fantastic.”
Aria smiled. She flipped a switch and radioed the fire boss to let them know they’d be approaching in twenty minutes. “So are you guys a couple now?”
“No, and I don’t think we ever will be. Relationships are too complicated. Sure, it was nice, but it’s got me all distracted. You know that’s a problem for jumpers.”
“Speaking of—you guys should start your buddy checks. We’re dealing with erratic winds, and things are gonna be rough.”
“That high north wind is blowing the fires together.” Nova released her buckle and stood hunched in the cockpit. “We’ll get it, but say a prayer for us.”
“Always,” Aria said.
Nova crawled back to the stone-faced Alaskan jumpers, and minutes later, the plane descended to work out the pattern for the drop. The spotter pulled open the door, and the air roared in. Nova and the other jumpers did their equipment checks while the spotter assessed conditions.
After the streamers, the spotter turned to Nova and Finn with a rather grim look on his face. “It looks pretty bad, but I think you can handle it. Just don’t land between the fires. With all the smoke, you won’t be able to see where you’re going. If things get tricky, go long, and stay wide of the bluff. Last thing we need is one of you falling off a cliff.”
Nova glanced at Finn, who was securing his gear with a deep crease between his brows. Something in his demeanor seemed off today. “You good?” she asked over the roar of the propellers.
Finn gave a curt nod, not quite meeting her gaze. Before she could question him further, the spotter yelled for them to get in the door.
The afternoon sun streaked crimson across the smoke-filled sky. Nova dropped into the open door. Her heart hammered in her chest, but she lived for these moments.
The spotter gave her the slap, and she pushed off, tumbling out into space at ninety miles an hour. She tracked away from the plane, giving Finn plenty of room as she tried to orient herself. Descending into the smoke, she got shoved west, then north by the wind.
The world spun around her, and Nova lost the jump spot. “Blast it!”
After counting off the seconds, she pulled her ripcord and got flung back up when the canopy deployed. Wind swirled around the head of the main fire, playing havoc with all sense of control, dragging her like she was nothing. No strength to fight it. No control.
She pulled hard on the toggles, trying to spill air from the chute and slow her descent. But nothing could stop her helpless trajectory toward the towering Douglas firs.
She couldn’t see a thing except how close she was to the enormous treetops.
A blood-curdling shout pierced the roaring wind.
Nova jerked her gaze upward to see Finn hurtling straight toward her. His undeployed chute streamed uselessly above him.
Before she could even suck in a breath to scream, Finn crashed into her billowing canopy.
Nova’s chute collapsed. Tangled together, they fell in an uncontrolled plunge.
“Finn!” They spun in free fall. “Reserve! Reserve!”
Finn’s body hung limp. His chin lolling on his chest.
“Finn! Finn!” Nova screamed to no avail. “Wake up! Pull your reserve!”
Air buffeted them as they rocketed toward the trees on the ground, standing in rows like spears of an invading army. They needed to separate somehow, or they’d both die.
Finn was still unconscious. Nova had no choice but to get free on her own and pray the automatic activation device deployed his reserve. If it didn’t, she would be saving herself and condemning him to death.
