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Heatwave didn’t groan with Prescott’s cameras on him and sending a live feed to the mainland. He had thought they were past this; past Kade mugging for a world that couldn’t care less. The redhead shouldered Graham out of the way, just as the engineer started to climb out onto the damaged bridge.
“Leave this to the professional,” the showoff declared, blowing in like an overplayed superhero.
“Kade!” Graham looked down at Boulder. “Will this thing hold up under his weight?” Which was a hell of a point. Graham weighed significantly less than Kade.
Boulder was clearly concentrating on holding the crumbling bridge together. “I don’t know. It’s definitely pushing the integrity of the remaining structure.”
“That moron,” Graham mumbled darkly, glaring back to his brother.
The firefighter had always been surprisingly fleet-footed, in Heatwave’s estimation. This time was no different; he scrambled over loose bits and jagged holes like a bighorn sheep. The Pruitt’s car slid into the river with a horrid screech, taking barrel-sized hunks of concrete down with it. Kade’s head snapped up, eyes widening as the bridge began to drip into the water. He grabbed up Charlene, wrapping the toddler into the flaps of his coat and running pell-mell back the way he came. Somehow, the man managed not to trip, covering more than half the bridge’s length in just a few harrowing seconds.
Kade flopped into the grass, little girl riding up and down on his heaving chest. He was breathing so hard and fast it worried Heatwave. The firebot scanned his partner, discreetly. Kade’s temperature was elevated but he was beginning to sweat; his pulse was thundering, but actually slightly slower than when they arrived. That bit of data was startling, prompting Heatwave to review his memory of their approach to the scene. Everything had seemed normal, until they’d come close enough to see Graham fixing to crawl out on the ruined bridge. Kade’s heartrate had gone through the roof, though he’d controlled his breathing. To avoid attracting Heatwave’s attention, the firebot realized. The stress pheromones the man had released still filled Heatwave’s cab.
His human had been terrified.
“Here you are, safe and sound,” Kade muttered to Charlene, whose little fists clung to his suspenders in lieu of her parents. The Pruitt’s shouted concern from the other side of the ravine, but Heatwave couldn’t make the words out over the sound of the water and the wind. Kade wrapped a hand around the little girl’s back when the terror finally sank in and she began to sob. “I got you,” he soothed, “Mama and Daddy will be here in a minute.”
Blades’ suddenly jerked into action, dropping down next to Chase on the far side. Moments later, Edgar Pruitt was scrambling from the cockpit, scooping up his daughter without so much as look at Kade. The father cooed comfort to the little girl as he climbed back into Blades. The firefighter’s belligerent ‘Thank you’ never came. Instead he grinned, sucking in great lungfuls of air as the helicopter’s downdraft buffeted him with grass.
Graham kicked his older brother halfheartedly in the shoulder. “You jackass,” he hissed with significantly more feeling. “What is wrong with you?”
Kade grabbed the smaller man’s ankle. With a hard yank, the fireman pulled his little brother down into the grass. “Primus,” Kade breathed, burying his face in Graham’s neck, and wrapping the younger man tightly in his arms.