Part 17 (2/2)

”No,” Annie said softly. ”The fault isn't yours. It's ours.”

”Thank you for that.” James hesitated, and she could feel him drawing back, both physically and emotionally. ”But--”

Without stopping to a.n.a.lyze what she was doing, without worrying about the consequences, she drew his head down and kissed him.

She could feel his hesitation. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he slipped his arms around her waist. She deepened the kiss. He did not resist. At last he lifted his head from hers and stared into her eyes.

”James,” she whispered, ”I--”

I love you.

She choked back the words. It was one thing to accept a humanoid as a person, equal to humans, and quite another to love him. It. Whatever James was. She didn't know if James was capable of love. She didn't know if he was capable of a long-term relations.h.i.+p. And she did know he couldn't sire children. That complicated matters, since one of her deepest dreams was to have a child. She leaned forward and pressed her face into his shoulder, willing herself to keep quiet. It was one of the hardest things she'd ever done.

His arms tightened around her waist, and she felt him brus.h.i.+ng his lips across the top of her head. He said nothing, made no effort to go any further. He seemed content with her there in his arms. And then suddenly he stiffened and raised his head.

”James'” she whispered, afraid he'd suddenly changed his mind. Afraid that he wasn't willing to forgive her after all.

”Do you smell that'” he asked.

Bewildered, Annie lifted her head. ”What'”

James inhaled. ”Smoke,” he said briefly. ”We have to get out of here.”

Annie sniffed. She didn't smell anything, but she imagined his senses were superior to her own.

”James--”

”Get Kay and the baby up.”

”But--”

”Now.”

There was a startling authority in his voice, and to her surprise she found herself responding to it. She was on her feet and moving toward the hall before she had a chance to object. She flung the door to Kay's bedroom open.

”Kay. Get up.”

She heard her friend groan in the dark. ”What the h.e.l.l are you doing, Annie'”

At that moment the smoke alarm just outside the condo unit began shrieking. Kay sat up in sudden alarm. ”Oh, my G.o.d,” she gasped, standing up and bolting for the door. ”Clark.”

Annie scooped up Oscar, who had been snoozing comfortably on Kay's quilt, and ran after her. Thirty seconds later they were out in the hall, joining a milling ma.s.s of frantic people. ”This way,” Kay gasped, clutching Clark in her arms. He was howling, annoyed at being rudely awakened. ”The stairs are this way.”

As they ran, Annie noticed the thickest smoke seemed to be billowing from beneath the door of the unit next to Kay's. She recalled that Kay's neighbor, an elderly man, had moved out a few weeks ago in order to move into a retirement home. The unit was vacant.

She had the unpleasant feeling that this fire was no accident.

They joined the herd of half-dressed people stampeding into the stairwell, somehow avoiding being trampled. Once Annie was jostled so hard she almost fell, but James' arm around her steadied her. Kay clutched Clark against her shoulder. At last, after several nightmarish minutes in which Annie was certain they were going to be trapped in the stairwell and killed by smoke inhalation, they emerged into the cool nighttime air.

Oscar struggled free of her arms and leaped to the ground, annoyed and indignant, and scooted away from them. Annie didn't worry about him. She knew he wouldn't go far.

James' arms went around her, and she put her arms around his waist and buried her face in his bare chest. She was vaguely aware of Kay studying them with an expression that could have been annoyance or distress, but at the moment she didn't care what Kay thought. Kay might think James was merely a machine, but Kay was wrong.

Annie was certain of it.

Her attention was caught by a woman screaming. It was difficult to hear her over the hysterical babble of noise. Annie strained her ears.

”My baby! My baby!”

James turned toward the woman. ”Stay here,” he said.

Annie caught his arm. ”James, no! Are you crazy'”

James yanked his arm free. ”Stay here!” he snapped. ”I will be back out in a moment.” He turned away and plunged into the milling ma.s.s of humanity. She watched him making his determined way toward the shrieking woman. She tried to follow him, but Kay grabbed her arm, hard.

”Let him go, Annie!”

She saw him speak briefly with the woman, yank the door open, and lope up the stairs. There was absolutely nothing she could do except wait for him to emerge.

Everything was chaos. The babble of terrified people and the smell of smoke filled the air. In the distance sirens wailed. Oscar returned and wound around their ankles, meowing loudly. Annie hardly noticed. She stood rigidly, watching the door for any sign of James.

”He'll be okay,” Kay said firmly, patting her shoulder. ”He'll be fine, Annie.”

”I should have followed him,” Annie said in a choked voice.

”Don't be a moron, Ann. He's stronger and faster than you are. You couldn't have helped. He just would have wound up having to save your a.s.s too.”

Abruptly, the door slammed open. James strode out into the night air, cradling a shrieking one-year-old in his arms.

Annie felt her heart stop. He was all right. He was smudged with soot, but there was no damage that she could see. Relief spilled through her in a waterfall of emotion. She stared at him, holding the indignant baby gently in his arms, and a storm of emotions rioted within her. Admiration, respect, and ' something else. Something deeper.

James looked over the crowd, obviously looking for her and Kay, and his expression lightened fractionally when he saw them. He walked toward the deliriously overjoyed mother, but his eyes never left Annie.

The crowd of people slowly became aware of his presence. They turned toward him and the babble of voices grew louder.

And then, as he delivered the wailing baby into its mother's arms, they broke into spontaneous applause.

Chapter 14.

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