Lisette wraps her arms around my neck and lays her head on my shoulder. “What happened?”
Four men to one. Decent odds, but they caught me by surprise. “I fought to protect my patient. Even with his injury repaired, he needed immediate care. One had a knife and jumped me, giving me this.” I run the pad of my finger over my ruined cheek. Every dip, every jagged white line is burned into my memory.
She moves my finger and presses another kiss to the scar. “Did the soldier make it?”
“Yes.” I took out all four, slung the soldier onto my back, and ran like hell. I don’t remember how many men died by my hand that night, the fighting was intense, but the important one survived.
Shortly after, they started calling me Berserker.
In Hollow Peak, it became Beast after I shut down a bar fight on the edge of town.
“That’s what they gave you the silver star for?”
I nod.
“You were always my hero, Dorian. Now everyone else knows it too.”
Her words break something open in my chest, shining her light on a place I locked a long time ago.
Before I can form some sort of reply, I hear a commotion by the entrance to the hot springs. People are pointing.
I follow their hands and see an orange flicker in the distance. The hair on the back of my neck stands up.
Fire. And it’s coming from the direction of Florine’s.
Marie-Claire’s words about the wiring come back to me, and suddenly I know. Between the break-in, the pressure to sell, and Lisette’s call with her mom… this is no accident.
“What is it?” She asks, brow furrowing as she looks at the flames.
I usher her out of the water and wrap a towel around her. “Hurry, beautiful. I think the answer’s been taken out of your hands.”
CHAPTER TEN
DORIAN
Ibundle Lisette into my truck and floor it toward the old Victorian.
Beside me, my girl is shivering from her damp hair, wet clothes, the cold… and probably anxiety. If I’m right, her earlier decision not to sell just had drastic consequences.
The sky glows orange the closer we get.
My gut clenches with dread. I hope I’m wrong, but the tingle on my neck tells me I’m not. I spent too many years honing that instinct for danger in Special Forces.
We turn onto her street and see the house ablaze in the darkness.
Lisette lets out a helpless cry and leans forward. “No!”
A third of the Victorian is engulfed in flames. Two fire trucks light up the night sky with flashing lights while paramedics stand by, ready to act.
I park the truck at the edge of the madness and press the keys into Lisette’s hands. “Stay here!” Then I grab my med kit from behind the seat and run for the scene.
“Dorian!” Lisette calls, followed by the slam of the truck door.
Fuck! I knew she wouldn’t stay put. I turn on my heel and point at her. “You stay out of harm’s way. Stay in the truck. Or by the truck… just don’t fucking move from that spot.”
She crosses her arms and glares at me. “If you get hurt, I’m coming after you!”
We’re shouting across forty feet of emergency crew, threatening each other for their own safety. God damn I love her.
