Page 1 of Tempered By Flames

Chapter One

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THE LOUD BUZZING AND the smell of antiseptic were so normal in Ethan’s life that he barely noticed them anymore. What he did notice was when the people he was working on weren’t good at sitting for tattoos, and this woman definitely wasn’t. She kept wiggling and grimacing, which was understandable considering Ethan was stabbing her repeatedly with tiny needles, but he really needed her to stay still unless she wanted the tiny fish he was tattooing on her to become a whale. Unfortunately, no matter how many times he told her that, she wasn’t still enough.

He lowered the gun and cleared his throat. “You really need to stop doing that.”

Her eyes were wide. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to do it, but it hurts.”

Ethan didn’t roll his eyes, but it was a close thing. He didn’t understand why some people came in expecting tattoos not to hurt. What was it about getting stabbed repeatedly with tiny needles that they didn’t understand? “I realize that,” he said, glancing down at his arms. They were colorful, with designs of his own and of his friends. He’d sat for his tattoos many more hours than this woman had for hers, but he’d never wiggled like she was. Everyone had different pain tolerances, so he didn’t expect people to be like him, but he did expect them to make his life a little bit easier. He didn’t want to ruin the design because if he did, the customer wouldn’t be happy with him, even though it would technically be her fault.

“We’re almost done,” he promised. “Just a little bit of shading once I’m done with the lines.” It wouldn’t take more than half an hour to do the entire thing. It was a tiny tattoo on the inside of her wrist.

She swallowed heavily and nodded. “All right. I’m ready.”

Ethan was pretty sure she wasn’t, but he went back to work.

The woman continued wiggling, but Ethan expected it, and he managed to work around it. He was relieved when it was over, though. He really hoped she wouldn’t want any more tattoos, and if she did, that she’d find someone else to do them.

“I love it,” she said, admiring her wrist.

“It’s nice,” Ethan commented as he started putting things away.

“I’ll definitely come back for my next tattoo,” she said with a smile. Ethan smiled back. He supposed things could be worse. They definitely had been at some points. Honestly, even though it had been annoying, he’d rather tattoo this woman than some of the guys who came in every so often asking for questionable tattoos.

He led the customer to the waiting area, where Daniela was behind the counter. The woman went to her to pay, and Ethan took a step back. He didn’t have another appointment for a few hours, which meant he’d be able to sit down and have a nice lunch, something that wasn’t always possible.

He made his way to the breakroom, smiling when he heard voices coming from inside. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one without a customer right now.

He walked in to find Jonathan and Christy sitting at the tiny table. Christy was chewing on a sandwich while she listened to Jonathan.

“I guess I don’t understand why he’s wary,” Jonathan said. “I’m sure new firefighters start at their station all the time.”

“What are we talking about?” Ethan asked as he opened the fridge to grab the pasta salad he’d prepped the night before.

“There’s a new firefighter starting at West and Austin’s station today,” Jonathan explained. “West didn’t sound happy when he told me.”

“Wariness might make sense.”

“Does it? It’s not like he and Austin work alone. They have an entire team.”

“But they know their team,” Ethan said as he sat at the table. There wasn’t a lot of space, so he had to squeeze against the wall. “And West trusts them. I imagine that he hopes that even if they ever find out what he and Austin are, they won’t react too badly, but he can’t know that about this new firefighter.”

Jonathan wrinkled his nose. “I guess I hadn’t thought about that.”

Ethan wouldn’t have expected him to since Jonathan was human. He knew a lot of shifters, but that didn’t mean he fully understood what it was like to be one. He didn’t know what it was like to hide what you were from most of the people in your life, to be afraid that someone would find out anyway and that something bad would happen. There was no way to know how people would react if they ever found out what Ethan was, so he got it, even though West was just a dragon shifter.

“Just give him time to get to know the new guy,” he commented. “Or woman.”

“It’s a guy, apparently.”

“I’m sure West will tell you all about it tonight. He always tells you everything, doesn’t he?” Ethan teased.

Jonathan’s cheeks flushed. “Not everything.”

Christy snorted. “We both know that’s a lie. He’s so taken by you that he would hand over his own mother if you asked for her.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”