Page 25 of Tempered By Flames

There was only one way to do it. He needed to be as fast as possible so that the only thing he’d have left to do was wait for Taylor’s reaction.

“I’m a dragon shifter,” he declared. Now that the words were coming out, he couldn’t seem to stop them. “Which means I can turn into a dragon. I’m stronger than most humans, and I’m fire-resistant, which is handy when it comes to being a firefighter. I don’t get burned, not at my age. I can take more risks than a normal firefighter, which, in turn, means that I can save more people and keep the rest of the team safe. I promise that I’m not planning anything nefarious and that I’m not dangerous. I would never hurt anyone.”

Taylor blinked. He wasn’t running away screaming, which was a good thing, but that didn’t tell Liam how he felt about his revelation.

“You can turn into a dragon?” Taylor asked.

“I can.”

Taylor slowly nodded. “And I assume you’re not the only person who can turn into a dragon?”

Liam had no idea where this conversation was going. “No. There are plenty of dragon shifters around.”

Taylor took a second to consider that before looking at Ethan. “And you knew? That he could turn into a dragon, I mean?”

Ethan snorted. “Oh, I definitely knew. I’m a shifter, too.”

Liam’s jaw dropped. Ethan had been willing to tell Taylor that he was a shifter, but there had been no need for him to do so. Liam had done it. He’d told Taylor he was a dragon shifter. Ethan had been safe, yet he’d just come out to Taylor anyway.

“I see,” Taylor said. “Are you a dragon, too?”

“No. I’m a chimera shifter.”

Taylor frowned. “I didn’t realize those were real animals.”

“They’re not. But the shifters are real. I’m not quite a dragon like Liam, but I’m partially one.”

“I’m a full dragon, though,” Liam interrupted. He didn’t want Ethan to regret this. If Taylor was going to explode or say something mean, Liam wanted it directed at him. “Which is what you saw at the fire. I used my strength to catch that beam and make sure that the woman on the ground wouldn’t get hurt. That’s all there is to it. I wasn’t going to hurt her or anyone. The fact that I can turn into a dragon doesn’t mean I’m dangerous. I promise I’m not.”

“I never thought you were dangerous,” Taylor said.

A door slammed open, making all three of them jump. Liam watched, startled, as Austin and West rushed out of the station. They looked around, and as soon as Austin spotted Liam and the others, he grabbed West’s arm and pulled him toward them. Liam groaned. He was glad for the support, but he could feel this becoming a disaster. He didn’t need anyone else to out themselves as a shifter for Taylor to accept him.

“Don’t fire him,” Austin said when he reached their little group. “He hasn’t hurt anyone. In fact, he’s been using his ability to help people.”

“Austin, shut up,” Liam snapped, hoping he’d be fast enough. He didn’t need Austin to say something he was going to regret. He was glad for the support, even overwhelmed by it, because he didn’t know Austin and West that well yet, but still.

This had been Liam’s mistake. He should be the one paying for it, not Ethan, not Austin, not West. If he was going to be fired or handed over to the authorities, then so be it. He’d deal with the consequences of his actions. He wouldn’t regret it because, as Ethan had said, he’d done it to help someone. It was why he’d become a firefighter, and even though he didn’t like any part of this mess, he was proud of that.

For some reason, Taylor still looked remarkably calm. Ethan and Liam had just told him they could turn into animals, but he was watching West and Austin. “You, too?”

Austin blinked. West stared, his jaw tight. He looked like he’d rather be anywhere but here, but he still nodded. “Yeah, us, too,” he confirmed. “Austin and I are dragon shifters.”

Liam wanted to scream. Why were these people so eager to do this? Why couldn’t they keep their mouths shut?

“I suspected there was something about you two for a while,” Taylor said. “I’m glad to finally find out what it is.”

“We’re not dangerous,” Austin promised. “Just like Liam, we’ve only ever wanted to help people, and we’ve used what we are to our advantage. We’ve made sure that people make it out of fires alive, and we’ve been protecting the team.”

“You could’ve told me sooner. We trust you. We might have been surprised, but you’re part of this team, this family. It wouldn’t have mattered. It doesn’t matter.” Taylor looked at Liam, too, as he continued. “The team trusts you, which is why we never said anything, but we all suspected there was something. Now I find out there are four of you.”

Ethan laughed. “Four?”

Taylor paled a little. “More than four?”

“We have a whole community out there,” Ethan said. “People who can turn into dragons, wolves, lions, anything you can think of. You can’t tell just by looking at them, which means that anyone could be a shifter, from your neighbor to the woman staring at you in the grocery store. The thing is, most of us just want to live our lives like you do. We have families, communities, people we care about and want to protect. We’re just like you, except we can turn into animals. It’s not a bad thing. Sometimes, it’s even a good thing. Just look at what Austin and West have accomplished. They’ve been using their abilities as dragon shifters to save people, and it’s something they should be proud of. I understand why they need to hide it, much better than most people and shifters, but you just said that your team is a family. Maybe now, they can finally be themselves around the people they care about. It all depends on what you’re going to do, though.”

Liam groaned. He wanted to know, too, but maybe it would have been a better idea not to push Taylor right now. He had no idea how his captain would react, and it scared him.