Page 31 of Tempered By Flames

“I’m coming back,” he said.

Something changed in Ethan’s expression. “Eventually, yeah, I know.”

“We’re finishing this, if not tonight, another night.”

“I know that, too.” Ethan stepped back, though his fingers lingered for a moment before letting go of Liam. “Be careful. I mean it.”

“I’m a dragon shifter. Fire can’t hurt me.”

“Buildings can.” Ethan’s voice was slightly trembling. “So be careful, for me if not for yourself.”

Liam looked at him for one more second. He wanted to say something that would explain what he was feeling, but he didn’t have the words for it. Maybe he would, eventually. “I will,” he said instead, and then he was out the door, his heart pulling him back toward the man standing in the doorway behind him and pulling him away toward whatever was burning on the east side of the city.

He was halfway to his truck when his phone buzzed with a text. He glanced at it as he unlocked the door.

The salmon was overcooked.

Liam laughed and got in the truck.

* * * *

ETHAN PACED THE LENGTH of his living room. He’d had to let Liam go, but he didn’t like it. He didn’t like the sound of whatever was happening. Why were so many firefighters needed that Liam had been called back on his day off? What was going on?

At least it should be pretty easy for Ethan to find out where it was happening. He grabbed his phone from the coffee table and fell down on the couch, opening social media. He navigated to a local group, grimacing when the first thing he saw was a picture of a fire burning.

He swallowed. There was a video, too, and things looked pretty bad. He’d already known they would be, but seeing it was different, and the thought of Liam and his friends going in there? It was terrifying. Liam was a dragon shifter, so the fire itself couldn’t do much to him, but he wasn’t invincible. Something could fall on him, or he could fall, or he could break something. He could be in there somewhere, hurt, and Ethan wouldn’t know.

Ethan sucked in a breath. He knew he couldn’t follow Liam to every fire he was called to, and that wasn’t his plan. He also knew that he should stay home. He would be of no use even if he went there. Hell, he might be a hindrance because he was sure that he wouldn’t be the only one watching. He needed to be close to Liam, though. He needed to see with his own two eyes that Liam was okay.

What if they were right and this was the work of an arsonist? What if that person was still there, waiting to hurt someone, and they decided to hurt Liam?

Ethan realized that even if that was the case, there was very little he could do, but he also couldn’t stay at home, watching this from his couch. He wouldn’t be able to sleep until he was sure Liam was okay, and it would be hours before that happened. Liam was too busy to call, and that was fine, but it didn’t mean Ethan couldn’t find a different way to reassure himself. Besides, if shifters were involved this time, too, he wanted to help. No matter how little he might be able to do, it would be better than sitting at home waiting. Honestly, anything would be better than that. He felt like he was about to scream, and it had only been an hour.

Since he now had an address, he put on his shoes, grabbed his keys, and headed out. He hesitated, wondering if he should call Jonathan since West would be on scene, too. Hell, Caleb might be there since he was a journalist and had been involved with the arsons. Ethan might not be the only partner who decided to show up, but if Jonathan was home, Ethan wanted him to stay there. He was human, and if there really was an arsonist involved, it would be too easy for Jonathan to get hurt. Caleb and Ethan were shifters. Jonathan wasn’t, and compared to them, he was fragile.

Jonathan would probably be pissed when he found out, but that was something Ethan would deal with when it happened. In the meantime, he’d keep an eye on Liam and the others. He was smaller than a dragon shifter when he shifted, but he had dragon in him, as well as lion and serpent. In a fight, especially against a human, he would definitely win.

He just really hoped he wouldn’t have to fight.

He was jittery the entire time he drove. His mouth was dry, and he wondered if he should stop to get water, but everything in him was saying that he needed to rush to Liam’s side as quickly as possible. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he didn’t like having Liam out of his sight. It felt stupid considering that they didn’t really have a relationship yet, but he’d learned to trust his instincts a long time ago. If they wanted him to be with Liam right now, that was where he should be, and to hell with whatever anyone would think. He didn’t even care what Liam would have to say about it. He just knew that he needed to be there.

He saw the lights in the sky much sooner than he saw the fire itself. Seeing how big it was scared him. He could too easily imagine how many people would get hurt by it, and while part of him wanted to turn around and leave, he wouldn’t. He couldn’t. His maybe-boyfriend was in there, as were West and Austin. Hell, Ethan even liked Taylor and the rest of the team. He didn’t want anything to happen to any of them, and he especially didn’t want an arsonist to be responsible for hurting them. He couldn’t be sure it was the case, but it felt like too much of a coincidence. He’d visited a few more groups on social media and learned that the factory was shifter-owned.

He only had to follow the light to find the fire. The streets were closed, which wasn’t a surprise. He parked as close as he could and joined the small group of people watching from behind barriers the cops had put up. From where they were, he couldn’t see much, and he had no idea where Liam was.

The area was a mess of heat, smoke, and loud voices. People called out to each other over the roar of the fire, and firefighters were running around, trying to get it under control. They all wore their turnouts and masks, and there was no way for Ethan to tell which one of them was Liam. Maybe it was better that way, because he wasn’t sure how he would’ve reacted if he’d seen Liam throw himself into the building the way one of the firefighters did a few minutes after he arrived at the scene. It made him want to rush over and grab the firefighter, whoever they were. Most of them were human, and they could get hurt really badly.

They knew that. They were firefighters. They’d chosen this life, and they knew what it entailed. For most of them, it probably wasn’t even the worst fire they’d been to.

But Ethan had never seen anything like it, and he suspected that the same went for the people standing there with him. Most of them were divided between watching the fire and being on their phones. A few were talking to each other in low voices. Ethan felt like he was the only one watching the fire as if he had a personal beef with it, at least until he noticed a man standing to his side.

Initially, he didn’t think anything of it. The man was watching the fire, just like Ethan was. Ethan couldn’t exactly blame him for that. The more he watched the man, though, the more he felt like something was off. The man hadn’t taken his phone out once, something that even Ethan had done to check in on the news. He’d hoped that his phone would be able to tell him more than he could see, but there weren’t any details released yet. The man hadn’t moved, though. He was watching the fire with a small smile curling his lips, and frankly, it was creepy.

Ethan didn’t want to stare at him, but he couldn’t help it. He spent his time between watching the fire, checking his phone, and watching the man, but the man didn’t move. He didn’t say anything, didn’t go up to the cops standing around to ask questions, nothing. He was just watching, still smiling, still being creepy.

The loud voices made Ethan turn back toward the fire. A group of three firefighters came out of the building, and Ethan’s breath caught when they started taking off their helmets, and he recognized Liam in the middle. He seemed to be okay. At the very least, he was still standing, and there was no blood.

Even though Ethan wanted nothing more than to run to Liam and make sure he was okay himself, he stayed where he was and kept staring. He didn’t try to get Liam’s attention, but Liam turned toward the small crowd that had gathered, and his eyes widened. Ethan knew he’d been spotted, and he straightened, hoping Liam wouldn’t be angry. Liam started moving toward him, and Ethan smiled, relieved.