Page 32 of Tempered By Flames

Movement at the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned, not expecting much, only to see that the man he’d been keeping an eye on was moving. He was staring at Liam, who was coming toward Ethan. The man didn’t seem to realize that Liam wasn’t coming after him. He turned and ran, leaving Ethan to stare after him.

* * * *

LIAM DIDN’T KNOW WHY Ethan was there, and he’d been stunned to see him standing with the crowd. It was why he was walking toward him. He wanted to ask what was going on and if Ethan was okay.

He had no idea what was going on with the guy who was running away.

He was ready to dismiss it when Ethan turned and ran after him. It made no sense to Liam, but if Ethan was doing it, there had to be a good reason. Ethan wasn’t the type to randomly follow people down the street, and they were standing in front of a massive fire. Maybe the guy had something to do with it. Liam wasn’t sure how Ethan would know that, but whatever was happening, he trusted his boyfriend.

So, he ran, too.

People called after him, but he ignored them. He couldn’t see the first guy anymore, but he could still see Ethan, and that was who he followed. He really hoped that Ethan would have a logical explanation for it because he didn’t know what he’d tell Taylor otherwise. Well, he would probably tell his captain that he’d been protecting his boyfriend, and he was sure that Taylor would turn a blind eye, but it would make things awkward if there was no good reason for Ethan to have run after the guy.

There had to be. There was no other explanation.

Running in his gear wasn’t the easiest thing to do, and Liam was grateful that he was a dragon shifter. It made it easier for him to carry the weight, even as they got away from the fire and the crowd. He saw Ethan turn into a small alley and followed, not surprised to find it was empty except for the two of them and the man Ethan had been chasing. The sounds of the crowd and the fire behind him got softer, but he could still hear them. He didn’t focus on them, though. How could he when Ethan had caught the guy and pushed him against the closest wall?

It was undeniably hot, but Liam forced himself not to think about that. It wasn’t the right time or place, but he’d make sure to mention something to Ethan when they were next alone.

“Why were you running?” Ethan asked as he pressed the guy against the wall. He wasn’t even breathless. Liam, on the other hand, had to take a second. He was panting, and he had to open his jacket because he felt like he was going to overheat.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the man yelled back.

He’d been facing Ethan, but Ethan pushed away from the wall, spun the man around, and slammed him face-first against it. From the way he was easily handling the guy, Liam was pretty sure the man was human. It didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous. Hell, he probably was.

“Cut the innocent act,” Ethan said with a growl. “I know you’re not. You were here for a reason, weren’t you? You were watching the fire.”

“What’s it to you?”

Ethan pressed closer. If Liam hadn’t been a shifter, he probably wouldn’t have been able to hear what he was saying. “I care because you’ve been hurting my people.”

The man froze for a second. Liam couldn’t see much in the dark, but he could read the man’s body language. He’d finally realized that he was in trouble.

“You’re one of them,” the man breathed out.

“One of who?”

“Shifters,” the man spat out. “Monsters.”

“Do you really want to call me a monster when I have you pinned against the wall?”

“What are you going to do to me?”

“It depends. Did you set this fire?”

The man didn’t answer right away, and by the time Liam took a step forward to help, Ethan had slammed the guy against the wall again. This time, the man’s face made contact, making Liam wince. That had to have hurt.

Good. If this guy had really set that place on fire, he deserved to be in pain. Hell, he deserved much more, and Liam was sure he’d get that. It wasn’t his and Ethan’s place to extract any information from the guy, but Liam was sure that the cops would be happy to hear what was going on. They’d have to fudge the truth a bit so as not to mention shifters, even though there were plenty of shifters on the police force. There was no way to know who would catch this case, though.

Liam hated that he’d only been working as a firefighter for a few weeks, and he was already dealing with this kind of thing. He knew that most people around the world were decent and wanted to live peaceful lives, but not this guy. This guy had wanted to destroy lives. It wasn’t right, and it wasn’t fair.

Ethan pulled the man away from the wall, probably to slam him back against it, but before he could, the man raised his hands. “Look, I don’t care what you are,” he said.

“You just called me a monster.”

“That’s just how that guy describes you.”

“What guy?”