Chapter Four #3
He told Caleb that he would be, then finally slid his phone into his pocket. When he looked up, everyone was staring at him. “What?” he asked.
Jeremy pointed a finger at him. “See. That’s what he’s been doing since he came in this morning. It’s weird, isn’t it?”
“What’s weird? Me being happy?”
“You’re being too happy.”
Austin laughed. “Oh, please. There’s no such thing as being too happy.”
“The only way I’d be more freaked out is if you were West because he smiles even less than you.” Jeremy turned to Taylor. “Remember when he started coming into work smiling all the time? We all thought he’d killed someone or something, but instead, he’d started dating Jonathan.”
Jeremy’s eyes widened. He turned back to Austin, and Austin knew he’d figure it out, so he wasn’t surprised by Jeremy’s next words. “You’re dating someone.”
The radio crackled before Austin could confirm or deny. Taylor frowned, and from his expression, Austin could tell he was receiving information none of them would like.
He was right. Seconds later, Taylor turned toward them. “The fire is at the community center.”
Austin swallowed, all thoughts of Caleb and happiness leaving him.
He knew the community center. He and West volunteered there because a lot of shifters who frequented it.
It wasn’t a shifter business exactly, but the director was a bear shifter, and several other volunteers were part of their community, along with many of the kids who came around daily.
Austin and West exchanged a glance. Austin was sure that his best friend was thinking what he was thinking.
Was this fire an accident, or was it related to the other fires?
Not that it mattered. Right now, the only thing that did was that they needed to fight the fire and ensure that no one got hurt.
Still, Austin couldn’t help but wonder. If the arsonist was behind this, they’d taken a big step forward.
This wasn’t just a business owned by shifters.
It was a place where many shifters of many different ages met.
Had the arsonist done it on purpose? Were they trying to kill the shifters who’d probably been inside when the fires had started?
“How many victims?” he asked, afraid of the answer.
Taylor shook his head. “I don’t think anyone has that kind of information yet.”
Which meant it was going to be bad.
Silence fell in the engine. No one wanted to joke around anymore. No one cared about who Austin was dating. They only cared about what they’d find once they reached the fire.
Austin wasn’t sure they were ready to face whatever it would be, but they didn’t have a choice. They jumped out of the engine, and Austin looked up at the building in front of him.
The left side was still intact, which was a good thing. The right side, on the other hand, was smoking. A window had shattered, and Austin could see the flames flickering inside. It would get worse. Austin knew it.
Something caught his attention. He was surrounded by other firefighters and first responders, so he wasn’t surprised to see one of them standing close by, but Austin frowned when he recognized the firefighter he’d seen at the restaurant fire.
Just like that time, the guy wasn’t doing anything.
He was just standing there, staring at the burning community center.
“West, Austin, I got word that there’s at least one little girl still inside,” Taylor said. “You volunteer here, don’t you?”
They both nodded. Hopefully, knowing the place would help them.
Taylor nodded back. “I was told she’s in one of the art rooms at the back. Can you get there?”
“Yeah,” West confirmed as he turned to Austin. Austin could only nod. Of course they could get there.
They grabbed their masks and the rest of their gear and quickly finished dressing up.
Austin wasn’t paying attention to the weird firefighter anymore, but that changed when he bumped into the guy.
The man jumped and turned to glare at him, and Austin glared back because what the fuck was he doing?
Why wasn’t the guy working? Every other firefighter on scene was running around, but not this one.
“Sorry about that,” the firefighter said.
Austin squinted to see the guy’s name, but the firefighter quickly twisted his upper body in a way that made it impossible for Austin to read it. That was odd, wasn’t it? It almost felt like the firefighter was trying to avoid Austin finding out who he was, which didn’t make sense.
“Ready?” West asked.
As much as Austin wanted to know what was up with this guy, he was here to work. There was a little girl inside this building who needed him.
He nodded at West. “Ready.”
They bumped their fists together, and Austin turned to face the community center. He could tell the building wouldn’t survive. The neighborhood was losing a lot today, and not only the shifters who frequented the place. Humans regularly came here, too. It was a place where everyone was welcome.
Or rather, it had been.
But while the building was a loss, the people still inside weren’t, and that was what Austin needed to focus on. He could feel bad about everything else later. For now, he had a job to do.
* * * *
WHEN CALEB RECEIVED the notification of a fire on his phone, he knew it was the arsonist. There was no way that a community center frequented by as many shifters as this one had been burning down was a coincidence.
He didn’t have proof, and he wouldn’t get it if he didn’t get to the scene, so he was out the door as soon as he could.
He was nervous as he drove toward the community center, and it didn’t get better when he started seeing smoke.
Would Austin be there? Considering how big the fire seemed to be, there was a good chance that he would be.
Caleb had no intention of trying to catch his attention.
Austin was working, and he needed to be focused, but Caleb also couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel to see his maybe boyfriend at the fire.
Would it be scary? It was scary enough to think about Austin being there, let alone seeing him.
Caleb had never really thought about it, but now, he wondered how Jonathan did it.
Wasn’t he afraid for West? The fact that West and Austin were dragon shifters helped, but still.
Caleb tried to push the worry to the back of his mind. He had to trust that Austin knew how to do his job. He couldn’t distract him, and he couldn’t obsess over him. Austin would be fine. He had to be. It was the only outcome Caleb would accept.
He knew the fire was bad as soon as he got there.
He had to park far away because the roads were closed, and it was almost impossible to get a good view of what was going on.
He had to move several times when cops told him to leave, but thankfully, he wasn’t the only bystander watching. Many people were.
He didn’t frequent the place, but he’d heard plenty about it.
He knew the kind of loss this would be for the community, even if everyone made it out alive.
This was a good story, even without the arsonist angle, and while that wasn’t why Caleb was here, he knew that his boss would send someone anyway, so he texted her to tell her he was already on site.
Once that was done, he went back to staring at the building.
He’d found a good spot. From there, he could see the part of the building that was on fire and the many firefighters working.
He kept trying to find Austin, then telling himself that now that he’d contacted his boss, he was here to work, not to worry about his boyfriend.
It was impossible not to, though. He didn’t even have Jonathan to distract him today.
No, Caleb’s best friend was far away from the fire, as he should be.
The sound of something massive cracking made him jump.
His eyes widened when part of the building collapsed, sending sparks and flames toward the sky.
People yelled and hid behind cars, but Caleb didn’t make a sound.
He held his breath, praying that if there had been anyone inside, they would make it.
He wasn’t sure how that would be possible, but he had hope.
He couldn’t not have it, especially when he knew that Austin was probably right there saving people.
Caleb felt like he wasn’t the only one holding his breath.
He could tell that some of the firefighters were agitated, which meant that someone was definitely still inside.
One of them started to move toward the building, but before they could find a way in, something dropped from what was left of one of the windows on the second floor.
Caleb jumped a little and glanced up, not surprised to see a firefighter leaning out.
He couldn’t see anything of the firefighter, but he could tell they were holding something against their chest. They gestured, and the firefighters on the ground scrambled to move.
Caleb watched as they worked together seamlessly to quickly set up one of those blow-up cushions. The firefighter was going to jump.
Caleb’s mouth went dry. That was dangerous, wasn’t it? Not that the firefighter had a choice. The entrance was blocked by something that was burning, and the building was dangerously tilting sideways, so if they wanted to get out, they’d have to jump.
Caleb was anxious just thinking about it.
That didn’t mean he looked away. He couldn’t and didn’t want to. Instead, he took a few pictures so that his boss wouldn’t be annoyed with him. He wasn’t a photographer, but she’d expect him to take pictures if he could.
He held his breath as he watched the firefighter climb out of the window. He hadn’t realized it until now, but there was a second firefighter behind the first one. They were both going to have to jump.
The first one finally did so, still holding something against their chest. Caleb breathed easier once they landed on the blow-up cushion, then they were quickly helped off.
He realized that the thing they’d been holding was a child, and he watched as that child—a little girl with long hair—desperately clung to them.
It distracted him from the second firefighter jumping.
By the time he turned, they were already scrambling to the ground and striding toward the first firefighter.
Caleb gasped when the second firefighter pulled off their helmet to reveal it was West. He pointed a finger at the first firefighter, and Caleb knew without needing to see it that it was Austin.
It was clear that West was angry at him, which made Caleb wonder what he’d done.
Probably something stupid to save the little girl.
So this was what it was like. The fear, the not knowing what would happen to Austin, the relief to see that he was okay, and the wariness of knowing that he’d go back into the fire if he had to.
Those were too many emotions to deal with right now, so Caleb only allowed himself to feel a few of them.
He focused on relief. Austin didn’t look like he was hurt.
In fact, it was pretty clear that he wasn’t.
He carried the little girl toward the closest ambulance, still gently talking to her.
If West was annoyed at being ignored, he didn’t show it.
Instead, he raked a hand through his hair and rolled his eyes up at the sky.
When he turned, his eyes widened as they caught with Caleb’s.
Caleb hadn’t intended for anyone to find out he was there.
He didn’t want to distract them from their job.
But West strode toward him. Caleb half expected him to demand to know what he was doing there, but instead, he asked, “You saw that?”
“I did,” Caleb confirmed.
“You should wait for us at the station.”
“How long are you going to be here?”
West turned toward the fire. “A while, but I know Austin will be happy to see you once we get back.”
“I should stay and work.”
“Is that what you want to do? There’s nothing left to see here.”
Caleb looked at the community center. West wasn’t wrong.
The building was halfway gone, but thankfully, it looked like the fire was under control.
Firefighters had moved in as soon as Austin and West had been clear of the building, and while it was still smoking, Caleb could see the flames were dying.
“I’ll be in my car in the station parking lot,” he said.
West nodded. “I’ll let Austin know. Hopefully, he’ll listen to you, even though he didn’t listen to me.”
Caleb snorted. “Do you really think I have that kind of power over him?”
West considered it for a moment. “I hope you do.”
It had never been Caleb’s intention to tell Austin what to do, especially when it came to his job, but he suspected that no one would blame him if he yelled at his new maybe boyfriend for a bit. If even West wanted him to, Caleb figured it was permission enough.
He straightened his back and squared his shoulders.
No, he wasn’t going to yell at Austin. Austin was doing his job, and Caleb had known about it before he’d decided to date him.
It wasn’t his place to tell Austin what to do or not do when he was on the job, but he could remind him that whatever happened during these fires, he’d be waiting for Austin to come back to him in one piece.
Hopefully, that would give Austin a better incentive to look after himself, and if it didn’t, well, Caleb would let West take care of it.
He had more experience dealing with Austin, anyway.