Chapter Six #3
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.
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.