He kept his gaze on Austin’s face once they parked and got to the coffee shop.Austin clearly frequented this place a lot because the woman behind the counter waved at him and asked him if he wanted the usual.He nodded and turned to Caleb, who quickly gave her his order.
He and Austin didn’t talk as they waited, but Austin opened his mouth as soon as they were seated.“So, you’re here for the case.”
“I’m here because someone needs to be.”
Austin took a sip of coffee and nodded.“I agree.I haven’t heard anything from my captain about the investigation yet, but he suspected it was arson, too, so he’s going to push for answers.”
“That’s nice, but he has to realize that if the investigators don’t know about shifters, it’s going to be almost impossible for them to find the culprits.”
Austin grimaced.“He doesn’t realize that because he doesn’t know about shifters, either.”
That was a surprise.“I thought for sure you’d have told him.”
“West has been pushing for us to.He wants us to tell our entire team.”
Caleb was curious.“Why haven’t you?”
“I don’t want them to look at us differently, you know?Even amongst shifters, dragons aren’t seen well.People think we’re arrogant and too willing to use our size and strength against them.Plenty of dragons do, but not all of us.”
Caleb had done exactly that.He’d assumed that he knew the kind of person Austin was just because he was a dragon shifter.“I’m sure that even if they freak out, they’ll realize how useful you being a dragon shifter is for the job.”
“Probably.I’m not afraid that they’d stop talking to us or kick us out of the station or anything like that.I just don’t want them to look at me like I’m not me anymore.”
“Looking at people differently isn’t always a bad thing.”
Austin cocked his head.He was a gorgeous man, but like he was now, with his big puppy eyes watching Caleb, Caleb mainly wanted to hug him.He hadn’t been fair to this man, and while part of him still wondered if he was doing the right thing, he wanted to believe that he was.Austin hadn’t given him any reason to doubt him.
“I suppose it’s not,” Austin eventually agreed.
“You want to protect people.”It wasn’t a question.Caleb already knew.Sal wouldn’t have wanted to protect anyone, not even Jonathan.The only person Sal cared about was Sal himself.It was another way in which West and Austin were different from him.
“That’s why I got into firefighting, yes,” Austin confirmed.“It made sense, you know?I’m a dragon shifter.It’s useful during fires.I can get further in burning buildings than most of my team.I can withstand the heat and don’t get burned.”
“That can’t be an easy thing to hide.”
“It’s not, but I’ve been doing it since I started at the academy.I’ll be fine.What about you?I know that you’re focused on this case because you’re part of the community, but it feels personal.”
Caleb had a choice.He could let Austin in, or he could tell him this was just work.“My grandmother owned a flower shop,” he explained.“I spent hours there as a kid and a teenager.It wasn’t here, of course, but it was on a busy street where everyone knew everyone.The business owners were friends, and they cared about each other.I always liked that.When my grandmother broke her hip, she never even had to close the shop.The other shop owners took care of it for her.I see that in the community here, and I don’t want to lose that.Secrecy is important, obviously, which means that shifters have to rely on each other.I’m a shifter, even though I don’t own a business there.Besides, I spend more time there than at my apartment.”
Austin nodded.“Because of Jonathan.”
“Yeah.He’s already been through enough.He almost lost the shop and his life because of the fire.”Well, because of Sal, but that detail didn’t matter in their present situation.“I don’t want him to lose people he cares about.I don’t want him to potentially be the next victim of this arsonist.”
“He’s more than a best friend to you.”
Caleb looked down at his coffee.“I’m an only child.I don’t know what it’s like to have siblings, but I imagine that it’s like the relationship I have with Jonathan.I almost lost him once, and I won’t let anything or anyone hurt him again.I know it’s probably not my place to protect him like that since he has West, but yes, he’s one of the reasons I want this so badly.I don’t want him to get hurt.I don’t wantanyoneto get hurt, and I don’t want any more shifters to lose their home and their livelihood.Whoever’s doing this, whatever reasons they’re doing it for, they need to be stopped.I know I won’t be able to do that on my own, and I’m glad you’ll help.”
Austin nodded.“I will.”
