“How is she?”Caleb asked, nodding toward where Margaret now sat wrapped in a blanket, talking to another firefighter.Even from here, he could see she was shaken but thankfully okay.She lived above the store, so it could have been much worse.
Austin’s expression softened.“She’ll be okay physically.She got out in time, thanks to a neighbor who smelled smoke.Lucky she wasn’t sleeping yet when it started.”
Caleb almost snorted at that.Margaret’s instincts had probably woken her before any human would’ve noticed the danger, but Austin couldn’t say that out loud where anyone could hear him.It was better for them not to discuss what they were here.
“Did she say how it started?”Caleb tried to keep his voice casual, but he needed to know.Had Margaret seen something?Maybe someone?No one had in the other fires, but he had hope.Whoever was doing this would slip eventually.
Austin hesitated.“These things take time to determine.”
“Right.”Caleb nodded because he could tell he wouldn’t get anything else from Austin.He needed to talk to Margaret privately to find out what she’d seen or heard before the fire started.He also needed to talk to the other shifter business owners in the area.If someone was targeting them specifically, they all had to be more careful.
The smell of smoke was still heavy in the air.It clung to everything, and Caleb knew he’d need a shower once he got home.Every breath brought back flashes of three months ago, when he’d thought he’d lost Jonathan.
“You’re doing it again,” Austin said quietly.
Caleb blinked, realizing he’d been holding his breath.“Doing what?”
“The breathing thing.Look, I’ve seen this before.Trauma responses don’t just go away because time passes.Sometimes certain triggers—”
“I’m not traumatized,” Caleb cut him off.“Jonathan was the one who was in the fire.I just worry about him.”
Austin watched him for a moment, and Caleb had the uncomfortable feeling of being seen in a way very few people could.It didn’t make sense.He didn’t know Austin, and Austin didn’t know him.
“Caring about someone who’s been hurt can be its own kind of trauma,” Austin finally said.“Especially when you couldn’t do anything to help them.”
The words hit closer to home than Caleb wanted to admit.He had been helpless three months ago, and that had almost been worse than the fear.“You seem to know a lot about that,” he said, hoping to deflect attention from him.He was also curious, though.Austin spoke like someone who’d been there.
Austin’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.“Comes with the job.You see a lot of people dealing with loss and with situations they couldn’t control.”
“How are you doing?”Jonathan asked.West was still there, but both of them were watching Caleb now.
“Better,” Caleb said.It was true.The tight feeling in his chest had loosened, and his breathing was back to normal.“Austin was just telling me about trauma responses.”
Jonathan glanced between them, and Caleb caught a flicker of something that might have been amusement.“Was he?”
Jonathan would have questions once they were alone.Caleb could tell.
“West mentioned you two hadn’t officially met yet,” Jonathan said.“Which sounds impossible.”
“We haven’t, but I know who Austin is.”
Caleb turned to Austin, who nodded.“And I know who Caleb is.It’s good to meet you, although I wish it was in better circumstances.”
“Same.Thanks for...you know.The breathing thing.”
“Any time.”
Caleb suspected that Austin meant it.Like if Caleb ever needed help, Austin would be there.It was a strange thought to have about someone he’d just met, especially given everything he knew about dragon shifters.
Because Austin was a dragon shifter, just like West.Just like Sal, Jonathan’s ex.
The thought sent a familiar chill through Caleb.He’d watched Sal charm Jonathan until the charm turned to control and possession.Caleb had spent months helping Jonathan recover from that relationship and even longer trying to get him out of it.
But looking at Austin and seeing the genuine concern in his eyes, the way he’d approached Caleb’s panic attack, the careful way he spoke about trauma, Caleb found it hard to recognize what he knew about dragons in him.West had certainly proved that not all dragons were like Sal.Jonathan was happier than Caleb had seen him in years.West treated Jonathan like a partner, not a fragile thing to be protected or controlled.He loved him, something Sal had never felt.
Maybe Austin was cut from the same cloth.
Or maybe dragons were just very good at seeming like what you needed until it was too late to run.Caleb couldn’t be sure, which meant he’d keep an eye on them, just in case.He wouldn’t allow anyone else to hurt Jonathan.
