Page 13 of Tempered By Flames

“How did you get into tattooing?” he asked.

“My grandmother.”

Liam blinked. “Your grandmother?”

Ethan didn’t usually tell people the story, but Liam hadn’t given him any reason not to. “She was a tattoo artist. When she saw how good I was at drawing, she told me to practice so that I could work with her eventually. She taught me a lot of what I know.”

“Yeah? That’s great. My mom didn’t really teach me anything. I love her, but, well, I told you what the clan’s like. The only thing she could really teach me is cooking, and for her, men shouldn’t be in the kitchen, so that was a no.”

“So they’re really traditional.”

“Yeah, they are, but they still love me. They didn’t have anything bad to say when I came out to them. The only thing my mother was worried about was that she wasn’t sure who would cook if I was ever to be in a relationship.”

Ethan chuckled. “Well, I guess it’s good that they still want a good relationship with you.”

“Yeah. They can be annoying and overwhelming, but they’re still my family. I don’t know who I’d be without them. I’m sure you feel the same way about your grandmother.”

“I do, especially because I have a horrible relationship with my mother.”

Ethan hadn’t meant to say that, either. He was revealing a lot more than he’d expected. Hell, at this point, he might as well tell Liam what he was.

He considered the option. Was it really something he’d be comfortable with? Well, Ethan wasn’t sure he’d ever be comfortable with telling anyone what he was, but he didn’t think Liam would react badly. He’d be surprised, and he probably had questions, but that wasn’t a bad thing.

“Sorry about that,” Liam murmured.

“It is what it is. She’s human, and she’s never been able to accept what I am. I don’t know if things would’ve been different if I’d been a normal shifter like a dragon or a wolf, but I guess we’ll never know because I’m neither of those things. I’m a chimera shifter, and that’s never going to change.”

* * * *

LIAM WANTED TO SAY something, but no sound came out of his mouth. He opened it, then closed it again, wondering what he could say. He didn’t want Ethan to think that he was scared or disgusted, but he knew that was where Ethan’s mind would go.

A lot of dragons and other shifters didn’t like chimeras. They thought that because that kind of shifter was a mix of different animals, they were strange or unnatural. Liam thought it was ridiculous. His clan had never really cared about them because, well, they’d never known a chimera shifter, but he hadn’t been taught to fear them. In fact, he’d been taught to accept everyone as long as they were respectful and behaved like good people, and that was what Ethan had done.

But Ethan was still waiting, probably expecting Liam to leave. Instead, Liam relaxed further into the chair and turned his head to smile at the man. “That’s cool.”

Ethan blinked. “Cool?”

“Yeah. I didn’t expect it. I don’t think I’ve ever met a chimera shifter before, although I could be wrong. I didn’t know you were one until you told me.”

“We don’t usually go around telling people what we are,” Ethan said as he leaned closer to get back to work.

The buzzing of the tattoo gun was a relief. It gave Liam a few seconds to think about what he could say next. At least now, Ethan didn’t think he was about to run out the door, but that wasn’t enough. Liam wanted Ethan to know that he truly didn’t care. As far as he was concerned, Ethan could turn into a purple cow, and he’d be just as fascinated by the man as he was now. Of course, if he was a purple cow that would probably be a part of it because Liam had never seen one before.

But Ethan wasn’t an imaginary creature born in Liam’s brain. He was a real person, a real chimera shifter, and from the way he’d behaved, it was clear that he’d expected Liam to reject him. Liam didn’t like that because it told him that Ethan was used to that kind of behavior.

Although now, the way Austin and West had behaved when Liam asked about Ethan made more sense. They had to know what Ethan was and hadn’t wanted to reveal his secrets, which was a good thing. This was Ethan’s explanation to give, not theirs. They clearly knew, though, and they were accepting of him. In fact, Liam suspected that if he had anything bad to say about it, Austin and West would step in, along with the rest of Ethan’s friends. They were protective of Ethan, which was understandable. Luckily, Liam had no intention of saying or doing anything that he wouldn’t say or do under normal circumstances. He’d probably have more questions than he would have for a wolf shifter or another dragon shifter, but he didn’t think he was going to ask them, not yet anyway. Ethan didn’t have a reason to answer. For now, they weren’t friends. They were barely more than acquaintances, and it would take a lot longer for Ethan to fully trust that Liam wasn’t a danger to him and that he didn’t hate him.

Ethan worked in silence for a while. He was still a little tense, but nothing like he’d been initially. Liam was mentally trying not to freak out, not because of what Ethan was, but because of how close they were and everything going through his mind. He was going to have to make a list of questions and hope that Ethan would answer them. He was dying to know more about chimera shifters and Ethan specifically.

“You can ask questions if you want,” Ethan finally said.

It was like a dam burst. “How big is your family? Are they all chimera shifters? Do you have a clan? What animals are you made of?” Liam paused to take a breath. He looked at Ethan, who was once again blinking at him. He didn’t look quite overwhelmed, but he was obviously surprised.

“That’s a lot of questions,” he commented.

Liam felt his cheeks flush. He didn’t want to make a fool of himself, but he did want the answers to those questions if Ethan was willing to give them to him. “Sorry about that. I told you I grew up isolated. I barely ever met shifters who didn’t belong to my clan or who weren’t dragons. Even Austin and West are dragon shifters, so there’s nothing special there.”

“But I am?”