Page 10 of His Fiery Mate

“Yeah, when Hayden first kicked me out—by the way the best thing he ever did for me or the hellhounds…”

“Have you told him that?”

“Not yet, but I will. I asked Rick to let me bring this up. I think we need to clear the air, which is kind of funny given you’re a drakaina and I’m a hellhound, and we both keep people safe from fires.”

She tried hard not to smile but could feel the corners of her mouth ticking up.

“Caught you smiling,” he teased.

“Okay, so maybe it’s a little bit funny.”

“Blaze? Seriously?”

“Most dragons, especially drakaina, don’t have last names unless we own property and such. It amused me.”

“True enough. If you want, I can leave your food, take mine and we can meet in the morning. But I thought up here we could be a little more open.”

“About what?”

“About the fact that Kodiak has a serial arsonist.”

He’d said it. He’d just put it out there. “You believe that?”

“Don’t you?”

“I do. I kept not wanting to believe it, but when you showed up, especially with the way you wanted all the scenes preserved…”

“What’s left of them,” she snorted.

“I get it. I do, but keep in mind most firemen, myself included, are more interested in saving lives and putting the fires out than preserving a crime scene, but I’m willing to admit we made your job more difficult.”

“You really did, but if we’re going to be honest with one another, I also get your point of view and especially at first, there was no way for you to know. Some of the scenes of the fires that I think are linked are gone, built over…”

Tanner had ventured out onto the balcony. He handed her a plate, opened her microbrew and put that and the pie on the table between them. He put his dinner on the other chair and his pie and microbrew next to hers. He picked up his plate and then sat beside her.

“You’d think as a drakaina I would be used to things that are smoked…”

“Yeah, but Rick has a way with that thing. He used to say it was his best advertising. He’d be smoking stuff all day and for blocks around the diner you could see people just inhaling and following their noses.”

“I’ve seen that.”

“How long have you been here?”

“A couple of weeks.”

“I haven’t seen you at any of the other fires…”

“I was keeping a low profile, trying to do some deep background research. Rick is a plethora of gossip and history.”

Tanner grinned. “That he is. Why show up today? You don’t have to tell me, but I’m curious. I’ve only been around one other arson investigator. You guys are…” he hesitated searching for the words that wouldn’t offend her.

“Most people say ‘weird’ or an ‘odd duck.’”

“What do you people say?”

“I like ‘fire nerd.”

Tanner laughed. It was a wonderfully open sound, inviting others to laugh with him, which she did.

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