Page 10 of Raven

Present.

Waiting.

That was somehow more intimate than anything else.

“Was it bad?” he asked finally, his voice low.

“The fire?”

He nodded.

“Worse than it should’ve been,” I said. “The warehouse was locked from the outside.”

He didn’t answer. Just waited.

“There was a woman inside. Marked with something… deliberate. It was a black permanent marker.”

“Gang-related?”

“Not exactly.”

He didn’t press for more. But I felt the shift in him, like a thread pulled tight.

“Do you want help?” he asked.

I stopped walking and looked out over the water.

The truth was, I didn’t know what I wanted.

I’d spent years handling things alone. Telling someone—even someone like him—meant dragging them into something dark. Something dangerous. Something I’d barely made it out of myself.

“I’m fine,” I lied.

He studied me for a long moment. Then said, “You’re a badass firefighter, Beatrice. But you don’t have to do it alone. Let me in! I want to help you! I need to help you! I am going to help you! I don’t care if you agree or not.”

Something in my chest cracked.

But I didn’t let it show.

I started walking again, the sand shifting beneath my feet.

“Just so you know,” he said behind me, “if anyone’s coming for you, they’re going to have to go through me first. I have your back. I’ve had it since we met.”

I stopped.

Turned.

“You don’t even know what you’re signing up for.”

He smiled, all slow confidence and steel.

“Doesn’t matter.”

And for the first time since I started working for the government, I felt something strange curl through me.

Not fear.

Not dread.

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