Page 10

F ire had a voice, and this one was still whispering.

I knelt in the ruins of Leo's trailer, breathing in the story written in ash and char. My fingers twitched with the urge to light something—anything—to calm the constant buzz under my skin. I curled them into a fist instead, focusing on the investigation. Leo was watching, and now wasn't the time to indulge my more dangerous urges. The morning sun cut through the burnt shell, highlighting details most people would miss. But I wasn't most people. Fire spoke to me, and right now it was telling me secrets.

"The accelerant pattern's wrong." I ran my fingers through a section of ash, testing the consistency. "Too fine. Too controlled. This wasn't some random arsonist with a gas can."

"Professional?" Ash crouched beside me, his ViCAP training evident in how he documented everything with his camera. My brother's fiancé looked out of place in the salvage yard, his crisp button-down a stark contrast to the chaos around us. But his eyes missed nothing.

"Something like that." I gestured to where the floor had collapsed inward. "They started it underneath. Smart. Trailers are most vulnerable there. All that exposed insulation and wiring. The fire ate through the subfloor first, then spread up through the walls using the aluminum siding like a chimney."

It had been five days since the fire. Five days since Leo had moved into my room, my bed, my life in ways I was still learning to navigate. Five days of his body pressed against mine at night, of learning what made him gasp and tremble, of discovering parts of myself I'd never known existed. Five days of hunting Phoenix in between moments of unexpected intimacy.

Leo stood watching us, wearing my black hoodie despite the new clothes we'd bought him. It hung loose on his frame, sleeves pulled down over his hands in that way I found inexplicably endearing. The way he kept breathing in the scent of the fabric, like he was drawing comfort from having my smell surrounding him, made something possessive curl in my chest.

He caught me looking and gave me a small, private smile that made heat pool in my stomach. That was new, too. It was different, the way my body responded to him now, the way simple gestures could send electricity racing through my veins. Leo had rewired something fundamental in me, unlocked a type of desire I'd never experienced before him.

"The smoke detectors never triggered." Wattson's voice stayed steady, but his hands clenched. "They were part of the trailer's security system. All connected, all monitored. But when I checked the logs after, there's nothing. No alerts, no warnings. Like they were completely blind."

"We already knew they hijacked the whole monitoring system." Leo moved closer, keeping his tablet between himself and the wreckage like a shield. "They didn't just disable individual devices. They rewrote the entire security protocol. Made the system ignore the smoke, ignore the heat."

I shifted to stand next to him, letting my hand rest at the small of his back. The casual contact felt natural now, after these days of exploration and discovery between us. The way he leaned into my touch sent satisfaction spreading through me.

"The phoenix sculpture we found confirms it wasn't random," I said, steering the conversation back to our purpose here. "They left it deliberately, wanted us to know exactly who they were. But there might be other signatures we missed in the initial sweep."

Leo nodded. "Now that the site's cooled, we might find something the first responders overlooked."

Ash looked up from his camera. "The signature is what interests me most. They didn't just want to destroy. They wanted credit. Wanted you to know exactly who was responsible."

"Pride," I said. "It's always their downfall."

The tracking program I'd been running for days had finally narrowed down a potential location for Phoenix. I now had a series of IP addresses that kept popping up despite the elaborate proxy chains and VPNs. But I needed something more concrete before we made our move. Something physical that could connect the digital signature to an actual person. Without that, we’d be charging in blind.

Ragnar appeared in what remained of the doorway, looking like a Viking warrior who'd raided a boutique. His long blond hair and braided beard caught the morning light, still sparkling with glitter from last night's drag show. The floral sundress he wore did nothing to diminish his imposing presence as he moved through the wreckage.

"Found something else," he called, carefully picking his way through charred debris. "Some kind of transmitter buried in the insulation. Partially melted, but might be salvageable."

Ash took several photos while I examined the device Ragnar had uncovered. It was sophisticated work, the kind of remote trigger system used in military operations. Designed to initiate the fire from a safe distance while ensuring maximum effectiveness.

"This wasn't built from parts you can buy at Radio Shack," Ash observed, leaning over my shoulder.

"At what?" I glanced up at him.

"Radio Shack." Ash sighed at my blank look. "It was an electronics store back in the ancient times of the 1990s, you infant."

"Okay, grandpa." But I kept examining the device. "Whatever you want to call it, this is professional work."

Leo moved to my side, professional curiosity temporarily overriding his obvious discomfort at being back at the scene. "The components are military-grade. And look at how they designed it to integrate directly with the security system."

I watched his face as he analyzed the device, admiring the way his focus transformed him. This was the Leo I'd been drawn to from the beginning—brilliant, precise, seeing patterns others missed. The same Leo who'd come apart in my arms last night, who'd whispered my name like a prayer as I'd taught him exactly how to touch me.

"Can you get any data from it?" I asked, forcing my thoughts back to the investigation.

"Maybe." Leo took the device carefully, turning it over in his hands. "The memory chip looks intact. If I can hook it up to my recovery system back home, I might be able to extract something useful."

Home. The casual way he referred to my house now made something warm unfurl in my chest. It wasn't just my home anymore, it was ours. His anime figures lined up next to my gaming setup, his laptop next to mine, his toothbrush beside mine in the bathroom. The garage already transforming into his cosplay workshop, foam and fabric and tools gradually claiming the space.

"Good." I stood, brushing ash from my jeans. "Ash, can you finish documenting everything? I want to take Leo back to start working on this right away."

Ash nodded, understanding the urgency. "I'll send you my notes later. And Xavier?” He hesitated, eyes flicking between Leo and me. "Be careful. Whoever this is, they're not playing games."

"Neither am I." I placed my hand on Leo’s lower back, guiding him away from the ruins of his old home. "Let's go."

As we walked to my bike, Leo leaned closer, his voice low. "You really think we can trace them through this?"

"Yes." I helped him onto the bike, making sure he was secure against my back before answering. The feeling of his body pressed against mine, arms wrapped around my waist, sent a now-familiar warmth through me. "Between the device and the pattern we found in their code last night, we're getting closer. And when we find them—"

"We make them pay," Leo finished, his voice steady against my ear. His arms tightened around my waist. "For everything."

I kicked the kickstand up and the bike roared to life. Behind me, Leo pressed closer, his chest warm against my back. As we pulled away from the compound, leaving the others to continue their investigation, I felt Leo's lips press briefly against the back of my neck. A gentle reminder of what we now shared, of what Phoenix had tried and failed to destroy.

They'd wanted to take Leo from me, to burn away the one person who made me feel something beyond the cold satisfaction of my hunts. Instead, they'd pushed us closer together, accelerated something that might have taken months or years to develop otherwise.

Phoenix wanted to play with fire? Fine.

I'd show them what a real monster could do.