Well over twenty-four hours later, Simon once again set foot in the Winking Wizard. The Saturday night crowd was a bit sparser than the Friday night crowd had been, probably because the weather had improved dramatically since last night. Many of the bar’s usual patrons had opted to go drink by the lake. Simon might have, too, if it had been a normal day. One of his favorite things to do was kick back by Torch Lake with good friends and good beer.

Today had been anything but normal, though. He’d spent most of the day in meetings with the High Council and military commanders, trying to determine how a Dark Warrior shifter had managed to get into the city. The military commanders had been so sure that the City Guard was effective that they had refused to believe at first that there had really been an enemy bear shifter in their midst. But when confronted with evidence that the son of a prominent government official had been attacked, they had to admit that something suspicious was going on.

Simon frowned as he headed toward the bar, scanning quickly to see whether Brittany was here tonight. She was. A moment later, he spotted her popping from behind a large pile of glassware crates, holding giant mugs and smiling as she said something to one of the nearby customers at the bar. His heart twisted in his chest with longing as he watched her, but he forced the emotion away. He wasn’t here to ask her out again. He was here to officially thank her for her help in saving the boy last night. Without Brittany, in fact, that boy would probably be dead right now. Simon still wasn’t sure exactly how Brittany had ended up tangled up in that mess, which was another reason he wanted to talk to her. He was hoping that she might have some more information on what had happened—information that would help the High Council and the military piece together how the Dark Warriors had snuck into the city yet again. Simon knew the odds of Brittany having more information were slim, but he had to at least try.

He approached the bar and chose a barstool on the side of the bar where Brittany was working. For a few minutes, she didn’t see him, still busy with her other customers. But when she looked up and their eyes met, she froze.

An unreadable expression went across her face, and for a moment Simon was worried that she might be angry. But then she smiled at him, and held up a finger to indicate she’d be with him in just a second. Simon relaxed a bit, his heart warmed more than he would have thought possible by just her simple smile.

She finished serving the customers she’d been with, then came over to see him.

“Hey,” she said, her voice sounding almost shy. “What are you having? It’s on the house tonight. Another Dragon’s Breath Lager?”

Simon shook his head no. “I’ll just take a coffee, if you have any brewed.”

“Of course. Cream and sugar?”

“Just black.”

She nodded and went to grab his coffee. He saw her say something to Joe, the other bartender, on her way back. Joe shrugged and nodded, and then went back to his work. Brittany came over and set the coffee in front of Simon, and then, much to his surprise, she hopped over the bar and sat in the empty barstool next to him.

“I asked Joe if I could take the rest of the night off,” she explained. “It’s pretty slow, and we aren’t likely to get any busier at this point. Besides, I was supposed to get off in fifteen minutes anyway.”

Simon glanced at his watch. It was nearly eleven-fifteen. He hadn’t realized it was quite that late, and he was glad he’d caught Brittany before she’d left for the night. Sitting next to her now was making his heart pound like crazy, but he knew he couldn’t let himself focus on that. He needed to say the things he’d come here to say.

“Listen, I wanted to thank you for your help last night. I actually would have liked to thank you last night, but you never came back out and things were so chaotic.”

Brittany blushed and shrugged. “I figured it was best if I stayed out of the way. I don’t think I could have done more than you and the other dragon shifters were already doing.”

“Well, what you did do was amazing. I know you aren’t a soldier, but you held off that grizzly shifter until help came. That’s no easy task.”

Brittany lowered her eyes. “I’m just glad you showed up. I wasn’t sure anyone was going to hear me calling for help, and I don’t know how much longer I would have been able to hold back the bear. How did you hear me, anyway?”

“I happened to be leaving right when you called for help. I was honestly fuming a bit, and walking to my car slowly. This cute bartender I had asked out had rejected me.”

Simon winked at Brittany, and she blushed again but didn’t say anything.

“Anyway,” Simon continued. “I thought I heard someone calling for help, and then I thought I heard a shifter roaring. I knew something was wrong and ran over right away. Needless to say I was quite surprised to find you back there battling a grizzly.”

“Who was that guy?” Brittany asked. “Surely he wasn’t a Torch Lake citizen?”

Simon shook his head no, then finally took a sip of his coffee before answering. The coffee was strong and thick, just the way he liked it. He took another sip, then glanced around to make sure no one was too close. He didn’t want anyone overhearing this.

“The grizzly was a Dark Warrior. That boy he attacked was the son of one of Torch Lake’s major government officials. We think the grizzly was intending to use the kid as some sort of bargaining chip against Torch Lake, although we’re not exactly sure why he did so much harm to the boy. Maybe he thought if it looked like the kid’s life was truly in danger then people would pay more attention.”

“How is the kid doing?”

“He’s fine. He had some cuts that needed stitches, and he’s got quite a few nasty bruises. But there’s no permanent damage. Not physically, at least. I’m sure emotionally he’s quite shaken up.”

“Poor thing.” Brittany shook her head in disgust. Then she looked at Simon with narrowed eyes. “But how did that Dark Warrior get into the city in the first place? The High Council assured us that the guards and shields around the city are impenetrable.”

“Apparently they were wrong, which is bad news. What’s even worse news is that we actually don’t have a clue how they did get in. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you. I was hoping you might have seen something that would help us figure that out.”

To Simon’s disappointment, though, Brittany was slowly shaking her head. “I didn’t really see that much. I was out back taking a break when the boy emerged from the woods. He was in a black sack and didn’t look good. I went to try to help him, but when I said I was going inside for a minute to have someone call an ambulance, he freaked out and said he didn’t want to be left alone. I didn’t see what choice I had, though, so I started to leave anyway. That’s when the grizzly shifter came rushing out of the woods. The next few minutes are a blur. I tried to call for help but I wasn’t sure if anyone would hear me. I panicked and tried to attack the shifter, but it wasn’t going so well. Like you said, I’m no soldier. Thank god you came when you did.”

Brittany shuddered as she finished speaking, and Simon reached over to pat her hand without thinking about it. “It’s okay. You’re okay now, and you did an amazing job at keeping that boy safe until I got there.”

Within seconds, Simon realized that there was undeniable electricity between his hand and Brittany’s when their skin came into contact. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, he knew he was attracted to her, so it was only natural that there would be some chemistry between them. But the chemistry was stronger than any he’d ever felt, and he knew by the way that Brittany looked up at him that she felt it, too. Her eyes were wide and questioning, and Simon was tempted to ask her out again right then and there. But he held himself back. Maybe another night he would try again. Tonight wasn’t about him. It was about seeing if there was anything she could tell them about the grizzly shifter, and about thanking her. He’d accomplished both of those things, so this would probably be a good time to get going.

He drew his hand back and reached for his coffee mug to take a few more swigs. For someone who’d barely slept last night, he felt surprisingly awake. But it was still good to get a bit of strong caffeine in him. He was about to stand up and bid Brittany farewell when she started talking again.

“I owe you an apology, by the way.”

He paused and looked over at her. “It’s fine. You really don’t. I know we dragons have a bit of a reputation, and, honestly, some of it probably is deserved. We can be a bit…proud.”

“It’s not fine, though. Perhaps you are a bit proud, but I judged you without really knowing you. I thought you were selfish and full of yourself, but what you did last night was anything but selfish. You jumped in right away to save that boy, and to save me.”

Simon raised an eyebrow at her. “Save you?”

“Yeah. I mean, if you think about it, I couldn’t have held that grizzly off forever. If you hadn’t shown up, I probably would have gotten torn up just like that boy. So thank you. I owe you one.”

Simon felt his heart swelling. It felt good to be appreciated, even though he didn’t feel like he’d done that much last night. He’d faced much scarier challenges than a grizzly shifter before. But he only smiled and shrugged at Brittany. “You’re welcome. But you don’t owe me anything. I was just doing my duty as a Torch Lake Dragon shifter.”

“Still, I feel badly for writing you off so quickly. Last night made me realize that no one is really as safe as they think they are in this city. It’s good to have dragons around.”

Simon smiled sadly. “Yeah. It would be nice if the city was just safe, whether there were dragons here or not.”

Brittany frowned, her brow furrowing into an expression of deep concern. “Does…does the High Council have any idea how to stop more Dark Warriors from getting in?”

Simon looked around uneasily. He shouldn’t be talking about this in a public place, but no one was close by. Besides, he felt like Brittany deserved to know the truth, after what she’d been through last night. “Honestly, they have no clue. Without knowing how this one got into the city in the first place, it’s hard to come up with a plan to keep it from happening again. Keep that between you and me, though. If the whole city knows that Dark Warriors might be slipping in, there will be mass panic. And there’s not much worse during a war than mass panic.”

Brittany shuddered. “It just makes me feel so exposed. Like I could just be walking down the street minding my own business and at any moment I could be attacked.”

Simon patted her hand again. “I wouldn’t worry too much about that. If a Dark Warrior does manage to get into the city, he’s going to attack someone of note. Like that government official’s son, for example. I don’t think they’re going to go after random citizens. It’s too much trouble and wouldn’t help their cause much.”

Brittany looked somewhat reassured, but Simon himself was starting to feel worried. As he patted Brittany’s hand and once again felt the undeniable electricity between them, he couldn’t help but thinking how devastating it would be to lose her. Sure, he had no claim on her. But he did care about her deeply, and the thought of a Dark Warrior trying to harm her, however remote the chances of that might be, made his blood boil. He realized that he needed to get out of here and get some fresh air. He was once again feeling like he wanted to punch a hole through the wall, although his reasons for feeling that way tonight were somewhat different than last night.

“I should get going,” he said, hopping off his barstool and reaching for his wallet. “Can I pay you for the coffee?”

Brittany waved his wallet away. “No, it’s on the house, like I said.” Then she tilted her head sideways and gave him a funny look. “Where are you going?”

Simon shrugged. “Home, I guess? I should sleep, although I have a feeling I’m going to be too wired to actually get any rest.”

Brittany chewed her lip for a moment, as if trying to decide something. Then she looked up at him and smiled—a coy little smile that sent delightful shivers up and down his spine. “Do you want to go night swimming with me and some friends?” she asked.

Simon blinked at her like an idiot, not sure if he’d heard her correctly. “Night swimming?”

“Yeah. One of my buddies from a bar I used to work at has a boat. On warm nights like tonight they all like to go swimming on the lake really late. I asked to be off before midnight tonight specifically so I could go. It’s really fun to boat out to the middle of the lake and swim under the moonlight. There’s usually plenty of beer, too, if you decide you want something different after that coffee.”

A small smile played at the corners of Simon’s lips. “Are you asking me on a date?”

Brittany blushed. “Not exactly. It’s just hanging out with a bunch of my friends. But I do feel bad about the way I rejected you yesterday and I thought, I don’t know, maybe…”

She seemed to struggle for words before finally throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. “Look, do you want to come or not?”

Simon grinned. “I’d love to. Do I have time to run home and grab my swim trunks?”

Brittany glanced at her watch and nodded. “Yeah, if you hurry. Meet me down at the main Torch Lake boat docks when you’re done. My friend’s planning to launch off at fifteen minutes past midnight.”

“I’ll see you then,” Simon said, already reaching for his keys and turning toward the door. After the day he’d had, he definitely didn’t want to pass up the chance to go swimming with Brittany.

Maybe there would even be some sparks out on the lake tonight.