Aria stared in shock, hiding from the fight outside her window. The man who had said he'd come to rescue her had been so handsome and strong. A stubbled square jaw, jovial mouth, and moss green eyes were framed by a tousled mass of wavy blond hair that came to his impossibly broad shoulders. She wanted to believe this Adonis was truly here to help her. But then he turned into a massive red dragon, and she wasn't so sure anymore.

Aria had been surprised enough at the existence of vampires. But now she also had to believe in dragons? It was just too much. She snuck toward the window and glanced outside again. There was a full-blown battle taking place out there. In the sky, on the ground, on the rooftops.

She stumbled back and scooped up the wounded bird, which she’d named Charlie, and held him close to her. She sang a soft song to calm his frantic chirping. She didn't know what would happen after this violent fight, but she intended to keep Charlie safe no matter what.

Her voice quivered as the power inside her surged through her hands and radiated into the little broken creature. She knew that soon his wing would be healed, and he would be able to fly away and live in the wild as he was meant to. But if something happened to him, in this bloody, fiery battle of vampire and dragon, she would never forgive herself.

Her heart beat wildly and she could barely concentrate on her song, but she put every ounce of her strength, focus, and resolve into keeping her little bird safe from the storm.

She placed him inside the pocket of her shirt where he could nestle comfortably against her chest and went to look out the window one more time.

Victor, the leader of the vampires, faced a man she didn't recognize. The entire bottom level of the mansion was aflame. The dragon who’d said he’d come to save her was now in the form of a massive red beast, taking on dozens of vampires.

There were other dragons out there too. One of them was half shifted. He had a physical body resembling a man, but he had wings coming out of his back, claws, and fangs. He danced like a ninja with flaming swords in his clawed hands, fighting several dozen vampires on the ground and in the sky.

Another half-shifted dragon was shooting vampires with laser beams from some kind of wrist device. She shook her head, not quite understanding what the hell was happening. Was that a dragon with a laser gun? She just didn't get it. This was beyond reasonable. If she hadn't already been kidnapped by vampires, the sight of all of this commotion would probably have made her faint.

She realized that she now lived in a world of the strange and wonderful, and it would probably be best if she just got used to it.

She herself was not exactly a normal human. Her ability to heal the sick with her song had been her secret all her life. It started when she was a young girl, about five, a year before her mother passed away. She’d found a neighbor's cat that had been attacked by a dog. Its front paw had been ripped open, and it couldn't walk.

She’d sat with the little black and white feline where it had hidden under the porch steps. Guided by instinct, she’d sung to it, holding her hands against the wood. After fifteen minutes of singing, the cat ran out from under the porch and dashed across the street, as if it had never been hurt at all.

The cat couldn’t use it’s bloodied, broken paw when it had run on three legs under the porch. Yet it ran away, just as healthy as it could be. From that day forward, she knew she had a special power. She healed many creatures and people too. But she soon learned she had to keep it a secret.

When she’d told her mother about her gift, she’d laughed and told Aria not to be silly. She said magic didn't exist, that it was just part of one of her fairytales. Her mother had said Aria was a big girl now and needed to know the difference between fantasy and reality. A year later, her mother was hit by a drunk driver and passed away on the operating table.

It had left a deep impression on Aria’s young psyche. She’d always believed that if she’d been with her mother in the hospital, she could have saved her. She’d grown up conflicted about her identity, her power, and her place in the world. On one hand, she knew her power was deeply loving and good. On the other hand, her late mother’s words continued to ring in her mind like a tolling bell.

Aria couldn’t resist trying to help people, but she only used her power in secret, never drawing attention to herself. She just knew that if anyone ever found out she believed in magic, they would lock her up and throw away the key.

After her mom died, she’d grown up with her dad. And he had never remarried. As a traveling salesman, married to his work, they’d moved at least twice a year throughout her childhood. When her mom was alive, it had been easier. But without her, Aria had no one to tend to her emotional needs. Her father was a good dad, for a distant workaholic, and he’d taken care of her physical needs. But her childhood experiences had left her unsure of herself and unable connected to anything, including herself and her own needs.

When her dad died of a stroke a few years ago, she’d been left completely alone. With the small life insurance policy he’d left her, she’d been able to start a simple new life in Seattle, hoping she’d finally found a home.

Then the vampires discovered her secret and kidnapped her. As careful as she had been, they had somehow sniffed her out. And now here she was, trapped in a tower looking out at a battle between vampires and dragons. She stood back from the window as the flames began to lick higher on the mansion, reaching the second floor. Soon they would reach her, and she would have nowhere to run.

The giant red dragon flew by her window and flashed a smile at her. At least she thought it was a smile. Did dragons smile? That was a question she never expected to ask herself. But the dragon who'd called himself Dax appeared to be smiling at her as he twirled through the air, blowing flames and batting at the dozens of vampires who were attacking him. The smell of smoke and brimstone filled her nose and she coughed. The dragon with the flaming swords flew to her window.

“I am Aiden. We will be getting you out of here soon. But you’ll need to be patient for a few more minutes,” he said, abruptly dancing away from the window.

Aiden was as handsome as Dax in a brutal and frightening sort of way. While the vampires were cool and beautiful, almost like porcelain, these dragons were hot, hot-blooded, and masculine. There was something extremely rugged about them. Something that made her feel tingles down her spine the moment she’d seen Dax. She’d felt a surge of something she couldn't quite explain. Was it desire?

Being held captive in the middle of a paranormal battle made it difficult to understand her feelings. But the last time she’d felt anything even remotely similar was on her last date. She'd been attracted to the guy and would have liked a second date, but he'd never called her back. Sometimes she thought that maybe she was too prudish for most men.

Nowadays the guys all seemed to want girls willing to go home with them after a first date. That just wasn't Aria. She needed to feel loved. And she had a secret to keep. It made it hard to get close to anyone. She’d given up on dating. There wasn't much she could do when she couldn’t connect, and she was willing to accept that.

Nevertheless, she cared about people, sometimes to a fault. Her work with the old folks in the nursing home was more important to her than finding a guy anyway. But when she’d first laid her eyes on Dax, she thought for a split second that maybe she could find love.

The huge dragon settled outside her window and shifted into his half-shifted form. His clawed hands gripped the sides of the window and ripped the wall away in one big chunk. She shrieked and jumped away.

“Don't be afraid, little human,” he said in a deep, growling voice. “I'm here to save you.”

“What about the vampires?”

“They are neutralized.”

“I'm scared,” she said, gaping at the edge of the building and the flames below. The smoke bit her nose.

“You have nothing to be afraid of. Come with me.”

“I can't go without my bird,” she said cupping her pocket with her palm. “I don't want him to get hurt.”

“No harm will come to your bird,” he said. “Come with me.”

He reached out to her just as five vampires descended on him. He tumbled back. Aria screamed, watching Dax fall to the ground. He turned and attacked, a two-handed sword appearing in his hands. He slashed at the vampires all around him. He cut into one and it fell back. But a moment later, the vampire slipped into shadow and sprang back to its feet, as if nothing had happened. It was the most terrifying sight Aria had ever seen.

She screamed and ran away from the opening, not wanting to see the horror. A moment later, Dax landed outside the window again. This time he’d brought the dragon with the laser gun.

“This is Cato. He will be carry you to the perimeter.”

“Come,” said Cato. “We don't have much time.”

“But Dax,” she said, staring up at her would-be savior.

She wanted to go with him. She didn't know why. Why wouldn't one dragon be as good as the other? She couldn't help this feeling that there was something between them.

“Dax is our strongest fighter. We need him on the field,” said Cato, reaching out to her.

“She has a bird in her pocket,” Dax said. “No harm must come to it.”

“Understood,” Cato said.

Aria took Cato's hand and he lifted her up. She held the bird in her pocket tenderly as the half-shifted dragon flew her from the tower. She peered over Cato's shoulder as his wings beat the air. Dax shifted into his full dragon form as the vampires descended on him yet again. The man who'd been speaking with Victor shifted into dragon form and breathed fire all around, increasing the blaze in the mansion.

“Here you are,” Cato said, approaching the perimeter of the forest.

He set her down and began to scan the air with a laser beaming from his wrist.

“The wards at seventy-five percent power,” said a robotic female voice.

“This is bad,” Cato said.

“What's bad,” Aria asked.

“The vampiric magic. They are adjusting. Our computer is trying to break their wards to allow for our escape.”

He pressed his hand to the air around them. It sizzled as it burned. He yelped and snatched his hand back. The smell of chared flesh assaulted her senses. Cato slipped his burned fingers over the hologram in front of him. She waited for an excruciating minute, watching the man with the strange wrist device work on the magical wards. She wanted to help, using her own magic, but she was afraid to let them know she had it. Would they try to use her too?

“The vampire wards are down,” Bethi chirped.

“Aiden, Dax, Kian,” Cato said. “The wards are down. We better leave.”

Cato tried the air around the perimeter again and didn't burn his hand.

“Time to go,” he said, reaching for her.

Dax flew up behind him in his half-shifted form, his eyes blazing.

“I will fly her back,” Dax said.

Dax lifted her in his arms as her hand gently covered the bird at her breast. She put her other arm around his neck as she gazed up at his handsome face. Cato shifted into dragon form and the other dragons flew up behind them. They turned to the west, away from the rising sun, and left the burning mansion, a place she hoped she would never see again.