Audrey Wright

Miguel’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and I knew he was considering his words carefully. Whatever words that would next come out of his mouth could very well be a lie. I hated that, and if he did lie to me, I would be so disappointed. He seemed like a great guy even if he did seem secretive. It was as if he had walls up that he didn’t want me to get into. Which, of course, made me want to get to know him that much more.

So stupid of me. Because I needed to have the hots for a guy right now, especially a guy who just might have a connection to a dragon.

“Are dragons real?” I asked again. I had to know the answer. No guarantee he would know the answer, but still, I could hope.

“Yes,” he mumbled.

My eyebrows shot up, and I leaned forward and grabbed his hand. “Yes?” I repeated eagerly. “You aren’t lying!”

His chuckle was a little weak. “You always think guys are gonna lie to you? Audrey, chica, you need new friends.”

“I need friends who don’t call me chica.”

I was still holding his hand, and our fingers were interlaced. Whoops. I didn’t pull away, though.

“Do you know the dragon that attacked me?” I asked. “What about the other that attacked the first? Have you seen a dragon before? How do you know they’re real?”

“I…” Miguel hung his head. “I shouldn’t say.”

Immediately, I closed up, hurt and confused. “Fine. Don’t. Whatever. I should go.”

I shoved the covers aside, stood, and immediately sat back down. The wine had gone straight to my head. I could barely stand.

“Slow down, chica.”

“You gave me that wine on purpose,” I accused.

He just gave me a look. “You drank it. I didn’t pour it down your throat.”

I opened my mouth and then shut it. He had a point.

“Sleep, Audrey. We will talk in the morning.” He put this tray on top of the other one, pulled the covers up beneath my chin, and kissed my cheek. I’d wanted to turn my face at the last second so we would kiss, but my reflexes were so slow right now.

Miguel waved and left.

I hated being alone in this room. Hated it with a passion. It wasn’t the smallest of rooms, but it only had the one bed in it. Honestly, it felt more like a cell than a bedroom.

Maybe I should get out of here, wherever here was. Maybe I could find my way back if I needed to.

Who was I kidding? I wasn’t in condition to hitch a ride. I couldn’t drive myself, and walking was out.

So, basically, I was stuck here.

Ugh.

I couldn’t sleep, though, so I stood up and paced, back and forth.

A dragon. A fire-breathing dragon was going around killing people and slicing their torsos to ribbons.

But why? And how could we stop it? Through death or… would it be possible to capture one of them?

I turned to continue pacing but moved too quickly and knocked the canopy cover off the bed. Stomping over, I retrieved it, tried to get the dust out, and put the cover back up on the tall-four-posture bed. The curtains had been tied back, and I had to redo them.

The faintest of noises sounded from the door. I stiffened and then crossed over to the peephole. The hotter guy from this morning was here.

Maybe he’d talked to Miguel. Maybe he wanted to get the answers directly himself. Whichever the case, I opened the door.

“Come in,” I said with a sweep of my arm. I burst out laughing, not even sure what was so funny.

The man didn’t seem too pleased.

“I’m Audrey.” I held out my hand for a shake.

“Damon King,” he offered. My word, was his mouth sexy, his voice dreamy, his body solid and like a rock.

“So, tell me, Damon,” I said slowly, “do you have a tattoo?”

“I do.”

“Can I see it?”

He ripped his shirt. Literally. Granted, it had some blood stains on it and I had spied a small hole. Still, the whole shirt hadn’t needed to be completely ripped apart into two.

Not that I was gonna complain. His chest was huge, and that dragon tattoo was amazing. So huge and what in the world was I doing? I was touching it. I should yank my hand away and step back, but I didn’t. What was I expecting to feel? Dragon scales? The intense heat of flames? Damon’s body was warm, maybe a little warmer than normal, but all I felt was solid muscle and smooth skin.

I hadn’t gotten a super close look at the first guy’s tattoo, but I had seen Miguel’s up close.

“Your tattoo and Miguel’s aren’t just similar. They’re identical. The other guy also had one.”

Damon nodded. “Francesco. Francesco Marino.”

“Italian,” I murmured.

Damon nodded. “I don’t know all of what you and Miguel talked about…”

My head was swimming. This was a lot to process.

“You all have dragon tattoos,” I murmured, trying to think. The wine wasn’t helping any. Or maybe it was. Without it, I might be too freaked out to contemplate and accept any of this.

But I knew what I had seen, and I had seen two dragons fighting. Plus, a dragon completely explained the killed humans. Granted, I didn’t know the motivation, but I could completely understand the animals fleeing. Dragons weren’t exactly the kind of animal neighbor a dog or cat or gerbil would want.

“Yes,” Damon said. “That’s been established. We all have tattoos.”

“Which one of you fought off the dragon that attacked me?” I blurted out. “Don’t lie and say that you three aren’t dragons. Are you dragons? Or would you be dragon shifters? Or what exactly are you?”

“Breathe,” Damon said with a laugh.

I scowled at him. “How about you just answer the question? I am breathing. If I weren’t, I’d be dead.”

“I wouldn’t want that.”

“Oh, no?” I asked. I still had my hand on his chest, but now, I stabbed him there. “Maybe you do want exactly that, considering I know about you and your friends. I know there are dragons. Doesn’t that make me a threat to you and your kind?”

“Are you?” he asked calmly.

“Of course not!” I shouted, but inwardly, I didn’t exactly know.

I was an investigative reporter. I should be willing and ready to type up an article for tomorrow’s paper that explain attacks. Dragons.

Because people would believe me.

I hadn’t been able to reach my phone to snap a pic of the dragon. I’d been so scared that I had been completely wrapped up in fleeing for my life.

“Miguel was worried about you,” Damon said. “He is not pleased that a human knows.”

“Outside of him telling me about dragons, he and I got along just fine.” I narrowed my eyes at Damon. He might be hot, but I didn’t like how he was trying to knock Miguel down.

“Did you? You two get along like a house on fire?” Damon smirked.

Maybe it was immature of me—okay, it was immature of me—but I slapped Damon’s chest.

“We got along better than we are,” I said hotly.

“Why can’t we get along?” Damon asked. “You sure seem to like to touch my body.”

Now I did yank my hand back as if burned.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, trying to ignore the rising heat in my face and my embarrassment.

The wine. It had to be the wine. Because all I could keep thinking about was touching Damon’s chest again. Of Miguel’s finger so close to my lips. Of Francesco’s amazing eyes.

“Francesco,” I mumbled. “He was the one to fight the other dragon. Did he bring me here? Where are we?”

“You never can ask only one question at a time, can you?”

“Can’t handle me, Damon?” I asked. I brushed my hair over my shoulder and stumbled. Too much wine.

Damon steadied me and kept his hands on my hips, grounding me.

“Yes, Francesco fought the other dragon. Yes, he brought you here. We are in the mansion of the Three-Tailed Clan.”

“Three-Tailed Clan,” I repeated dully. “Just how many dragons are there in Philly?”

“Fifty of us in the clan.”

“And that other dragon? I take it he’s the one killing the humans? Is he a part of your clan?”

Damon shook his head. “He’s from the Fanged Serpents Clan.”

I blinked several times. Should I be more amazed or dismayed?

Both.

“How long have you been here?” I whispered.

“A few months.”

“And the Fanged Serpents?”

“Just two weeks.”

I blinked, perplexed. “What brought both clans here to Philly?”

“We had been overcrowded where we last lived,” Damon explained. “We settled on Philly and immediately set sail.”

“Wow,” I murmured. “Two dragon clans are at war in my city. That’s just great. Fantastic. So, when are you going to annihilate the other clan? What they’re doing has to be stopped. They can’t be allowed to just kill anyone they want.” I gulped. “Like they almost did with me.”

“You will be kept safe,” Damon said. Without warning, he was embracing me and rubbing my back.

Awkwardly, I returned the hug. His back was every bit as strong and solid as his chest, and I snuggled against him. I shouldn’t have , but the wine made me. At least that was my excuse.

“I don’t need your protection,” I said. I should pull away, but I didn’t. He was still holding me, and the back rub felt so amazing. Yeah. Totally not moving.

“Clearly, you do need our protection. Francesco would be ashamed of us all if we allowed you to leave.”

“Um, I have freedom. I can come and go as I please.”

Damon nodded. “True enough but that dragon was close enough to smell you. You will get caught by the other clan, and then, you will be dead.”

“Oh, how nice of you to still assume I can’t protect myself.” I forced myself to wiggle out from his arms. Immediately, I missed his warmth. He was so hot, both looks-wise and temperature-wise. “I can.”

“With what?” he asked. He didn’t seem to necessarily think I was incapable, at least, so that was a good sign. I absolutely hated it when guys acted like girls were always damsels in distress. That wasn’t me. Hell, I wasn’t ever a damsel in a dress. I was strictly a jeans and t-shirt kind of gal. Although I did like to wear heels when it was practical.

That my profession required me to wear skirts in order to be taken somewhat seriously really irked me. If I could get away with walking onto crime scenes in jeans, I totally would. But the skirt sometimes helped. A few times, it had armed me. Some people just were plain sexist, and that went for men and women. When you’re an investigative reporter, you tended to meet all kinds of people, and not all of them were pleasant. Not all of them wanted to help. That could make life difficult.

Thinking back to Detective Hugh Mark, yeah, sometimes the police were the worst offenders of all.

“At home, I have a gun,” I said. “I do know how to use it.”

“You would shoot me?”

“If you gave me a reason to,” I said.

“Have I?”

“Not yet, but that doesn’t mean you won’t.”

A flicker of shock flashed in Damon’s eyes. “You don’t feel safe here?”

I hesitated. “I do, but I would feel better if I could leave.”

“I’m not stopping you.”

I didn’t make a move to leave. “When are you going to take out the other clan?”

“It’s not so simple. This other clan, the Fanged Serpents, they’re dangerous. They have a history of going around and destroying.”

“Destroying what? Killing humans?”

He shook his head. “Not so much killing humans. That’s relatively new.”

“Oh, how lucky for us,” I murmured.

Damon gave me a lopsided smile. I must’ve hit my head because that smile did something to me that it definitely shouldn’t have. So inappropriate right now.

“They have wiped out other clans before. We were hoping to have other clans join us in a final confrontation against them.”

“You don’t sound too pleased, so I take it they turned down your offer.”

“I don’t know all of the details yet. Miguel only just got back.”

“I’m not too sure he wanted me here,” I said. At least, that was how he had come across at first. Then, he seemed to warm up to me, just like I had him. And that Francesco guy seemed to be really protective of me.

“Miguel was afraid,” Damon said. “Humans aren’t supposed to know about dragons.”

“If it weren’t for Francesco…” I swallowed hard.

“Don’t worry about that.” Damon squeezed my hand.

I had to. Maybe it was weak of me, but I needed to feel his strong arms around me. I wanted to be strong all of the time, but I was trembling. I was weak with relief and fear and on edge. Dragons were real. Two dragon clans were at war in my city, and one side was killing humans. It was more than I could handle. Hell, it was more than anyone could handle. Even a Marine wouldn’t be able to be unflappable in the face of all of this.

“How was I able to heal so quickly?” I asked as I pulled away. “I know I was injured badly. I thought I was dying.”

Damon hesitated. “I gave you some of my blood.”

“You mean like a vampire?”

Damon rolled his eyes. “Vampires aren’t real.”

“Thank God for small favors,” I muttered. “What about werewolves? Are there other shifters or just you dragons?”

“Just us dragons.” He winked. “Why? Always wanted a werewolf for a boyfriend?”

“No. I prefer leather and wings,” I quipped.

“That can be arranged. Hell, I’d love to see you in leather and lace.”

My cheeks were flushed, and I tried to hide my embarrassment. “I don’t think we need to worry about that now.”

“No?” He cupped my cheek and rubbed his thumb along my lips.

My heart skipped a beat. I could hardly think while he did that.

“Why not?” Damon asked. He dipped his head.

Was he going to kiss me? I wanted him to. I did. I should close my eyes and lift onto my toes…

No. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. Not yet anyway.

“I have to go,” I said abruptly.

“And do what?”

“I have to get to work.”

“At this time of night?” Damon shook his head. “Stay the night. We can take you back to your place in the morning.”

“How well can dragons smell?” I asked.

“Better than dogs. If you’re worried about the other dragon coming for you, don’t be. He’s dead.”

“Still, won’t I stink of dragons? Won’t that make another dragon think twice?”

“Possibly. Which is why you should stay here until all of this blows over.”

I laughed, but the sound was so sarcastic and without any mirth.

“Stay here until the war between dragon clans is done and over with. Yeah. No thank you. I think I’m gonna get going now.”

“I really think you shouldn’t.” Damon moved to block me.

I rolled my eyes. “Fine. You got a laptop I can borrow?”

He crossed his arms and leveled me a glare. “Just what is your line of work, anyway?”

I hesitated. If he knew, he wouldn’t be too pleased. I was an excellent bullshitter, but I had a feeling that he would see right through me.

“I’m a reporter.”

“You think we’re going to let you just expose us to the world?”

I shrugged. “Do you think that I would do such a thing?”

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “You’re the one who wants to rush off and return to work right after we’re trusting you with a huge secret. You mean to tell me that we should trust you?”

“Isn’t that how trust goes?” I snapped. “It goes both ways. Look, I’m glad I know. I also wish I didn’t. It’s a lot to take in, okay? I need some semblance of normalcy right now. I know that nothing is as it used to be, but I can’t… I need this okay? To write something. Anything. Even if I can’t… Damnit, Damon! I swore to myself that I wouldn’t be one of those BS journalists who lied to the public. What am I supposed to do now?”

“Funny,” Damon growled. “I was just beginning to think the same thing.”