“Why?”

  His chin fell to his chest. “I don’t know. But I think she gives it to me whenever she believes she’ll be in more danger than usual.”

  Questions crowded together and tangled my tongue as they demanded answers. “So this has happened before? What do you mean more danger than usual? How long have you known her?”

  Faris went silent for a moment, as if debating what to tell me.

  “The truth, Faris. I want the truth. She’s been gone for three weeks, and now there are strangers looking for her. By name. Her real name. Whatever she’s hidden from me, I need to know.”

  When he finally answered, his voice was hoarse with some deeply felt pain. “You want the truth? The truth is that I’ve loved Morghaine for almost eleven years.”

  Whoa. That was unexpected. And difficult to fake, I decided. His green eyes were anguished and appeared near tears.

  “Then… are you…” I didn’t even know the word. Did Idrians get engaged? “Betrothed? Promised? Dating?”

  He shook his head, looking defeated. “We met some time after you moved here. She was alone and scared, constantly looking over her shoulder. I offered to protect you both, but she said it was too dangerous. I didn’t care—I would have given up anything for her, but she’s always said not yet. That someday she’d be free, but right now there’s too much risk for everyone involved. If the dragons ever came after her, she wanted to know I’d be safe. I only ever wanted to help her, but she’ll only let me do so much.”

  I had no idea what to say. No way to process what he’d just told me. My aunt had a boyfriend? For eleven years? She’d told him the secret of who and what I was, but she’d never even told me he existed?

  “Why didn’t she ever tell me about you?” I blurted out. “Did she not trust me at all?”

  “She always said it was too risky to tell anyone. That we’d have all the years after you grew up and didn’t need her anymore. She’d sacrificed too much to save you, and keeping you alive was all that mattered.”

  I jumped up from my chair to pace around the tiny room, trying to come to terms with these revelations. “Look, all she’s ever told me is that someone in my family wanted to kill me. That’s why she took me and ran, and why she faked my death. But she’s never given me any more information. Never said how long it will take before we don’t need to hide anymore. If she told you to wait, though, she must think we’ll be able to stop hiding eventually.”

  I honestly didn’t know how I felt about that—about admitting, to myself and the rest of the world, that I was simply a defective dragon instead of a pretend human. I’d never had to consider it because all I’d ever known was hiding.

  “You’ll have to ask her,” Faris said, shaking his head slowly. “That isn’t one of the things she trusted me with, no matter how many times I asked.”

  “Ugh,” I groaned, pulling the elastic out of my hair and running my fingers through the knots. “I’m beginning to think she never told anyone anything. Except…”

  I glanced at him sharply. “You reacted when I mentioned the fae. You must at least know what they want with her. Are they part of that ‘more danger than usual?’”

  He slumped in his chair. “Possibly. She’s done some work for them in the past. Mercenary work, to pay the bills and keep the bookstore afloat. Might be that one of her jobs went wrong.”

  I stopped pacing, horrified by the revelation. “She’s been doing mercenary work? For the fae?” The only reason for her to take on work that dangerous was…

  “It’s because of me, isn’t it? Because she didn’t want to have to be away from home all day every day. She does these dangerous jobs so she can be there to protect me.”

  His silence told me I’d hit the mark.

  “So this is all my fault.”

  “I don’t think she would see it that way.”

  “Well she’s not here,” I snapped, suddenly angry at Aunt Morgan for keeping all this from me. For not explaining things while she had a chance. How did she expect me to make smart decisions when she’d hidden so much that I needed to know? “She left me here alone, and I have no idea what to do because she’s refused to answer every important question I’ve ever had. Does she expect me to just put these guys off forever? One of them already knows I’m a dragon!”

  Faris stood up and crossed his arms across his chest, causing his muscles to bulge alarmingly under his black buttoned-down shirt. “Then you can’t stay there. Not in the bookstore anyway. It’s not safe, and there’s no way to protect it.”

  “What are you suggesting?” I demanded, taking a step back and eyeing him with suspicion.

  “I’m not exactly powerless,” he said, and as his green eyes flashed at me through the dim light, I believed him. “I have connections. I can find you a safe house. Just until Morghaine returns.”

  I can admit that for half a second, it was tempting. Faris was huge and intimidating, and very few would care to tangle with an elemental. I could accept his protection and remain blissfully oblivious to my aunt’s problems until she returned.

  But I’d already decided it was time for me to grow up. No more hiding behind Aunt Morgan. It was evident that I could no longer pretend that the world was safe and everything would be fine, especially if my aunt planned for me to stand on my own one day. I needed to learn how to protect myself, and this was the first step.

  “Absolutely not,” I said firmly. “We don’t even know if she is coming back. And while I appreciate your story, I technically know next to nothing about you, and I’m not willing to place the responsibility for my safety into the hands of a stranger.”

  Something ancient and powerful stirred in his gaze as he regarded me. “You’re little more than a child,” he said. “For Morghaine’s sake, perhaps I should make sure you stay away from dangers you don’t understand.”

  He thought he could make me?

  Fury surged, hot and dark, at the thought that he might try, and the power of my anger cut through my determination to keep all hints of the dragon at bay.

  A growl rumbled in my chest as molten heat rolled over me. Scales erupted on the backs of my hands, my nails lengthened and curved, and my eyes widened, beginning to glow with predatory anger.

  “You can try,” I hissed, letting a tendril of smoke trickle from between my sharpened teeth.

  I’d never watched myself in a mirror when this happened—it had only gone this far a handful of times in my life—but I imagined my present appearance had the potential to cause any number of nightmares. Especially for those unfamiliar with dragons, or shapeshifters in general.

  A full-grown elemental, though, shouldn’t have been all that concerned by it. And yet, Faris appeared stunned. Even a little horrified.

  “Stop,” he ordered, his voice shaking. “Don’t ever let anyone see that.”

  I was perplexed enough to make an effort to claw my way back to the appearance of humanity. The scales disappeared, my eyes shrunk back to normal, and my nails gradually smoothed back out. “You already know what I am,” I retorted, “and I’m careful not to do it in public.” Except when a certain annoying fae provoked me.

  “For one thing, you shouldn’t be able to do it at all,” Faris told me, letting out an unsteady breath and scrubbing a hand over his face. “Shapeshifters can’t just shift halfway.”

  So Aunt Morgan definitely hadn’t told him I was broken. Did that mean she hadn’t trusted him fully, or was she trying to spare my feelings in case Faris and I ever met? Had I just betrayed my own weakness in front of a potential enemy? The thought almost roused the dragon again, but I held her off with another question.

  “You said ‘for one thing,’” I pointed out as I recalled his exact words. “What’s another thing?”

  He shook his head and went stubbornly silent.

  “Apparently, you learned at least some of your conversational skills from Aunt Morgan,” I muttered, trying not to feel disappointed.

  He didn’t bother to deny it.

  “So, what now?” I chose to change the subject. It wasn’t like I could hold him down and pummel the truth out of him. “Are you going to try to stop me from leaving?”

  “Are you going to tell me about the fae who came by the shop?

  I shook my head. “I get that Aunt Morgan trusted you. But someone she trusted betrayed her location to the fae, and I don’t know you well enough to rule you out.”

  He regarded me grimly. “I’m familiar enough with dragons to know that I can’t change your mind. But please don’t leave this room and start asking around for Morghaine, by either of her names. It will only put her, and you, in more danger. I already have eyes and ears looking out for your aunt, but until we know more, you should stick closer to home. I’ll be placing a guard on your building, and there’s enough human traffic on Twenty-Third that you should be relatively safe.”

  I thought about arguing, but if this man was stubborn enough to be in a relationship with my aunt, he wasn’t going to listen to my paltry objections. He would put a guard on me no matter what I said or did, so I didn’t see any point wasting my time fighting it.

  But I also wasn’t going to make any promises. Not about staying home, and not about being safe. My aunt was still out there, and while Faris was worried enough to ask around, he wasn’t exactly beating down doors looking for her himself. I was becoming more and more convinced that something terrible had happened—especially now that I knew what she’d been doing—and I couldn’t keep letting others protect me from reality.

  “I guess I’ll be going home, then.”

  “Let me drive you?” he asked, and since he was practically pleading, I decided to give him that much. If he wanted to kidnap me that badly, he could do it right here and now, without resorting to subterfuge. And if he really was in love with my aunt, I supposed I shouldn’t get completely on his bad side.

  “If you promise you’ll tell me the moment you hear anything.”

  He nodded and extended a small white card. “Please call me if you ever find yourself in danger. Whether you believe my intentions to be honorable or not, I hope you’ll consider me a friend.”

  I wanted to believe him, but after the day I’d had, I wasn’t quite ready to give anyone the benefit of the doubt.

  “I’ll remember,” I said instead, and though I could see his disappointment, I couldn’t offer him more.

  Not until my aunt returned. Or until I found out what had happened to her.

  And heavens help Faris if he’d had a hand in whatever that was.

  Three

  Faris dropped me beside the house and waited in his SUV until I went inside and locked the door behind me. Only then did he drive slowly away, and only after he was out of sight did I drop onto the couch and wish I could indulge in a good cry.

  But crying wasn’t going to help.

  Chicken wandered over and curled up on my lap as I considered and discarded various plans, cursing myself as I realized just how ill-prepared I was for this moment.

  I was good at being a human, but I knew so little about the world I really belonged to. Enough to keep myself safe by avoidance, but little more. I had no idea who to call, who to ask, or where to go. My safety net was gone, and I was only now realizing how far I had to fall.

  I hadn’t been out of Oklahoma in eleven years. I didn’t have a driver’s license, and even if I did, Aunt Morgan had taken the car…

  The car.

  If she had the car, someone should be able to find it.

  I jumped up, dislodging Chicken, who darted away with a disgusted yowl. Maybe there would be a police record somewhere of abandoned vehicles and where they’d been found. If it had been towed, maybe I could search local junkyards. And if someone had stolen the car, the search might be even easier.

  And if she was still driving it? On TV shows, there were hackers who could use security cameras to track down specific license plates. And anyway, if the car was still with her, then she was probably safe.

  Not bothering to flip on the lights, I padded downstairs into the darkened interior of the bookstore. We only had the one computer, and I hadn’t brought it upstairs yet since closing the shop.

  Rummaging around on the usual shelf, I had just closed my fingers over the hard shell of the laptop when a new sound caught my attention. I paused to listen. It sounded like the scraping or scritching of something sharp being dragged over a hard surface, and it sent an involuntary shiver down my spine.

  For a moment, I thought it must be Chicken sharpening his claws. But he hated hard surfaces, and would always use either his scratching post or the arm of the couch. Besides, the sound was coming from the back of the shop, and Chicken hadn’t followed me downstairs.

  I had choices, I knew. I could race upstairs, lock the door at the top, and pretend I hadn’t imagined some kind of drooling, clawed monster bursting in through the back door and stalking me through the store while slavering for my blood.

  Yeah, yeah, I might technically be a dragon, but being alone in the dark sometimes freaked me out just like anyone else.

  Or, I could go investigate and realize it was nothing more than the wind blowing branches across a window. Wouldn’t be the first time.

  The first few steps would be hard, but they could mean all the difference between a quiet evening of internet searches and being up the rest of the night jumping at shadows because of my overactive imagination. With that in mind, I set the computer back down, rolled my eyes at my stupidity, and marched out from behind the desk.

  It wasn’t like there was much out there that could hurt me anyway. At least not in the human world. I was disproportionately strong for my size and healed quickly. If there was a human intruder, I could easily throw him or her out a window.

  But it had sounded like claws…

  Shaking my head, I continued on, one step at a time towards the back door.

  There was enough light filtering in from the streetlights outside to cast strange shadows on the floor, so it wasn’t completely dark. But in the last few moments, the house had fallen eerily silent, and my footsteps seemed unnecessarily loud.

  Dragon, I reminded myself. This was my lair. My hoard. If anything or anyone came in, I would handle it.

  I peeked around the final corner and saw the back door standing open.

  Which, in the end, was fortunate. If the door had been closed, I wouldn’t have already been on high alert when a weight crashed down on me from above, crushing me to the floor and digging razor-sharp claws into my back, shoulders, and arms.

  I heard a snarl and smelled blood—my blood. The dragon roused in a hurricane of fury and outrage, but my assailant was heavy. I jerked my hips to the side, trying desperately to get away, and agony flared as the movement tore claws from my flesh.

  I’d never felt pain like that before, but for an instant, I was free, and my attacker was off-balance, so I rolled, surged up to my knees, and struck out blindly with the claws that now tipped my fingers.

  My left hand struck something hard and bounced off, but my right seemed to find purchase, so I grabbed and held on. The creature howled and tore away from me. As it did so, I stepped back, nearly slipping when my foot hit a wet spot of what I realized grimly was my own blood.

  I yanked my gaze up, trying to understand what I faced, and saw only a nightmare.

  A shadow, with long, needle-sharp fangs. Swirling darkness marked only by claws that gripped the blood-slick floor. I couldn’t see its shape, or even its eyes, only feel it watching me, seeking, hungering for more.

  For a fleeting instant, I wished I was a fully functional dragon, capable of shifting into a monster that would make this one pee itself. But honestly, in a situation like this, even a dragon had its limitations. If I shifted inside, the entire house would be turned to splinters. No one could possibly miss the spectacle of a dragon the size of a boxcar exploding onto Twenty-Third Street.

  The fact that I couldn’t shift was probably a blessing, assuming I survived.

  The shadow creature flowed closer, and I fought the instinct to run. I tried to remind myself that I was a predator, but this thing considered me prey, and I felt it. Felt it in the hollow ache of my bones, the tremor that shook my knees.

  I could sense the dragon too, fighting to emerge, struggling for supremacy, but I forced her back down. Whatever this creature was, I didn’t dare let it see my partial shift. There had to be another answer. Had to be a way to save myself without betraying what I was to a creature that might have the ability to remember and share that information.

  The creature leaped. I braced myself, but something hit me from the side, knocking me to the floor with bruising force. I let out a pained cry and tried to get up, only to be shoved back by a pair of implacable but very human arms.

  “Stay down,” I heard, “and close your eyes.”

  I didn’t. I was too angry, too frightened, and far too stubborn, so I sat up just in time to be nearly blinded by the searing brightness that suddenly illuminated the room.

  The light was coming from a dagger, I realized, as soon as my eyes adjusted—a narrow, double-edged blade outlined in a silvery glow that seemed to cut through shadows, leaving trails of light imprinted on my retinas. It was gripped in the hand of an impossible being—a tall, grim, dark-haired warrior with silver eyes and… wings. There were wings rising from his shoulders, flexed behind him as if he was considering taking flight.

  I blinked a few times, certain I was seeing things that weren’t actually there.

  But the shadow, too, seemed unnerved and began to slide backward, away from the glowing blade. Away from the light…

  It hated light. So I pulled myself unsteadily to my feet, lurched drunkenly across the room, and flipped the switch. Just like I should have done before I went looking in the first place.

  There was a flurry of motion, like a roomful of giant cockroaches sprinting for cover. My own eyes were squinted against the painful glare, so I didn’t see what happened, only heard a single, tearing snarl, the clicking of claws on the floor, and then nothing.

 

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