'Til Dragons Do Us Part (Never Deal with Dragons)

by Lorenda Christensen

  I lay in the tub for almost an hour, letting the water soak away the last of the soreness from my muscles. But no matter how I tried, my brain wouldn’t relax along with my body. Images of Cameron’s eyes staring at me as I slowly grew scales danced across the backs of my eyelids every time I attempted to enjoy the quiet.

  The ring of the doorbell jolted me out of my self-inflicted misery. I scrambled out of the water, pulling the drain plug with one hand while I grabbed for a towel with the other. Glad that I’d remembered to bundle my hair onto the top of my head before jumping in the water, I shrugged into a robe and almost had it closed when I reached the door, leaning in to look through the peephole.

  Cameron stood on my doorstep, hands in pockets, staring right back at me as if the door wasn’t even there. Dressed in a pair of worn jeans and an equally worn shirt, he looked as tired and beat up as I felt.

  I wasn’t precisely sure that I was ready to speak with him, but I was sick to death of secrets. On the other side of that door was the kindest, most honorable man I’d ever met, and if he needed to come in and scream at me for lying to him by omission, so be it.

  I opened the door. “Hey.”

  For a moment, he didn’t say anything. He just stared at my eyes as if he could read my thoughts in their depths.

  “Can I come in?”

  “Sure.”

  I waited until he stepped by me, unable to stop myself from breathing in his scent like a strung-out addict before closing the door behind him.

  “Was your team able to find anything that will help you figure out who left the bomb at the shop?”

  “No. But they’ve taken what they need back to Relobu’s.”

  “Myrna called about a half hour ago. The doctors think Sara is going to recover just fine. She’s banged up, but she’ll survive.”

  Cameron nodded, and then walked a few steps into the house before he turned to face me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Let’s just jump right to the point, why don’t we?

  I sighed. “It’s...complicated.”

  When he simply waited for me to continue, I took a deep breath and headed for the living room couch. There was a beat of silence before the heavy tread of his boots thunking on the floor behind me signaled that he was at least willing to hear me out.

  “I didn’t have the happiest childhood. I never knew my parents, and for as long as I remember, I was passed around from foster home to foster home, waiting for the day that my new parents would decide I was a forever kid, and not just a temporary face at the table. Don’t get me wrong, I was never abused or treated unfairly.

  “In fact, every single one of them was a caring, loving person. It was the timing that sucked. One pair of parents—a lifelong foster home—had finally hit their golden years and decided they needed to retire because they were too old to take care of a small child. After that, I was moved to another home for about a year before my “dad” got a job offer he couldn’t turn down, and they had to move. Without me. The older I got, the more difficult it became for the system to find me a place to stay, and I spent a few years bouncing in and out of government-run children’s homes.”

  Ill at ease with the memory of how lonely I’d felt in those early years, I hopped up from the couch and headed to the window to stare out as I finished reciting my life history.

  “I was fourteen when I landed with the Cavenaughs. I was the second foster child in their home, and after a brief period of get-to-know-you awkwardness, I found that I got along very well with the boy.”

  “Simon.”

  I nodded, acknowledging the fact that Cameron had a copy of my background check. While Bernie’s services came in handy for the countries who’d managed to pull their border check departments back together after the war, we were always careful to keep the majority of documents authentic. Similarly, we endeavored to keep our cover stories as close to reality as possible, and often kept our real names intact.

  “Anyway, within a few weeks, he’d introduced me to a few of his friends at school, and I was feeling cautiously optimistic that this set of parents might keep me around long enough for me to hit sixteen, get a license, and start my own life. One that I’d chosen myself.”

  “But you didn’t leave. Your records show that you graduated.”

  “I did. I also morphed into a dragon before the second semester of my sophomore year started.” I laughed. “And I thought starting my period had been traumatic.”

  A ghost of a smile appeared on Cameron’s lips. “I can imagine.”

  “Lucky for me, Simon was there when it happened, and other than a short bout of sibling teasing, he was the only person who made me feel like everything was okay. When our adoptive parents died in a car accident when he was eighteen, Simon didn’t hesitate to step up. Of the handful of others I’ve told, he is still the only person who didn’t make me feel like a complete freak.”

  Okay, and then there was Trian. But considering the circumstances, and the fact that I wanted to think more on how my abilities being made public would affect our business, I decided he didn’t count. Technically, he’d only seen my knees, and still had no idea of my true identity.

  Cameron ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Vanni, I get that people don’t react well to finding out a dragon is in their midst. When Trian first morphed in front of me, I almost had a heart attack. But he was still my friend. You’re still my friend. I just don’t understand why you didn’t feel safe telling me.”

  It was his turn to sigh. “I didn’t come over here to berate you. Well, okay. Actually, I did. I was just...hurt, I guess, that you didn’t feel comfortable telling me about this. I know we haven’t known each other that long, but I felt, I don’t know, drawn to you.”

  His face colored slightly, but he didn’t look away.

  And wasn’t that just the sweetest thing I’d ever been told.

  But my pleasure was short-lived, because his next words struck to the heart of our current problem.

  “I mean, you knew Trian was my friend, did you really think I’d react that badly? I thought we were getting along really well, but now I see that you’re not comfortable being honest with me.”

  I picked at a string on my robe. “I didn’t. I just—” How to explain that I was so used to keeping secrets, it felt more natural than telling the truth? “It’s a habit, I guess. Hiding. But I think I’m interested in learning not to. I want to be honest with you.”

  My heart was beating a million miles an hour. I’d never be able to tell him, but I’d just been as honest as I could possibly be. The job, the background, even who I was—it had never been part of a normal conversation for me. The very act of admitting this much was a huge step for me, and I struggled to find a way to put that in words.

  I didn’t know what I was going to do about the job, or Emma, or anyone else. But right there, in that moment, I felt like the acceptance, the understanding, and the love that I’d been searching for my entire life was standing right in front of me. I could look at Cameron and see myself laughing with him in the kitchen like Simon and Jeanie, or rushing home to him like Trian did with Myrna. The thought was both exhilarating and terrifying.

  I raised my hand, wanting to touch him but not sure exactly how. Before, while shopping at the toy store, we’d laughed, and touched, and even kissed. But now, with both of us standing here with emotions bared, something as small as reaching for his hand seemed almost too charged with promises.

  Promises that even if I wanted to make, I wasn’t positive I could keep.

  But I didn’t have to do anything, because Cameron stepped forward with a tentative smile and gently ran his fingers along the line of my jaw.

  “Since the honesty shop is so obviously open for business, I want to be very clear. I like you. A lot. And I am not bothered a bit by the fact that you turn into a dragon. You could turn into a leprechaun on St. Patrick’s Day for all I care, and I’d still think you were the coolest girl around. And most definitely the m
ost interesting.”

  I laughed a little, then leaned into his touch, sighing when the fingers on my jaw moved to cradle my head and pull me even closer.

  “Since the honesty shop is open,” I said against the warm press of his lips, “I like you a lot too.”

  “Good. Then I hope you like it when I do this. Your robe is driving me crazy.”

  I laughed again when Cameron pulled on the tie of my robe, causing a cool puff of air to touch my stomach. And then I was warm again as the press of a hard body stepped in to fill the gap.

  I found the hem of his shirt and lifted. “So if I asked you to stay the night, how would you feel about that?”

  Cameron reached above his head and grasped the back of his shirt and pulled it over his head.

  “I’d like that. A lot.”

  “In that case...Cameron, would you like to stay the night?”

  I squeaked a little when he tossed me over his shoulder, and even though he didn’t answer my question, my intuition—and the fact that his hand was resting dead center on my butt—told me the answer was yes.

  Chapter Eighteen

  A ringing phone jolted me awake.

  “Isn’t today your day off? Don’t answer it.” The low rumble of a male voice against the back of my neck made me smile. I cuddled a little closer, and covered my head with a pillow until the room was silent.

  We were kissing, and I was seriously considering an attempt to map Cameron’s entire musculature with my lips—again—when the phone started up once more. I groaned, but reluctantly pulled back the covers to reach for the receiver.

  “Hello?”

  I’d been expecting it to be Simon. It wasn’t.

  “Savannah! I need you here. Now.”

  Amanda.

  I grimaced and pulled the phone from my ear in an effort to avoid permanent auditory damage.

  “You said I was off today because the wedding is this weekend.”

  I could almost feel her irritation through the line. “Savannah.” She spoke to me as if I were a stupid child, her words so overly slow and enunciated I had the urge to reach through and slap her. “The wedding is this weekend, and there is a hole in the roof of my shop. What am I supposed to do about that?”

  “Um...I can call a construction company for you.” With everything that had happened since, I’d completely forgotten about my impromptu exit yesterday.

  “Tell her she can move things over to Relobu’s until the repairs are done.” Cameron’s legs twined with mine, and I fought the urge to groan as his stubbled chin scraped along my spine.

  I repeated his suggestion to Amanda, my voice just a touch breathier than normal.

  There was a long pause while she mulled over the offer. Using Relobu’s as home base would make Myrna’s wedding much easier, but if she had any other clients, they might be scared off by the security staff. Not to mention Relobu Manor wasn’t exactly in a prime shopping district. But if she wanted to stay open, there weren’t really that many options to choose from.

  “Listen. I’ll call the repair guys as soon as I can, and tell them it’s a rush. And then I’ll see what I can do to re-schedule all your other in-shop appointments.”

  “I want you to call Lord Relobu and secure a promise that he will be taking care of the bill. Glenda told me the damage happened due to a bomb, and while she’s been telling other crazy stories about dragons appearing out of thin air, it’s obvious that something happened, and that the dragon lord is at least partly responsible.”

  I filled Amanda in on the events of yesterday, and when I got to the part about Sara being hurt, my boss interrupted.

  “How hurt?”

  I was surprised at the amount of concern in her voice as she asked the question. “Well, I’m not entirely sure. The doctor said she would recover fully, but there might be some scarring from the burns.”

  “Where?”

  I frowned. “I don’t understand the question.”

  “The burns! Where are the burns on her body?”

  “Oh. Uh, mostly on her neck and arms, though I think she had a few problem areas on her stomach as well. The good news is her liver was only bruised, not ruptured.” Confused at the reasons behind Amanda’s questions, I looked to Cameron. Though he was perfectly capable of hearing my boss’s deafening tone even from the other side of the bed, he just shrugged.

  “I want you to go see her at the hospital.”

  Surprised at Amanda’s sudden redirection of purpose, it took me a moment to answer. “Um, sure. Of course.”

  And then she revealed the reason behind her out-of-character consideration for Myrna’s assistant. “I need you to tell me whether adding a scarf in the color of Isiwyth’s cape will cover the worst of the damage for the photos.”

  I half choked on a hysterical laugh. “Amanda, she opened a box with a bomb in it. I seriously doubt she’ll be discharged from the hospital in time for the wedding. And even if she is, she’ll be in no shape to participate in it.”

  “But it’s the event of the season!”

  Deciding that it was best to end this conversation before it went any further, I told Amanda that I’d be by Bridal Visions just as soon as I got back from visiting Sara and hung up.

  I turned to Cameron, who had managed to pull on his clothes while I argued with the crazy lady.

  “Interested in visiting a friend?”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “I need to get back to Relobu’s sometime this afternoon to see what information my team managed to track down on the bomb, but I have a few hours. As long as you don’t ask me to measure Sara for a scarf.”

  I laughed. “No measuring tape. I promise.”

  * * *

  Sara was doing well, and although I had no intention of passing the news on to Amanda, she was scheduled to be discharged in the next day or so.

  Cameron watched me as Sara laughingly shared her “hallucination” of arriving at the hospital via air. And while I did tell her that the flight by dragon was indeed real, I didn’t correct her when she made the assumption that one of Relobu’s dragons had just happened upon the scene.

  Her parents and Bill were waiting outside the room as we left, and we spent a couple of minutes chatting with them before heading for the exit. It wasn’t until we were back in the car that Cameron asked me the question that had been burning in his eyes for a while now.

  “Do you really want to hide what you are from everyone around you? If you’re worried about how this group—Myrna, Sara, Bill and the rest—will react, you really don’t need to. Over the last several months, they’ve all had to deal with some pretty heavy dragon-related crap. The news that you’re a dragon morph will barely be a blip on their radar.

  “And I can’t speak for all the ladies at Bridal Visions, but there’s a very good chance they’ll be cool with it too. I mean, they handled Isiwyth and Doeho with no problems. Heck, I heard April talking with Amanda about creating a cake filled with bacon for the dragon guests. Do you think they’d do something like that if they didn’t want to be around dragons?”

  “I understand that. But—” And just like that, I was back in the same situation I’d been in last night, trying to explain something to a man that I cared about, but couldn’t afford to be fully honest with. “—like I said, it’s complicated. Why is this such a big deal to you?”

  Instead of getting angry, Cameron seriously considered my question. “I don’t know. Over the past year, I’ve started to really look at the things I find important, and trust is a big thing for me. I guess if it were me, hiding who I am would just feel...dishonest.”

  He was right. I did feel dishonest. But it had little to do with being a dragon, and a lot to do with the fact that I was a thief.

  I looked at Cameron, who was by far the luckiest thing that had ever happened to me. But he wasn’t the only thing I’d come to love about Tulsa. From the moment I’d arrived in the city, I’d been treated as family. The ladies at Bridal Visions had accepted me, no questions asked, and
had even gone so far as to help me out when I was in imminent danger of experiencing one of Amanda’s legendary temper tantrums.

  The night of the wedding fittings had been another first for me. Myrna, Carol and Sara had gladly included all of us in the good cheer, but my attention had been on how they treated each other. I’d never stayed in one place long enough to develop the type of close friendship that they seemed to almost take for granted.

  Sure, Simon was my closest friend, and we’d treated one another better than some blood-related siblings could ever hope to manage. But then Simon had met Jeanie, and while I was very happy for him, there were times I found myself wishing we could go back to how things used to be, when all we’d had were each other. Sometimes I’d watch them together, Emma snuggled up between them, and feel a little, I don’t know...wistful.

  When this job was over, it would be time to pick up and move on to the next gig, and I’d be just as alone as ever.

  I don’t want to do this anymore.

  The thought roared through my head with the force of a freight train. So simple, but just thinking about the possibility of staying in Tulsa lifted a weight from my chest I wasn’t even aware I’d been carrying.

  There was still Emma, and the problem of finding a steady stream of income that would keep the girl healthy and well-stocked with implants, but my retirement suddenly seemed possible. Simon was the real brains in our operation, and I had no doubt we’d be able to find a replacement for the on-the-ground work. Sure, he’d have to replace some of my death-defying dragon performances with tech, but after this job, Simon would be able to afford what he needed by passing the cost along to the wealthy clients who would soon be clamoring for his services.

  “Savannah?” Cameron reached over to clasp my hand in his. “I’m just trying to understand. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  I smiled. “You didn’t. Not at all. In fact, you’re exactly right. It is dishonest. And I don’t want to be that person anymore. Remember when you told me Myrna might be looking for some new employees for DRACIM? Do you really think she’d be interested in giving me a job? I mean, I have no experience whatsoever, but—”