Page 17 of Here Be Dragons

“Then I will have a harness designed for you for future travels. For now, I will carry you.” Without giving myself time to change my mind, I let my dragon form take over.

It meant that I was much larger than her and could easily pick her up in my claws to bring her home. Magic really was a wonderful thing. I never quite understood how it all worked, but I wasn’t going to question my own existence too thoroughly, lest I ceased to exist.

Then, feeling as if I was carrying the most valuable treasure in all of history, I carefully wrapped my claws around her, forming a little cage. Soon we were in the air and flying home.

Chapter 9

Carly

I peered down atthe city below. Everything felt surreal, as if it were all a dream. But things usually didn’t hurt in dreams, and my wrist was feeling like utter crap, so this had to be true.

I really was flying in Desmon’s claws! Thank god I didn’t have a fear of heights.

Hey, cool! That’s my building.I expected him to land in front of it, scaring everyone on the street, but instead he kept flying. Oh. He must’ve meanthishome.

“Wait! I need to get my bunny!” I thought of the broken glass on my apartment floor and poor Q-Tip’s sensitive little feet. My door had been left open, too.

“Your familiar is secure at my estate.” Desmon’s voice surrounded me. “Your home was no longer safe for him.”

“Oh, Q-Tip isn’t my familiar. But thank you for picking him up!”

I was glad I could stop worrying about my fur baby. That was very thoughtful of him. Maybe Desmon’s grumpy demeanor was all a show.

More relaxed now, my eyes drifted back down to the people below as we flew high above the downtown core.

No one on the ground was paying us any attention, which was kind of odd, considering how massive Desmon was in his dragon form. When he had landed in front of the fabric mill, he’d blocked out the sunlight. But no one on the ground batted an eye. It must be magic.

No wonder there was still a debate raging whether dragons existed or not, even with the confirmation of creatures like werewolves and elves.

I could still feel the heat of his fire as it swirled around me, pricking at my skin like a million tiny kisses. If I had any doubts that what I had seen was just in my imagination, the very realand visceral feeling destroyed that illusion. Desmon was very much a fire-breathing dragon in every sense of the word. You’d think I’d be terrified right now since I was literally in the claws of a monster, but I wasn’t. For some reason, I knew that this particular monster would never hurt me.

His estate was huge and very, very green. Not only did he have acres of impeccably manicured gardens, there was also a wooded lot behind his home. A small stream ran through it, and everything was surrounded by stone fences and wrought iron gates. The large gate at the front was ornate and tipped with gold finials.

Desmon flew right in and carefully set me down on the lawn in the courtyard before landing next to me and changing into his man form. I couldn’t help but notice how amazingly broad and well-muscled his shoulders and chest were. It seemed his pants shifted with him, but nothing else.

Moments later, a terrifying creature stepped out from the mansion through one of the side doors. I took a step back, more than a little freaked out at the sight of the lion’s body, wyvern wings, and scorpion tail until I recognized the man’s head.

Oh my god, it was Mateo!

The museum’s head of security was a manticore. Lion shifter hadn’t even been close!

Mateo stood upright on his lion’s hind legs. Behind him was a man with broad shoulders and a trim waist wearing an ornate frock coat that was in vogue centuries ago paired with ripped jeans and a studded belt. His platinum blonde tipped hair wasspiked, and he had multiple piercings. He looked like he’d just stepped off the set of a ’90s vampire movie.

This was when I realized I was still buck naked and tried to hide behind Desmon’s large frame. Mateo raised a brow, then quickly looked away. The blond man just pretended there was nothing out of the ordinary.

“I’m not going to ask where her clothes are, I’m just glad you got her,” Mateo said. “Where did you leave the culprits? I have a few questions for them.” He let out a menacing growl as he punched one huge, furry paw into another, like he couldn’t wait to interrogate the criminals.

“Dead,” Desmon answered simply.

“Aw, man! You didn’t leave anyone for me to question?” Mateo shook his head in disgust, like this was a common occurrence.

“At least tell me there are some scraps for me to work my magic on,” said the other man.

Oh! He must be a wizard. He sure looked different from the wizards I’d seen interviewed on the news from the Wizards’ Elder Council. He was a lot younger and cooler than those misogynistic old farts, that was for sure.

Desmon rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, a departure from his big boss persona. He was clearly very close with these two. Though, from what I’d heard from Janice, he was generally a reasonable boss as long as you didn’t do anything grossly incompetent. He just looked grumpy to avoid conversation.

“You burned them, didn’t you?” the wizard sighed. He didn’t sound too upset, though. He turned to me and did a little wave with his hands. And suddenly, poof, I was clothed.

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