Page 37 of Here Be Dragons

I grinned at Kaylee’s enthusiasm. I’d been just like her once, before life and bills wore me down. It had only taken a few years.

Brayden looked a little less enthused but still seemed happier to join the tour rather than work concierge.

“All right,” I said, taking a deep breath. “Let’s put our edumicator faces on. And remember: no swearing at the kids, even if they deserve it.”

The tour went smoothlyenough: we only had one kid run off down a hallway he shouldn’t have, only to find himself escorted back by a mean-looking Mateo, who, like many employees, was not in glamour today. That meant he was in full manticore mode, complete with wyvern wings and a scorpion tail.

Yeah, that was one kid who wouldn’t misbehave for a while.

“I think you should come to work as a manticore every day I have a tour booked,” I teased him when the class finally left.

“And scare away all the museum-goers?”

I was going to tell him he was being silly, but just then, Brayden, who had been called away to help clean up a mess in the middle of the tour, returned. He took one look at Mateo and covered his mouth, stifling a decidedly feminine shriek. Kaylee tittered but tried to stifle it.

“Okay, maybe not,” I muttered. “It’s okay,” I said, louder. “It’s just Mateo.”

The explanation didn’t seem to help. Brayden just stood there frozen.

“Brayden’s terrified of arachnids,” Kaylee whispered. “I thought that just meant spiders at first, but apparently, scorpions too.”

“I’ll go patrol the halls,” Mateo sighed.

Kaylee guided Brayden back to the front desk, holding his arm. I understood now why Mateo preferred to use an illusion spell, to hide what he was and remain in his human disguise most of the time. Poor guy.

With my tour done, I made my way up to Desmon’s office where a whole pile of files was waiting for me to digitize. Instead of taking the main staircase, I decided to use the elevators at the back. First, because I was lazy, and second, it gave me an excuse to stop by the statue.

Yes,thatstatue.

I didn’t have Q-Tip with me. But I had his favorite toy, a tiny wicker ball, in my pocket. After my talk with Elana, I’d done a little research, and apparently, sometimes just having afamiliar’s belonging in one’s possession was enough to make a difference. I wasn’t particularly hopeful, but it was worth a try, right?

I stepped into the Orgy Room. Friday was one of the busier days at the museum, partly because some people came in the hopes of ogling the many beasts that guarded the place in their natural forms. Mateo wasn’t the only monster working today. There were several dusky-looking demons, too. And a minotaur!

But this particular exhibit wasn’t very busy. Not many people knew it existed, tucked away here at the back of the museum. I checked for prying eyes, and when I saw that I was alone, I snuck my hand past the velvet rope and touched the faun’s feet. All I got was the same stupid tone. Ugh!

“My, my,my, this is interesting,“ said a smooth, mellow voice that reminded me of molasses.

I snatched my hand back, and whipped around—and came face to face with Desmon’s doppelganger. It was instantly clear that it wasn’t actually him. For one, the expensive-looking suit wasn’t what Desmon had been wearing when he left the estate this morning. He’d gone casual with a red silk shirt left open at the top, and sexy, tight-fitting pants that molded deliciously to his perfect ass.

“My brother seems to have caught himself a little witch.” He leaned in way too close for my taste and sniffed my ear. “The magic is weak, but there. Delightful.”

I shuddered at the sudden thrill that ran through my body. It was similar to the one when Desmon and I first touched, butsomehow this feltwrong. I stepped back until my ass bumped into one of the display cases.

“Get away from her.” The growl in Desmon’s voice sent tingles up my spine. Ooh, he was hot when riled up.

“What? Can’t I say hi to my new sister?”

Sister? This was Desmon’s brother? Wait, why was he talking like Desmon and I were married?

“Don’t forget, if you end up losing this competition, she’ll be my responsibility.” Desmon’s brother swooped in suddenly, and I found myself in his arms. “Allmine.”

There was a snarl, and I was ripped out of his arms. Desmon surrounded me possessively. Not just with his arms, but he had spread his wings, and they curled around me, hiding me from his brother’s view. “She’s mine.”

Did I think he was hot before? Fuck! Now I was ready to ride him like a…well, dragon. I squeezed my legs together, hoping my reaction would go unnoticed.

“I thought you said she was ‘just the new hire’. Or is it that you don’t want a human mate? Worried you’ll have to share some of your precious life span to extend her pathetically short one?”

Wait, what?

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