Page 5 of Here Be Dragons

Mateo was huge. He had to be at least six and a half feet tall, and he looked menacing too. Definitely a predator of some sort. If I didn’t know that his job was to protect everyone and everything in the museum, me and Janice included, I would let my instincts rule me and run at the sight of him. But looks in this case were deceiving, and I remembered him being kind and genuine despite looking like he could snap me like a twig.

He wasn’t human, I was sure of that. His light brown eyes looked almost yellow and his sharp features had a bit of a feline look to them. Lion shifter, maybe?

Again, I wasn’t sure if it was considered rude to ask, so I didn’t. Janice had been very open that she was dwarven from day one.

Mateo had his hair tied up today in the world’s most glorious man bun. I bet if he let it down, it would be a certified mane. Yep, I was calling it. Lion shifter.

“Slow day, ladies?” he smiled, showing teeth that werejustthis side of too sharp. He didn’t have fangs, though, but that could be his glamour spell working.

“It’s a Wednesday,” Janice observed. “That says it all.”

“Has the courier been by yet?” Mateo asked.

“Nope.” Janice held out the bowl of candy we kept behind the counter for him.

“Thanks,” he said, taking one, unwrapping it, and popping it into his mouth. “I’ll check back later.”

He tossed the wrapping into the trash bin as he headed down the hallway to where they’d set up the most recent exhibit. Janice and I had already nicknamed it The Orgy Room because all the statues were naked and some of them were mid-coitus.

“I’m heading out to grab lunch,” Janice said. “I’ll be back in an hour and you can take yours then. You okay holding down the fort?”

“Sure thing.”

And with that, Janice left for lunch. About half an hour later, a courier wearing street clothes and a cap that readJustin Time Deliveryarrived with a small brown envelope.

“Why, hello there. You’re a new face. I’m Justin. Where’s Janice?”

“Hi Justin, I’m Carly. Janice just stepped out for lunch. I can take that.” I reached for the envelope. The second my hand touched it, my relatively useless magical talent of getting visions and sounds from random objects decided to spark to life. It wasn’t a full on vision, just a slight tugging and what sounded like a dial tone in my head.

I wasn’t surprised. I’d had this reaction from touching certain objects my entire life. As far as magical talents went, it wasn’t a particularly useful one. But for someone in my field, it was interesting. Considering I was literally surrounded by historical and magical artifacts, I was actually surprised I hadn’t gotten more visions working at the museum yet.

Although it could be because everything in the museum was behind glass, and I hadn’t gotten my hands on any of it. My talent required physical touch to work, though occasionally it worked through thin barriers, like the envelope in my hands. The only one I’d gotten so far at work—and then promptly ignored—was when I touched Desmon’s pants yesterday. I’d gotten a momentary image of an aerial view of the city.

I signed for the thick, bubble-lined envelope and tucked it into the drawer on top of my open purse. I’d been running lateagain today and had come right here after I swiped in instead of dropping my purse in my locker.

“Let Janice know I said hi,” Justin said with a tip of his cap.

“You got it.”

Alone again and with no sign of museum-goers, I pulled my notebook out of my purse and made a list of all the things I needed to pick up on the way home today. I was on my very last roll of toilet paper. It was one of the few things I splurged on, despite living paycheck to paycheck. Life is too short for scratchy TP! My tushy demands the cushy.

I noticed the envelope and flipped it over. It was addressed to Desmon. I wondered if he was in today. Maybe I could deliver it myself. It was a perfect excuse to go see him.

Okay—so I might have a teeny, tiny crush on the guy. I mean, who wouldn’t? He was perfection. I didn’t even care if it was all just glamour to hide what he really looked like. And I could happily ignore the fact that he was probably a rich snob for a bit of eye candy.

I actually had done a bit of online snooping about him last night. Every article I found referred to him as the “Dragon” of Darlington, but none actually confirmed if he was an actual dragon or if it was just a turn of phrase. That had led me down a rabbithole searching for proof of dragons.

If werewolves and minotaurs were real, then dragons could be real too, right? But every image or video I found had naysayers claiming it was all A.I. and reminding everyone that most mythsand legends about dragons came from people finding fossils of dinosaurs.

Then again, dragons wouldn’t fit into buildings, glamour spell or no glamour spell. Desmon, on the other hand, fit perfectly into his dress shirt and pants. I suddenly found myself wondering how he looked without them.

An elderly couple interrupted the totally inappropriate thoughts about my boss, and I quickly stashed my notebook away before taking their payment, stamping their hands, and handing them each a map of the building.

Janice returned shortly thereafter so I could take my break. I’d packed a lunch, but it was a beautiful fall day, and I wanted to enjoy it before it got too cold to sit out on a park bench.

It wasn’t until I finished my sandwich and opened my purse to tuck my water bottle back inside that I realized I’d taken the envelope with Desmon’s delivery right out of the museum.

Oops! I was pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to do that. I took one last big lungful of crisp autumn air before hurrying back across the street and into the museum.

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