Page 58 of So I Dared a Dragon

“Calista!” another one called out. “What’s that on your arm?”

“A tattoo,” I lied.

Aarix growled. “It’s a symbol that shows she belongs to me.”

A cacophony of questions erupted, but we escaped the safety of the building.

“Did we say too much?” I whispered.

“You told me not to hold back. Not to try to adapt to modern society. Which was excellent advice. Soon, the Rocky Mountain thunder will be free. And none of us will have to answer to anyone.”

Bibi approached. Tonight she was in a fire-engine-red latex catsuit and her platinum blonde ponytail wig. Hugo was a step behind her. His gaze landed on Aarix, and he ignored my existence. It stung, but it was definitely an improvement over him ignoring Bibi’s existence.

“How’s my favorite couple?” she asked. “Love the open shirt, Aarix. I wouldn’t have thought to style it that way, but it’s got a swashbuckler vibe. It’s totally fierce. The party’s already in full swing. Magnus and Luca arrived earlier, and they’ve been going through the collections, talking to the team.”

“No breakthroughs yet,” Hugo added. “But we remain optimistic tonight will give us the answers we’re looking for.”

“I made a breakthrough.” I picked up Aarix’s hand and showed Bibi his talons.

She gasped. “Oh, were these your present? They’re gorgeous! I’ve never seen anything like them.”

“Because they were used in ancient times by powerful dragons,” I said.

Her lips parted. “You need to show these to Wendy.”

“I’d like to take a look around the museum first,” Aarix said. “In case there’s anything else that comes to my attention. We can talk to her about all of it at once.”

“Of course,” Bibi said. “I’m hoping we find something tonight that gives us the answers we need.”

Aarix pressed a kiss against the side of my head, and Bibi’s lips curled into a smile. “I’ll be checking in with you later. Remember, this is a date, so please mix business with pleasure.”

With that, she hooked her arm into Hugo’s and went back to the party.

“Let’s take a look around. I’ve heard so much about these exhibits. I’m excited to see them for myself.” Even if we didn’t discover anything new, I was looking forward to learning about the local packs’ history. There was a giant replica of a creature that looked like Bigfoot in the middle of the lobby. He held a staff in his giant hand, and was surrounded by wolves, lions, and bears.

“Does that scene have any significance to you?” I asked, only loud enough for Aarix to hear me. We’d been mic’d up and therewas a good chance we’d have to ask production to edit things out.

“There should be dragons there,” he said with a soft growl. “I remember these lands with all those creatures. Dragons were a part of the story.”

A docent handed me a map. I took a moment to consider it. The exhibits had been laid out chronologically. If we were going to find something, it would become apparent quickly. I didn’t have any hard data to back that up. Just intuition.

The first exhibit looked like an ancient house. There was a fire in the hearth, a chair, and a small bed. But the most interesting part of it was the indentations on the wall. I let go of Aarix’s hand, drawn to the display.

It was much more primitive that the words that had flowed from my pen. The symbols seemed to predate the Latin alphabet.

Aarix put his hand on the small of my back. “Can you read it?” he asked.

I shook my head. “It’s frustrating because I feel like I should be able to. Can you?”

“Yes. It’s a calendar, or perhaps a diary would be a better description. It talks about hunting seasons and the things the shifter who lived here did with what he caught. It also talks about the local predators.”

“Look here.” I pointed at a spot with no writing. “It looks like it’s been sanded. It’s smoother than the other bare parts of the wall.”

“It does,” Aarix agreed. “At this time, there would have been dragons flying free in the area.”

The next exhibit space was painfully empty. I looked at the map and frowned. “It says this area is dedicated to ancient shifters of the Sunset Springs region.”

Aarix looked over my shoulder at the map. “Maybe it’s not ready yet.”

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