Page 14 of The Dragon's Mate

“She really wants us to fall in love,” Brensaid.

“Tell me about it. I keep telling her it isn’tgonna happen, but my grandmother is persistent. She can’t accept that I’m notinto you at all.” Elora made a face that suggested she’d rather eat dirt thandate him.

“Hey, I’m not that bad,” Bren said.

“You’re a total babe and smart and employedand I have absolutely zero sexual attraction to you.”

“Ouch.”

“Oh please, is there any part of this,”Elora pointed to her face and then her body, “that makes you go, ‘oh baby,break me off a piece of that’?”

There should have been. Elora was anattractive woman and there was no reason why he shouldn’t find her hot. Only hedidn’t. Was she funny as hell and unbelievably smart? Yes. Did he want tobang her? No.

“Exactly.” Elora could read his face disgustinglywell for having only known him for a year. “Other than that one night, youhave never once been attracted to me.”

Bren groaned. “We agreed never to talkabout that again, remember?”

“Hey,” Elora took another sip of beerbefore reaching up and stroking the crow’s sleek chest, “it’s not your fault youate a love-potion laced brownie from Helen and thought I was your soul mate.”

Bren finished his beer and grabbed anotherfrom the fridge. “Thank God you handcuffed me to the bed before I coulddeclare my undying love for you to the entire apartment complex.”

Elora burst into laughter, making the crow cawin a decidedly disgruntled manner. “I figured it was bad enough that you changedyour Facebook status to in a relationship with me and wrote that really badpoem on your wall. How did it start again?”

“Don’t,” Bren warned.

Elora straightened in the chair and heldher hand over her heart. “Her love is a quilt that covers me from head to toe,her beauty is -”

“We had an agreement, Elora,” Bren said. “Wenever speak of that night again. Remember? Keep bringing it up, and I’ll arrestyou for the dozen unpaid parking tickets I saw in your glovebox.”

Elora giggled before slumping against thechair. “I still can’t believe you didn’t arrest my grandmother for druggingyou like that.”

“She meant well. She wants you to be happy,”Bren said.

“Yeah, well if she keeps drugging unsuspectinghumans, the WWC is gonna label her a dark witch and have her imprisoned.”Elora’s tone turned somber.

Bren sat down and reached across the tableto squeeze her hand. “Do you want me to talk to her?”

“It won’t make a difference. She does whatshe wants and always has. She was a little better when Sarina was around butnow…”

Bren squeezed her hand again. Sarina wasElora’s half-sister, he’d never met the shapeshifter, but he’d heard many storiesabout her from both Helen and Elora. “Have you heard anything from her lately?”

Elora shook her head. “No. She hasn’tresponded to any of my texts in over a week. Normally she responds right away.Helen says not to worry about it, that Sarina can take care of herself but… I doworry. You know?”

“Yeah, I get it.”

He watched as the crow hopped from Elora’sshoulder to the table. It pecked at the wood and Bren poked at the shiny dampfeathers on its back, pulling his finger back when the crow whipped around and peckedviciously at him. “If she shits on my table, I’m tossing her out the window.”

“It was one time,” Elora said. She reachedout and stroked the crow’s head. The crow rubbed her beak along Elora’sfingers before turning her black-eyed gaze to Bren.

A shiver went down his back. “You know agroup of crows is called a murder, right?”

Elora laughed. “You think Lilianna isgoing to find some crow friends, break into your apartment, and murder you whileyou sleep?”

“I am now,” he said.

She laughed again and they both watchedLilianna groom her wet chest feathers.

“I can’t believe you shower with her,” Brensaid.

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