Page 47 of Rapunzel's Gambit (All That Glitters)

Regretfully, I forced my hands to stop their exploration of Pollox’s human face. “We need to get back to the tower soon. I’d rather not be in the middle of the forest at night.”

He caught my hand. “Why not?”

“Because I’m useless in a fight and I think you’d have a much harder time defending us against bears and wolves while you’re in this form, that’s why.”

His touch lingered on me as long as possible before he finally released me. “Good idea. I’d be a poor excuse for a dragon if I couldn’t protect my hoard.”

CHAPTER21

“There are shifters in other countries, too,” Pollox informed me as the tower slowly came into view. “Pyren has phoenix shifters and Termarth has sea serpent shifters.”

“That’s on the other side of the world, though,” I pointed out. “We barely hear anything from them.”

“I’ve been to Pyren once,” he told me, then shot me a wicked expression that made him look even more devilishly mischievous. “It’s a long flight. One day I’ll take you there.”

“I’d like that.” I stared up at the tower balcony high above us. “So…can you shift back now? Otherwise it will be hard to get up there.”

“I think so. Stand back; it gets hot.”

I retreated while Pollox transformed back into his usual, enormous self.

“Are you hungry?” Pollox asked.

“Very. We could go back to the cave instead. I’m craving some of that pudding the table makes, and I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be alone right now. You might have some of that poison still left in your blood. I might need to help you.”

Pollox beat his tail against the ground a few times before he simply said, “I think that’s a good idea.”

“You could try the food if you shift back to a human, you know,” I told him on the way back. Would he know that I wanted more time examining his human face? “And if you keep shifting back and forth, wouldn’t that help burn the poison out?”

“It takes a lot of energy to shift, and the poison is already out, or else I wouldn’t have been able to shift back.”

“You could still try the food. It’s good.”

“I know.”

We landed at the cave, and I slid off his back, much more gracefully than the first time I’d attempted it. “How do you know? I’ve never seen you eat anything.”

“What, you think I would enchant a table and not use it? I don’t exactly have many human guests to entertain.”

“You have me.”

“So I do.”

“It would be poor manners not to join me for dinner.”

“I’ve been with you during dinner many times.”

“But I’m the only one eating. I wouldn’t mind a human-looking companion, even if you’re still a dragon on the inside.”

“It takes a lot of effort to shift,” Pollox grumbled, but he transformed back into the man I’d seen before and joined me at the table.

The table, which had previously supplied me with all my favorite foods, added several more dishes, including an exotic one that smelled so spicy my eyes watered.

“That one is my favorite,” Pollox said, spooning it onto his plate. “It’s native to Pyren. They’re known for their fire peppers.”

“How fitting for a dragon,” I said, portioning out some of the milder foods for myself and keeping an eye on Pollox. After his poor coordination with running, I’d expected that using cutlery would be just as awkward, and yet he managed with no trouble. “I assumed that you just flew off to eat sheep when I was in the tower or something.”

Pollox paused in chewing the peppers. “Can you promise to keep a secret?”

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