Page 18 of Dragon in Denial
Pongo offered them each a bottled water then closed the fridge, plunging them in darkness. He strode across the small space, tugged a metal chain attached to a lamp next to the bed, and lit the room again.
“Facilities are through there,” he said, pointing at the door Antoinette had suspected led to a bathroom. “I will return to my post now. Should you require my assistance, come out to the dock. Otherwise, make yourselves at home, and I bid you good night.” He nodded to each of them in turn, and then ambled out of the shack.
Antoinette could just make out his shape as he strode to the end of the dock and stood there for a moment before, in the blink of an eye, turning to stone.
“Well, that was certainly…odd,” she commented to Ketu, who was prowling the room, inspecting Pongo’s mistress’s meager belongings.
He shrugged. “Southern hospitality extends to supernatural species, as you well know.”
“True, but a gargoyle offering lodging to dragons? That’s a stretch. Except apparently it isn’t. How do you know so much about gargoyles and witches?”
“Like I told Pongo, it’s a long story.” Ketu tugged on a knob and opened an accordion door, revealing a shallow closet with shelves piled with towels, sheets, and blankets. “Which I promise to share in the morning.”
She opened her mouth and he said, “No arguments. You’re exhausted. Get some rest.” He pointed at the bed.
“What about you?” She eyed the worn quilt covering the lumpy mattress.
He pointed at the linen closet. “Plenty of blankets in here. I’ll make myself a pallet. Should be able to get a few hours’ rest, at least.”
Antoinette swallowed thickly. Her limbs felt like lead. She really was exhausted. She was used to fighting dragon’s blood dealers one-on-one, in brief hand-to-hand combat and usually in human form. Battling four of them while flapping her wings hard enough to stay in the sky and then flying out here to the middle of nowhere had seriously wiped her out. The second she touched that mattress she’d be down for the count, no matter how uncomfortable it may be.
“All right,” she finally conceded. “If you insist.”
In the few moments before sleep claimed her, she thought,Shit.
I found my mate.
