Page 57 of Prince of Tides
“Of course.”
I stared. Eb was far too relaxed. “But how? Why?”
More laughter. “To tell the truth, Miss, when you’re already a dragon yourself, meeting another one really isn’t too difficult to fathom. I’ve known Rip since he was a boy. I watched him grow into the dragon he is now.”
“Wait. Are you telling meyou’rea dragon, too? A what? Weredragon? Like a werewolf?” I shook my head, not sure I believed what I was hearing.
“We call ourselves shifters, Miss, but yes, that is correct.”
“Shifters,” I repeated, mumbling the word several times while trying to work my brain around the concept. “You know you sound crazy, right?”
“Crazy as a dragon,” Eb quipped. “But you won’t simply believe us by our word, will you?”
“No, probably not,” I admitted, wondering what the chances were oftwopeople having the same type of insanity.
It had to be exceedingly rare. Of course, with the internet, people could find someone else like them. So maybe it wasn’t that rare. I had never thought to look for dragon culture before. Mainly because I didn’t think I was a dragon.
“So let Rip show you the truth,” Eb said. “He’s already spilled the beans. You may as well go see if he’s insane or not, so you can stop wondering. Because if you get me to take you home, you willalwaysask yourself what if you got out of the car.”
I stared steadily at Eb. “Fine. I will.”
Pulling open my door, I looked at Rip, who stood in front of the SUV, waiting calmly as the snow fell heavily.
“Listen,” I called. “Before I go any farther, I’m going to need some real, actual proof that you’re a dr—WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?”
Before I could finish my request, Rip had shifted into a massive aquamarine-scaled dragon. Four legs. Covered in scales. Giant snout at the end of a long sinuous neck. Two yellow cat-like orbs stared down the snout at me through the falling snow.
“How’s this?” asked a voice that was deeper and more powerful but still distinctly Rip.
“Eeep.”
I stared in disbelief for a full minute, trying to take in what I saw. I couldn’t.
Pulling open the SUV door, I sat down abruptly and stared straight ahead at the back of the seat in front of me. “On second thought, I’d like to go home now, please.”
Eb laughed but made no move to start the car. Meanwhile, the green-blue scaled dragon, highlighted by the SUV’s headlights, did nothing but stand patiently.
“I noticed we aren’t moving,” I said after a few seconds, my voice sounding distant and numb to my ears. Like I wasn’t really there but rather was in some sort of dream.
Slowly, Eb turned around so that he could look at me directly. “If you really, truly want me to take you home, Miss, I will,” he said gravely.
I stared into his eyes, then deliberately turned my gaze to look out the front windshield. The dragon noted my movement and dipped his head forward until the giant yellow-orange eye was level with the windshield.
“Okay, that’s enough Jurassic Park for me,” I squeaked, moving across the seats to the other side of the SUV.
The dragon spoke again. “I’m not going to hurt you, Laurie.”
“It really sounds like Rip,” I observed mildly.
“That’s because itisRip,” Eb countered.
I stared straight ahead, not making eye contact. But still, I noticed out of my periphery that the head abruptly disappeared. A moment later, a shadow outline in the snow approached the door.
Ahumanoutline, I saw, sighing in relief.
Eb rolled down his window, letting a blast of cold air and snow in as Rip approached.
“You’re perfectly safe,” he said, speaking to me from the open window.
