Page 16 of Hera

“Don’t think you’re getting out of telling me about your night!” Demi called after her. “I’ll see you at dinner!”

“See you!” Hera replied, taking the stairs up to her apartment two at a time. She went immediately to her lab, pulling out the lavender and sandalwood that she hadn’t used the day before. The sandalwood was now sufficiently dried that she could crush it for use in her lotion.

As she used her mortar and pestle, her thoughts drifted back to Augustine the night before. She hadn’t needed him to tell her that he used her lotion; the minute he’d been close enough, she could smell it. His natural musk with the sandalwood had been a mixture that had gone straight to her head—and other places.

She shivered, her sense-memory taking hold as the delicious aroma of the spicy wood filled the air. The soft skin of his inner wrist had been a surprise and contrasted with the strength she could feel running through his muscles. Her knees felt weak and she gripped the edge of her workbench to steady herself.

A crash broke through her reverie and Hera realized her wings had popped into existence again, this time knocking over glassware and dried herbs. “Drat! Is this going to happen every time I get too excited by that man?” She stomped a foot in frustration, glass crunching under her shoe.

She rolled her eyes and took several deep breaths, focusing on one of the ferns in the main living space. A whoosh of air, and the feathered monstrosities were gone. She heaved a sigh of relief and surveyed the damage. Another roll of her eyes and a snap of her fingers whisked all the broken glassware back onto the shelves behind her, their contents restored.

She ignored the damage to the back of her shirt and lab coat. Demi would fix them later.

Her phone dinged in her pocket.

Thinking about you. Looking forward to our date this Saturday.

Hera felt butterflies in her abdomen and wondered if he was thinking about her the way she was thinking about him.

She fired off a quick reply and attempted to focus on her work.

* * *

“Tell me everything,”Demi said while they were making dinner. “What were the men like?”

Hera snorted. “Most of them were ridiculous. One of them tried to tell me he’d seen dragon shifters flying around Purgatory, can you believe it?”

“Seriously? How does that even come up on a date?” Demi asked with a chuckle.

“He led with it. After an empty compliment.” Hera stirred the sauce more vigorously. “I guess it was a unique approach. Certainly memorable.”

“Dragon shifters,” Demi mused. “I haven’t seen one of those in, well, ages!”

“Weren’t they supposed to be evil?” Hera asked.

“So were humans,” Demi said scornfully. “You and I both know that you can’t tar an entire race with the same brush, if you pardon the idiom.”

“Good point,” Hera agreed. “I had no idea they were still around.”

“The story, as far as I can remember, goes that the witches put the last of the dragon shifters to sleep deep in the Earth,” Demi said musingly.

“If that’s true, why would they be waking up now?” Hera wondered out loud.

“There was that earthquake a few months ago,” Demi suggested. “It’s possible that woke them.” She laughed. “Or maybe their hibernation period was done.”

Hera laughed with her sister and bumped their hips. “Or maybe he simply saw an eagle and mistook it for a dragon.”

“Far more likely.” Demi nodded sagely, sending them off into giggles again. “But in all seriousness, what has got you daydreaming? Or should I say whom?”

Blushing, Hera started plating the pasta. “There was one man... Demi, he was amazing!”

“Do tell!”

“He was extremely awkward, and it was so adorable. His brothers helped him come up with conversation topics and his opening line was supposed to be to compliment my jewelry, but I wasn’t wearing any.” Hera giggled.

“Oh no, that poor boy,” Demi gasped, pasta sauce dripping unheeded off her spoon onto the counter. “So, what did he do?”

“He stumbled over his words and complimented my eyes.” Hera cleaned the counter with a snap of her fingers and continued, “He’s a shifter, although, we didn’t talk about what kind. He uses my lotion to mask his characteristics.”

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