Page 44 of Hera

When he put her back on the ground, Hera smiled up at him and cupped his cheek in one tiny hand. “We’re in love.”

Augustine kissed her lightly. “I feel like I could fly.”

“Can’t you?” Hera replied impishly, laughing a little.

“I can.” An idea came to him then. “Let us get dinner to go, topside, and then, I will fly us to a remote island that I am familiar with. It is not big enough for cruise ships, and too far away for most day trips by smaller boat, but I can get us there in no time.”

“Nobody will see us?” Hera asked, bouncing a little in excitement. “Will I be warm enough in this?”

Augustine looked her over—now that his anxiety had disappeared, he could appreciate her appearance—she was wearing a halter dress very similar to the one she had worn to the speed dating event, but in a deep blue with silver accents. Her arms were bare. “Can you not—” he snapped his fingers “—make a coat appear for you if you get cold?”

“I could do that,” Hera agreed. “How will we be unseen? It’s still daylight.”

Smirking, Augustine replied, “Humans do not notice me. It is only the supernaturals that I have to worry about.”

CHAPTER13

“Humans can be so oblivious,”Hera said with a chuckle as they walked into a nearby Chinese food place. She breathed in the tangy aromas. “Oh yes, that’ll hit the spot.”

Augustine chuckled. “We will get all your favorites.”

“Allof them? I don’t think I can eat that much,” Hera replied with a saucy grin.

“As much as you want, then,” Augustine said.

They ordered several dishes to share and packed them in a backpack that Hera pulled out of thin air to appear on the floor.

Augustine winked at her as he bent to pick it up from their feet and filled it with the still steaming containers. “I hope that this is insulated.”

Hera passed her hand over it. “Of course it is.”

“It is, now,” Augustine teased her quietly.

She nudged him in the ribs, making him chuckle again.

I like this playful August.

He seems more confident and less shy.

His secret must have been eating him up inside.

That made her think about what he had just told her again.

August is a dragon shifter!

Even though there had been rumors surrounding dragon shifters for as long as Hera could remember—that they were all gone and that they had been evil—Hera couldn’t bring herself to believe them. Obviously, the dragons weren’t all gone. Augustine, and presumably his brothers, were proof enough of that. And if that rumor was patently false, the other had the potential to be as well.

Hera’s gaze met Augustine’s as he closed up the backpack.

He isnotevil.

I trust him.

He is a dragon, and he is my love.

I do not doubt what is in my heart.

Hera took Augustine’s hand and squeezed it. “Let’s go.”

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