Page 39 of Ancient Promises

“A few months. I’m pretty picky about what I add to my treasure. My dragon likes old books.”

“Why do you suppose that is?”

“I don’t know,” he said, shrugging. “I’ve always kind of thought it must be because dragons are always seen in literature as ancient, and even though we’re not immortal, there’s somethingforeverabout a dragon and their treasure.”

“That’s really cool.”

He smiled broadly and winked at her, then turned his attention back to the road. “We could have children who are wolves or lions who hoard. That would be pretty neat too.”

“I feel like a hoarder sometimes. I love to go to estate sales and thrift stores to find books. It makes me sad to see old books in used bookstores.”

“Sad?”

“Yeah, like I might find a book that’s really worn, the cover could be falling off it, the pages could be dogeared or have writing on them. And someone donates it or sells it. A book so well loved is a treasure.”

He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “I couldn’t agree more.”

They reached the storage facility. There was a large three-story building with units, and then a section behind the building for the portable storage pods like the one Eivross had.

“I’ve had the storage pod for a few years in a facility away from the nest,” he said as he entered the code to open the tall metal gates at the entrance. “I had bookshelves in my room but outgrew them pretty quickly, so I got a storage unit and began filling it up. Then I moved everything into a portable unit so I could have it delivered to the house and add more to it and go through what I had, and then have it picked up and stored.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” she said.

“Most dragons like to have their treasure nearby and accessible to them at all times. I kept my favorite books in my room, and I packed them up when I left. So the bulk of my treasure is here.”

“Do you have valuable books? Or are they just valuable in a sentimental way?”

“Both,” he said.

He pulled through the open gates and paused, waiting for the gates to close behind them, then he continued through, passing the facility’s office building and driving down a long row of units. He turned a corner and headed down another row before stopping.

“My most valuable books are first editions of classics, but my favorites, the ones that my dragon values the most, are ones that have personal meaning to me. Like the first book my father gave to me.”

“That’s really neat.”

They got out and walked to the red door of a portable unit. There was a keypad and a padlock. “I like the extra security,” he said. “I had the keypad installed after I purchased the unit.”

“Smart.”

“Well, the place is secure, and so was where I had it before, but it’s nice to know that no one can get inside the unit without me.” He pulled a key from inside his wallet and unlocked the heavy-duty padlock, then typed a code into the keypad. He bent and hauled the door upward, the clacking of the sections as it opened echoing in the quiet night.

She let out a gasp.

It looked like a library. The unit was filled with floor-to-ceiling wooden shelves that had padded rods across each shelf to keep the books in place during travel. She stepped inside and turned on her phone’s flashlight, illuminating the space.

“If I was going to spend time in here with my books,” he said, joining her and adding his phone’s light, “I’d normally bring a few lanterns or battery-powered shop lights, but I didn’t think about coming here until we were already at dinner.”

“It’s okay, this is amazing,” she said.

“I sold a few books to pay for the damage when I first came here,” he said.

“You did?” she turned to face him.

With a nod, he said, “I didn’t have enough cash in my bank account to cover everything, and I have a few brokers I’ve used over the years who will buy and sell antique books for me. They always move fast.”

“You had books that were rare enough to pay for thousands of dollars’ worth of damage? That’s pretty impressive.”

He looked really pleased she said that, but she did think it was true. Her entire bookstore wouldn’t have paid for all the damage.

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