Sasha padded to the kitchen door and cocked her head. The babble of voices came from the reporters standing at the gate, but no other sounds reached her. At least, nothing to alarm her. She slid back the lock and opened the door. Seconds later, she slipped outside and headed for the vegetable patch. While she was out there, she plucked basil leaves, mint, and parsley along with the chamomile.She was halfway back to the house when two men confronted her. One snapped a photo, the bright light making her blink and her dragon complain. While she was recovering, the other man thrust a fluffy blue thing at her.
“What is that?”her dragon asked with mild curiosity.“Touch the fluffy thing. It doesn’t look edible.”
“What can you tell us about Max’s pet dragon?” a man with a brown mustache and freckles asked.
“We’re not a pet,”her dragon said with disdain.“Tell him.”
Mustache Man tried to push past her, but Sasha stood her ground. “Out. I believe Max told you this was personal property, and you have no right to enter.”
“Push past,” the man’s companion said without a care for any laws. “She’s a girl.”
Anger built in Sasha, part of it fueled by her dragon. Impatient with the pesky men, Sasha gave one a forceful shove. He sailed through the air and hit with a thump.
Mustache Man didn’t even bother looking to his friend’s health and safety. Taller than her, he obviously fancied his chances of getting past her.
“Blow warning fire,”her dragon snapped.“This man is not getting to Max and Noel.”
Sasha gave her back garden a rapid scan and let her control cede toward her dragon. Her sight became sharper, and she knew Mustache Man would see her otherness in her eyes.
“Don’t hurt him. Just frighten him,”she warned.
“Yes. Yes,”her dragon said, and her voice held glee.
When Mustache Man placed his hand on her shoulder, Sasha pushed him. He, too, went flying. Before he’d even landed, her dragon took more control and blew out a gust of fire. It landed right near Mustache Man’s leg. His panicked yelp rippled through the air as she slammed the door.
“Take that,”her dragon crowed.
They turned to discover Max gaping at them, blue eyes wide and shock emblazoned across his handsome face.
“What the fuck,” he said.
9 – Oops! How Do We Fix This?
“Now look what you’ve done,”her dragon said.“How are you going to fix this?”
“It was you, not me.”Sasha swallowed hard. This was not the ideal way for Max to discover her other-self. What if he kicked her out of the house? Or worse, tossed her to the tabloid reporters who were baying like the bloodhounds they’d watched on telly last night.
“What was that?”
“Ah…”
Noel appeared behind him. He beamed at Sasha and ran to her, grabbing her around the legs and giving her a big hug. “Shasha scared away bad men. She saved me.”
Max scrubbed a hand through his hair, closed his eyes briefly, then opened them. “I can’t believe I’m saying this,” he muttered. “You are a dragon.”
“Yes,” Sasha said in a small voice.
“A real live dragon.”
“What does he expect? A paper one?”her dragon demanded in a snippy tone.“One of those purple cartoon ones?”
“Yes.” Sasha waited for his next reaction.
“Crap,” Max said. “This is something from the movies.”
“Ah, I’ll make a cup of tea,” Sasha said.
“Why are we doing that?”her dragon asked.
