“What was that all about?” she whispered.
“Dad’s being a dick.”
“I am not. Now, Bridget, tell us all about this dream monster that you two are meant to be chasing,” Cosimo said.
Through bites of lasagna, Bridget and Bas updated everyone on what they had learned that day from Kenna and Bridget’s experience with the creature’s hooks in her.
“It doesn’t sound like any creature I know,” Valentine said with a thoughtful expression. “If it is something that has only just awoken, I would head to the old myth section of the library. It’s got to be something obscure because it hasn’t been hunting for centuries.”
“Kenna couldn’t find anything in the Ironwood library, so it must be obscure. There isn’t much that the Ironwoods haven’thunted,” Cosimo added. “I suppose the biggest question, after what it is, is how to kill something that lives in dreams?”
Bas had thought a lot about that too, but it was Bridget who jumped in to answer.
“If it has been sleeping or dormant for centuries, it must have some sort of physical manifestation, or it wouldn’t have needed to. It would have just kept feeding off people. If that’s the case, then it would need to have somewhere to hide in Dublin if it’s hunting here,” she said and ate another forkful of lasagna. “Maybe we need like a big map of the city so we can plot out where all the victims live, and we can find a common area where it might be hiding.”
“Good idea. I can make sure you have something to work with tomorrow,” Cosimo said, lifting his wine to his lips.Brilliant and beautiful, Basset. A rare woman.
Mine,Bas’s dragon, growled back. Cosimo’s eyes shone animal bright at the challenge.
Bridget looked between them, a frown on her face. “Are you two okay?”
“Of course,” Bas said with a wide smile as he kicked Cosimo under the table. “I hope you all saved room for gelato.”
After dessert,Bas escorted Bridget back upstairs. He had watched her win over every member of his family without even trying. They were dragons and magicians—both knew treasure when they saw it. Bas’s hands clenched into fists. He had found her first. She was his, and he wouldn’t let any of them take her.
“You okay? You look like you were going to murder all your brothers and father at least once during that meal,” she said, ateasing smile playing on the corner of her lips. “And now, for that matter.”
“That’s because I did want to murder them. They love to tease, and I don’t want them to scare you away because they don’t know when to keep their mouths shut,” Bas replied honestly.
His dragon’s tail had been flicking like an angry cat since his father had said he was going to offer her a job as an assistant. The rational part of his mind knew his father was just playing with him, but his rational side wasn’t even remotely in control when he was around her. It was getting worse.
Bridget tucked her hair behind an ear. “You know, I’ve never had a family dinner like that before. They didn’t do anything to upset me. It was kind of a relief to not have to censor myself as much as I normally do.”
“So they didn’t scare you away? Not even about the dragon thing?” Bas asked.
Bridget’s expression turned incredulous. “Why would that scare me? It’s the coolest fucking thing ever. You could turn into anactualdragon, Bas! Fly, for real, not only in the astral plane. I’m jealous as fuck, not scared.”
Bas hadn’t considered that. “Oh. That’s good. I don’t want you to be scared of us. Or me. Mostly me.”
“I think you’re the only man I haven’t been scared of in my entire life.”
Bas stopped on the stairs, his vision going red. “Why? Who hurt you? If you give me their names…”
Bridget turned and put a hand on his mouth. “Hush. I’m okay. The people who hurt me are long dead. Men make me nervous when I first meet them, that’s all. You don’t, so take a breath.”
Bas was frozen, her fingers still lightly resting on his mouth. She seemed to notice it at the same time and went to pull away. Bas caught her gently by the wrist and kissed her open palm.
“I’m glad I don’t make you nervous,” he said and let her hand go.
A red streak creeped up her neck. “I’ve changed my mind. Now I’m definitely nervous.”
Bas smirked. “I’m sure you’ll recover.”
Bridget turned and hurried up onto the landing where her rooms were. “So…where are your rooms?”
Bas pointed at the stairs that kept going up. “The door to my rooms is on the next level in case you need me at all.”
“And you are sure the dream creature can’t get me? I haven’t drawn any sigils or anything,” Bridget said.
