“Where thefuckdid that come from?” My anger rose again, and I stood. “Where in the name of God did you get that idea?”
Lindsey’s shoulders slumped. She leaned into me, her arms, her badly torn and bloody arms, crept around my waist. I held her tightly, forcing calm into my voice, shunting my anger to the side.
“Look,” I murmured against her hair, “it seems we have a lot to talk about. First things first. Let’s go to the bathroom so I can care for you. Okay?”
Lindsey nodded against my chest. “Okay.”
I steered her into her own bathroom and gently pushed her onto her toilet seat. “Where do you keep medical shit?” I asked, opening cupboards. “Bandages, iodine maybe.”
“In that drawer. Brody.”
I paused in my search, looking at her over my shoulder. “Yeah?”
“Something – happened – tonight.” She swallowed hard, and I thought she’d begin to weep. “I have to tell you. It’s terrible.”
“That you killed that guy?” I barked a laugh. “That’s not terrible. It’s a credit to you, save the justice system the cost of keeping him in prison.”
“It’s how I killed him.”
“Why does that matter?”
“Come here. Please. Hold – hold my hand.”
I knelt beside her, taking her hands in mine again. “It’s okay, baby,” I murmured. “You can tell me anything.”
“I – I –” she choked, shut her eyes. “I’m not – human.”
I blinked. “What?”
“I was so scared. He was – on me. Going to rape me. I changed. I don’t know how it happened. I became a beast.”
The light of understanding flooded me. I couldn’t conceal my grin. With her eyes closed, Lindsey didn’t see it. She continued, her voice now hurried, panic seeping into her as she spoke.
“I was so big, I busted the house to pieces.” Lindsey sobbed openly. “I had wings and a tail. God, I’m evil. I’m soevil, Brody. You can’t understand – how can you even look at me –”
I pulled her into my arms, letting her weep into my shoulder. “You’re not evil, baby. Far from it.”
“I am, I’m a terrible creature –”
“You’re a dragon.”
As though a faucet had shut off, Lindsey ceased weeping. She lifted her wet face from my shoulder to stare into my eyes. I grinned, cupping her cheek. “You’re a dragon, Lindsey. Half human, half dragon. You can shift between your forms at will.”
“A – a –”
I started to shift, controlling it, showing her only the beginning of my change, my muzzle, my teeth. Lindsey instantly recoiled, her mouth dropping open. I stopped the shift, returning to my human form.
“See?” I smiled. “I’m a dragon, too.”
“That’simpossible.”
“Nope, sorry. It’s not just possible, it is. Dragon shifters have been on this earth since time began. Look, let me deal with your wounds. You can tell me exactly what happened.”
Though she shut her teeth at the agony I forced on her by cleaning her ragged flesh, Lindsey told me everything. The Taser. Waking up in a dilapidated house. Her rapist, Greg, tormenting her by leaving her to lie, tied to the cot, dreading the rape to follow.
“I just changed,” she murmured. “I didn’t intend for it.”
“Your dragon busted forth to protect you,” I said, wrapping her wrists in gauze. “What happened to him?”
