She held up her glass and clinked it against his. “Drinks the same. And I was being serious. This place is charming. I love it. And Rosco is the perfect addition.” She stroked the dog’s head.
“You like dogs?”
“Love them. I have a passion for deerhounds.”
“Deerhounds? And I thought Rosco was big.”
She leaned down and kissed Rosco between the ears. “Oh no, he’s positively purse-sized compared to my last dog, Cerberus. He died a few years ago,” she said softly. “I haven’t had the heart to adopt another one yet.”
On impulse, she kicked off her shoes. With Nick in a T-shirt and sweats, losing the stilettos would make them both more comfortable. Rosco nudged her palm, and she bent over to scratch him vigorously behind his tall, radar-like ears. She was rewarded with a light bump of his nose against hers and then a lick up the side of her face.
“Now I know it’s true about you being different. That’s the fastest Rosco has warmed up to anyone, ever.”
“I have a way with animals. I think they can sense my dragon.”
“Your dragon? You talk about it like it’s something separate from yourself. I got the sense at your apartment that you were the dragon, you know, with the wings and everything.”
“I am.” She stood and brushed her hands against each other. “It’s a Paragonian expression.”
“The planet you’re from originally.”
“It’s another realm, uh, a dimension parallel to Earth.”
“Fuck if all my years watchingDoctor Whodidn’t just pay off big-time, because yes, I know what you mean. I just never knew they existed in real life.”
“We talk about our dragon as if it’s a separate and distinct entity because when we shift, we change. We are still us, but our thoughts become less complex. Our dragons are our most unrestrained self, and sometimes, in this form, we can feel that inner animal trying to get out.”
“What does that feel like?”
Her cheeks heated. “When you kissed me last night, I felt her move. My inner dragon finds you very exciting.”
He finished up in the kitchen and joined her in the living room, so close the intense urge to touch his chest made her fingers twitch.
“You’re not like other women, you know.”
She smiled wider. “No. I am not.” She sipped her wine.
“So, where do we start? How do you kill a vampire?”
“About that. I don’t think you should worry aboutkillingthe vampires, Nick. I can protect you with an enchantment.” She gestured toward the window. “We can put a magical barrier around this place, and I have a charm for you that will make you practically invisible to them.” She dug in her purse for the sachet Harriet had made for her. When she held up the talisman, he shook his head and frowned.
“Can I ask you something personal? It might seem like a rude question, but it’s something I need to know.” He swirled the wine in his glass, watching the resulting whirlpool without seeming to see it at all.
“Hmm. You can ask it. If it’s truly rude, I may not answer.”
“How old are you?”
“Older than you.”
“By how much?”
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-eight.”
“Approximately 462 years, give or take the gap in time between our dimensions.”
He stumbled backward. “Four hundred…”
