“Yes, but art is a lot broader than you might think. Designing buildings is an art. Agriculture can be an art. There’s art in everything. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love music, and I can play a great many instruments, but I’m a partner at Full Throttle because I also enjoy the art of the deal. The art of business.”
“How many instruments?” she asks, repositioning herself and crossing her legs. The neck of my silk pajamas falls off her shoulder again, and this time, my dragon is particularly interested. I have to look back at the pancakes to keep my dragon inside my skin.
“About twenty, I guess.”
“Twenty!”
I laugh. “It’s not a ton when you consider there are over 1,000 different musical instruments in the world. And I’m a dragon, which means I can master any one of them if I put enough energy into it.”
“Are you saying you can pick up any instrument on the planet and, if you tinker with it long enough, become proficient? Like, without lessons or years of practice?”
I shrug. “More than proficient. I could stand in for any musician at any event if given a few hours with their instrument and their music.”
She shakes her head. “That’s impossible. What, without even practicing?”
“Look, you probably learned to ride a bike in a day, right?”
She flips a hand through the air. “I had training wheels first, but yes, once they came off, I had it in a day.”
“There you go. The arts are like that for dragons.”
“Playing the piano is like riding a bike?” Her voice is incredulous, and she’s shaking her head at me.
“That’s a good way to think of it, actually. Twenty isn’t even that remarkable. Plenty of humans can play twenty instruments.” I flip the first pancakes onto the plate and drop a second round into the pan.
“After years of lessons and practice, maybe.” Her brows shoot up incredulously. “What is your favorite instrument to play?”
“I’ve always been partial to strings. There’s nothing quite like an acoustic guitar.” Gods, when I think back to the night I saw her playing at the Barrel Room, it gives me chills.
She grins. “Me too. I actually prefer it to electric when I perform.”
“Definitely in my top ten. But if I have to pick one favorite, it might be the violin.” I pour the warm strawberries into the first bowl I find and bring them to the table with a spoon and some maple syrup. I snag the whipped cream from the fridge and bring that over too. Then I turn back to the stove to finish up the pancakes.
“The violin? You play the violin?”
I nod. “As well as the viola, the cello, the bass, the harp, the banjo.”
“The banjo?” She laughs.
“I’m partial to the violin. I had the privilege of playing a duet with Lindsey Stirling once. Positively magical. Thought she was a dragon until I met her in person.”
As I turn to bring the pancakes to the table, I see a strange expression flit across her face, and if I didn’t know better, I’d swear it was jealousy. But it’s gone so quickly, I can’t be sure. In any case, she mounds a pile of whipped cream at the center of her pancakes and digs in like she hasn’t eaten in a week.
“My god, this syrup is incredible.”
“It’s the best. From a tiny maple orchard in Illinois, of all places. Someone gifted me a bottle a few years ago, and I’ve never gone back.”
A few minutes later, at the end of her second pancake, she leans back in her chair. “I’m going to have to use gold dust again to get the rest of the details on the ring. I can’t do it right away, though, or my wetting myself will be the least of our worries.”
“You said the day of your audition with our label, you went into cardiac arrest?”
She nods. “I died… Twice.” I wince. “I’m lucky to be here, actually. Each time I use it, the length of effectiveness shortens and the consequences grow worse. And it changes me. I’ll get mean, manipulative, cruel. I?—”
“You?”
“I burned my bridges with my family and most of my friends. I borrowed money, spent it all on gold dust, and never paid it back. I lied to people I loved. I drained my parents’ savings to pay for rehab. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I need the house and the money you’re paying me. Gold dust has taken everything from me. Well, almost everything. I’m still alive.”
I reach across the table and take her hand, her fingers slightly sticky from where she was holding her fork. “Well, I know what’s coming, and I promise I’ll care for you. I’ll make sure gold dust doesn’t steal anything from you again.”
