“What?” Odessa’s question was sharp, but he barely heard it.
Where did it go? It seems strange that it would suddenly abandon the dragon—Bean, I guess—after guarding him so fiercely. Maybe it has a nest behind the cottage?
He opened his magical senses again, attempting to locate the bird. He froze, his jaw dropping and his eyes going wide as the final piece clicked into place.
“It’s you,” he said, stating what now seemed embarrassingly obvious. “You’re a swan.”
Chapter Eight
ODESSA
Odessa froze, caught between relief at finally having her curse acknowledged and apprehension at what it meant that this stranger was able to see what not even her closest friend had recognized.
Who is this man?Whatis he?
Jax continued conversationally, completely oblivious to her warring emotions. “I knew there was something different. Normally water fowl and I get along swimmingly.”
“What do you mean?” she asked cautiously. Bean, having apparently decided that Jax was no longer a threat, turned around and sidled up to her, leaning his warm body against her ankles.
“You didn’t respond to my music,” he said, as if the answer should have been obvious. His dark brown hair fell over his forehead, disheveled and just a little bit wild, but somehow suiting him perfectly. His hazel eyes, flecked with green, were bright and clear and completely focused on her.
“It was…very nice?”
“Exactly.” He waved a finger to emphasize his point. “My magic should have calmed you, but you were just as cantankerous as before.”
Odessa crossed her arms. “I was not cantankerous, I wasprotective. You were trying to steal Bean.”
“I can’t steal something that was mine to begin with.” He mirrored her posture. “I was the one who found his egg.”
“So?”
“So I didn’t go to all that work just to leave him behind.”
Odessa looked down at Bean, directing her thoughts at him the way she had when she was a swan.“Do you want to go with him?”
The little dragon tilted his head back and forth, as if trying to understand. When he failed to reply after several more attempts, she sighed.
I guess that only works when we’re both animals.
“Do you want to go with him?” she tried aloud.
Bean shook his head so vehemently that he nearly fell over.
She gave Jax a smug smile, her curse forgotten for the moment in her triumph. “I guess you did go to all that work just to leave him behind. You’ll have to find another dragon.”
He shoved his hands through his hair with a groan. “It’s not that simple! It took me years to find him. Dragon eggs are extremely rare; females only lay once every hundred years.”
“I’m sorry.” Odessa shrugged. “But he’s made his preferences clear.”
“For now.” Jax pulled his shoulders back confidently. “We’ll see how long that lasts. I’m a Dragon Charmer.”
She blinked, sure she had misheard him. “Dragon Charmer?”
“Dragon CharmerandBird Catcher,” he amended, as if doing so made any more sense than before. He held up a hand. “And before you try to tell me that it’s not a real profession, let meassure you that I know what I’m about. My family has been doing this for generations.”
“Charming dragons?”
Jax shuffled his feet. “Well, catching birds, more specifically. My Uncle Avi is the only one of us with a real reputation for charming dragons, but that’s just because he’s the only one brave enough to leave the metaphorical nest.”
