Her muscles relaxed, and the defiant spark dimmed.“Jack Aster works here after school and weekends.”
And he had a crush on Ruby.
Cyn glanced out the window.“He’s close to storming in.Wave at him, let him know you’re fine.”
She narrowed her eyes again, most likely at the order, but gave Jack the universal OK sign.She crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head at Cyn.“Happy?”
“Yes.I don’t want to have to kill him.”
“You’re kidding, I hope.”
“What about the other two?”
She paused, probably realizing he hadn’t answered her question.“Nevin is my business partner.He didn’t have that”—she wiggled her fingers in front of her eyes—”flicker.Leo said he wasn’t one of us.”
“He’s a Mundane, a regular human.And Leo’s the one who was manhandling you?”Cyn’s Dragon had bristled at the sight of the man’s arm around her waist, the rough way he was carrying her.
“I don’t know what that was about.Leo came in looking for a part yesterday, the first time I’ve seen him in eight years.”
“That seems odd, him showing up the day your uncle is murdered.He’s a Deuce, but not powerful enough to make a star orb.That’s the kind of orb that killed your uncle.”
She swallowed hard, staring out the window at Leo probably.“How can you tell what he is?”
“Deuces’ eyes swirl like fog.”
Her face paled as she shifted her gaze from the Yard to Cyn.“Your eyes had embers, and so did mine when I saw them in the mirror.Dragon eyes are like embers.No.”She shook her head hard, making her hair float out like a cloud.“Magick being real, I’m just beginning to grasp.Big ole lizards with talons and wings and scales, well, I saw that.But thatI’mone, no friggin’ way.”
“What about the protected—or, rather, kidnapped as he portrayed it—Garnet in Moncrief’s stories?Didn’t she turn into a Dragon?”Surely he would have accurately portrayed Ruby.
“The Dragon Prince put a spell on her that made her go Dragon.When they fought, they became savage beasts, with drool dripping out of their mouths.And they smelled like dirty socks.But in reality she was a Deuce.”
Something like a growl emanated from his throat.He swallowed it back.“Nice of him to portray us that way.”Moncrief not only hated Cyn, understandably, but he disdained Dragons in general.Neither surprised Cyn, but the man should have kept his prejudices out of the stories.After all, Ruby was Dragon, too.
“Get this clear: We’re not lizards.”He gave a quick, disgusted flick of his head.“Or snakes with legs.Yes, we have scales, but we’re hot-blooded.Our eyes are more cat-like, and so are our bodies.”
“But that’s how Chinese Dragons are portrayed.Or is it Japanese?”
“That’s just a reflection of a particular culture.Every ancient culture seems to have seen an actual Dragon.Pictures, carvings, and descriptions go back millennia.I’m guessing that the Dragon gods showed themselves to early peoples in different ways.”
Ruby raked her long hair back, holding it away from her face.Her thick bangs swept across her forehead, shielding the burn.“I’m not a Dragon.I’d know a thing like that.I mean, that’s not something you just find out, like that according to your DNA, your great grandfather was Italian.”
“You do know, Ruby.You’ve felt the power, the violence.You just didn’t know why.”
She shivered, her eyes wide as she stared at nothing in particular.“Those times I wanted to tear someone’s head off…”
He felt an odd urge to pull her into his arms and smooth her hair back, imagining the strands sliding against his skin, remembering the heat of her body against his.Bad idea to let those kinds of thoughts curl through him like a stream of smoke.
He gentled his voice instead of giving into his urge, much safer.“Ruby, you change into a Dragon.A powerful, gorgeous?—”
“Stop.”She slapped her hand on his chest.“Stop telling me that, and stop saying my name like…”
“Like what?”
“It sounds so… intimate.”
Her hand felt warm on his chest, even through his shirt.
“I don’t mean to say it like that.”Relief crossed her face but disappeared at his next words.“But wearegoing to be intimate in the next couple of days.”He clarified.“I have to give you a crash course on being Dragon.”
