“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But that doesn’t mean dragons are real.”
He glanced at me briefly before returning his attention to the road. “I’m not going to lie to you anymore, even if the truth is difficult. When you saw me in the woods, I had just shifted.”
That made more sense than I could process. Maybe he was right that my brain might not be able to handle seeing him shift into a dragon right then and there.
The truck’s headlights swept across the wooden sign marking Wings End’s entrance. Lucan turned onto the gravel road, the tires crunching beneath us. My trailer came into view moments later, a small island of normalcy in an evening that had gone completely sideways.
He pulled up beside the trailer and shifted into park. The engine idled quietly between us.
“Tomorrow, you’ll show me. First thing.” I reached for the door handle, my mind still spinning.
“We’ll need to go somewhere secluded. I can have Reese and Kade join us so you’re more comfortable.” He touched my forearm tentatively, and I felt the heat of his hand through my sweater.
I paused and looked down at his hand. There was a battle going on inside me; my brain wanted to run, but something in my chest told me to stay.
My throat worked hard to swallow the lump that had formed there. “Thank you.”
Although I was currently pissed at Reese for sending Lucan to pick me up, having two other people there would ease my anxiety about this whole thing. Lucan thinking about that made me soften toward him slightly—and I mean very slightly.
I wouldn’t let myself consider that they were all part of an organized serial killer group who lured victims to the middle of nowhere under the guise of seeing a real-life dragon.
“Will eight work? Or is that too early?”
It’s not like I was going to be able to sleep anyway. “That will work.”
It took everything in me to push the door open and climb out of the truck.
The morning light crept through the blinds and roused me from sleep. I blinked at the ceiling, disoriented by the realization that I had actually slept. Not just slept, but deeply, my body finally giving in to exhaustion after the chaos of the previous night.
My dreams had been strange. I remembered heat beneath me, scales that gleamed deep purple, and the impossible thrill of soaring through the sky on the back of a dragon. The details evaporated the moment I opened my eyes.
I lay there for a moment, cataloging my thoughts. Fifty percent of me insisted Lucan had manufactured the entire dragon story to explain away whatever he really was. A con artist, a liar, someone playing an elaborate game with unclear stakes.
The other fifty percent remembered the sound he had made, the way his eyes had flashed in the mirror, and the calm dominance he had projected while facing down a mother bear.
What did he want? He’d left me thoughtful gifts, tried to give me twenty thousand dollars for a knife that was his, and showed up at Split Pine but never approached me.
A man who wanted something usually pushed. He hadn’t.
After getting dressed, I was debating whether I needed coffee when there was a knock at the door. I opened it to find Reese, her hand raised to knock again.
“Good morning. Sorry, I’m a little early.” She held up a six-pack of Diet Pepsi. “I brought a peace offering.”
I stepped aside to let her in, but I didn’t soften. “You could have sent anyone. Anyone at all.”
She set the bottles on the counter. “I know. And I’m sorry. When you called, the guys were at our place, and Lucan was out the door before any of us could stop him.”
“He just happened to be at your place at eleven at night?”
“They were discussing patrols. The guys are together a lot too since they’re a quad.” Reese’s shoulders dropped. “I should have warned you. That was poor judgment on my part.”
A quad? They did not look like brothers in the slightest.
I crossed my arms, holding onto my anger because it was easier than unpacking the complicated knot of emotions underneath. “Are you in on it? The whole dragon story? Are you a dragon shifter too?”
I watched her face carefully, searching for any hint of the tells people give when they’re constructing a lie. Not that I was good at it, but maybe because I’d never paid enough attention.
Reese laughed. “No. Definitely not. I’m one hundred percent human.” I waited for her to explain what that meant for the others, but she glanced over her shoulder at the door. “We should go. We can talk on the way.”
