I exhaled and turned back to business before I could dissolve into emotional confetti. “Okay. Right. My boss. Who is about to combust.”
Arthur watched me, confusion flashing through his eyes. “What are you doing?”
“Something questionable.” I turned to Percy. “Can I borrow-slash-have a couple of the old coins pinned to your conspiracy board?”
Percy shrugged. “Take any you want. I have duplicates.”
I plucked two coins from the corkboard. One was Roman, the other was older and probably belonged in a museum or a vault or a reinforced box.
I took a picture of them on my palm and sent it to my boss.
Thirty seconds later, he called back. “Are you bribing me?” he asked, not bothering with greetings.
“Only if it works,” I said.
A long pause.
“Be back Monday,” he said. “You’re handling the summer school workshops.”
I nearly squealed. “Monday. Yes. Perfect.”
Heended the call.
I lowered my phone. “Well. That’s handled.”
Percy gaped at me. “You bribed him with ancient currency.”
“No, I bribed him with apictureof ancient currency. I’m not that irresponsible.”
Arthur’s mouth twitched in amusement.
Before I could savor the moment, a metallic groan tore through the storage unit as the roll-up door bowed inward. Arthur stepped toward me so fast I didn’t register the movement. His body angled between me and the door. Percy yelped and ducked behind a shelving unit.
The groan turned into a violent crack. The door split open.
Something forced its way inside. It was huge and scaled, and the floor vibrated under its weight.
My brain stopped working, and for an instant I thought I was hallucinating. Then my brain started up again.
It was not a hallucination. It was not something from a roleplaying manual.
It was a motherfucking dragon.
A real, honest-to-fuckdragon.
Its body filled the doorway, blocking the light. Smoke curled from its jaws. The ground shook as it stepped forward, one slow, deliberate stride at a time.
I took three steps back until my shoulder hit Arthur’s arm.
He didn’t move.
He stood firm and solid. His entire presence changed. Controlled strength gathered in every line of his body.
The dragon lowered its head and studied us with ancient, deadly intent.
Very quietly, very carefully, I whispered, “Arthur, what is that?”
He didn’t take his gaze off the creature. “Your introduction to the truth.”
