Page 3 of Dragon’s Rebel

“That would be a ‘no,’ Lizard,” she said. “If you need a snack, I’d recommend the cake.”

Har har. I need to make adjustments in this search, and I need someone to type for me.

“Come on. I’m winning this hand. Take a break and cheer for me.”

Thorne moved his giant blue-scaled dragon head so it rested on the stone floor beside her, where he could see her cards. You’re going to lose, he informed her. Zane has a good hand. I saw the corner of his mouth twitching a few minutes ago, like he’s trying to hide a smirk. That’s his tell.

Rebel replied carefully. This mind-talk thing was still new to her, and sometimes her ‘private’ comments to Thorne ended up not-so-private. I thought that smirk was from Blaze groping him under the table.

Thorne gave a tiny snort, and a burst of smoke came from his nostrils. Rebel moved her beer out of the way before his fiery breath took the chill off it. She hated warm beer.

But she liked making the grumpy-ass dragon laugh, though she would never have admitted it out loud.

Zane had peeled his lips off Blaze’s and was staring at his cards with a punch-drunk look on his face. Rebel was surprised to feel a hint of wistfulness. Nobody had ever looked like that after kissing her.

Suddenly she wished someone would.

She shoved her chair back and walked over to the workstation Thorne had been using. He moved his head to follow her.

She hadn’t realized a magical, practically immortal, fire-breathing dragon could look exhausted, but he did.

You work too hard, she said. You should chill out for a while and play poker with us.

Sure, Thorne said acerbically. Let’s all play poker until Vyrkos bursts out of his tomb and burns the entire city to ashes. Good plan.

She ignored his sarcasm, glancing at the monitor that showed the feed from the tomb interior. All was quiet.

“He’s not going to burst out tonight. And we needed a break. We’ve been working sixteen-hour days.”

Welcome to my world, Thorne said. The tomb is weakening. We have no idea where the next Seal is. All this work, and not a fucking thing to show for it. He lashed his tail, just missing taking out a filing cabinet.

“Hey,” Rebel said. She put her hand on his head, absently rubbing just above his eye ridge. That usually seemed to calm him down. “We’re doing everything we can. We’ll find the Seals.”

I can’t do it if I’m not human. This body is too limiting.

Rebel’s phone buzzed and she yanked it out of her pocket, swiping her thumb across the screen.

Intel acquired. Price $100,000, two payments. This number goes dark in 30 minutes.

A smile spread over her face. Well, Lizard, she said into Thorne’s mind, it looks like I can save your ass. And possibly even the world.