Greed and Other Dangers

by TJ Nichols

  “Smell?” The female invited him closer. It could be a trap to feed him to her young, but he doubted it. He was too chewy for new hatchlings. In about six months, they’d be able to eat just about anything.

  “Yes, thank you.” He walked toward the nest and breathed in that new-dragon scent. It was sweet to the point of cloying, and for a heartbeat, he was home. In his next breath, he realized that he was happy here. While he’d never stop missing his world, he was creating a new one, and he liked the way it was shaping up. The babies’ scales were soft, but their teeth were sharp as they snapped at him. A sibling stuck its head up, then a third joined in, and they all jostled for position.

  All three had hatched. He grinned. “Can my mate see?”

  The adult dragons debated over his head, and he tried not to listen in. As tempting as it was to reach out and pat their little heads, he resisted because his fingers would look like snacks. He took off his shirt, preparing to shift. They needed to learn what he was and that he wasn’t food. Had they already been hatched when their parents ate Narv?

  “Mate smell. No touch,” the female said.

  He was going to advise Jordan not to touch too. They were snappy little hatchlings. He stepped away from the nest and beckoned Jordan over. The guards at the barricade were watching. In the dusk a few onlookers stood there too. While most of the excitement had worn off, the dragons were still an attraction. Strangely, everyone now kept their dogs on a leash instead of letting them roam free.

  Jordan strolled over, outwardly calm, but his heartbeat was quick. His gaze darted to the temple and then back to the larger female. His cheeks darkened and his pulse increased again. He was going to have to learn to control himself better around dragons.

  He took in Edra’s bare chest. “Need me to hold your clothes?”

  “Yes, but also the dragons have invited you to smell their young. Just smell, no touch.” He repeated the last bit in dragon and they both looked pretty pleased.

  “Do I actually have to sniff them?”

  “No, just get within a yard of the nest and don’t try to pat them or you’ll lose fingers.”

  “I’ll be holding your clothes.” He put his hand out to take the shirt, then followed Edra to the nest, hidden from view.

  WHILE JORDAN had grown up with movies about dragons, he still wasn’t ready for the nest. Up close it was more of a fortress made out of trees and dirt. The babies mewled, their heads level with his, all jewel green skin and needlelike teeth. It smelled a little like his mother’s roses, mixed with pickled onions and with an undertone of decomp around the nest. The result was a kind of fetid sweetness verging on the unpleasant that clung to the back of his throat.

  He was definitely smelling the hatchlings.

  And he wasn’t sure which was worse—the dead-thing tea that dried his throat or this.

  Should he smile and nod and say lovely? Three large green dogs with wings—they couldn’t stay here. He could only imagine the damage three young dragons would do. They’d terrorize the park and the cops guarding the nest.

  Edra handed him his pants. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah.” He still couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. He wanted to touch to make sure they were real, but he also liked his fingers attached to his hand. “Am I the first human to see dragon young?”

  “Here? In a few centuries, maybe a millennium.” Edra’s smile was infectious. He put his arms around Jordan and kissed him—a brush of lips, nothing more. “I won’t be long.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” He wasn’t sure he could go anywhere with the adult dragons watching over him.

  Edra turned his back and shifted with enough cracks to make a chiropractor proud. Then he hopped onto the edge of the nest. The babies stared up at him as though not sure what he was. The dad clicked at them… or at Edra. Jordan didn’t know.

  Then Edra went into the nest, and the babies disappeared from sight too. His breath caught, but then he heard Edra’s familiar clicks and whistles as he talked to the babies.

  So intent was he on watching Edra, he only realized he had an adult dragon breathing down his neck when it exhaled. Rotting meat wafted over him. He didn’t move, and he forced himself to swallow instead of throwing up.

  The dragon nudged him forward, and he obeyed because resisting something the size of a bus that had already threatened to cook him and eat him wasn’t a smart move. The dragon nudged again, and he was up against the nest.

  “I don’t think this is a good idea.” But Edra was in there, and he was still alive.

  A claw hooked around his waist. He winced. This was not how he’d planned to die. Edra would be devastated. The dragon lifted him until he was able to sit on the edge of the nest and then released him. He exhaled. The dragon huffed, and he was sure she was laughing.

  In the nest, Edra, still in his dragon form, played with the hatchlings the same way anyone would play with dogs. Well, not quite. Most humans wouldn’t headbutt their dogs back or lick them. For a man who didn’t want to stick his tongue in mouths when kissing, he was certainly careless with what he licked as a dragon.

  The dragons opened their tiny wings and tried to jump like Edra, but it was clear they wouldn’t be flying for a while. They hopped about, barely getting their feet off the ground. Watching Edra play made his heart swell. His eyes burned, threatening to ruin his eyeliner. It was not affecting him; he was allergic to dragons or something. Then he sniffed, and when Edra glanced up, a tiny dragon knocked him over and licked him. The others joined in. Edra was not getting into his bed without a shower. That was gross.

  Edra shivered, and then he was stretching and twisting. The babies backed away as though not sure what was happening. But Jordan knew, and his smile faded as Edra stood in human form.

  The babies circled him, nostrils working as they tried to figure out what had happened. If Edra got into trouble, he couldn’t fly out. He stood perfectly still, one hand out, fingers together, so the babies could approach and sniff him. The other hand sensibly covered his junk. Edra was still smiling as though untroubled. That would be like Jordan standing in a lion’s den, playing with the cubs. But he couldn’t speak lion, nor was he a part-time lion. Maybe it wasn’t the same at all. He just had no reference for what was happening. Was Edra introducing the babies to his two forms?

  They sniffed and seemed happy again, headbutting his legs much like Sinner did. Edra patted their heads but pulled his hand away from their snappy teeth. One of the babies yawned as though tired of the game.

  Edra said something in dragon, which was answered by the larger of the two adults. Then he climbed up the side of the nest. Jordan offered him a hand, keeping one eye on the babies to make sure they didn’t also try to climb out. If they could stick their heads over the edge, they could snap at him. Edra took his hand, but from the way he pulled himself up, lean muscles tensing under smooth skin, he didn’t appear to need it. He sat on the edge with Jordan, completely at ease in whatever skin he was wearing. The smaller adult dragon got into the nest, nuzzled at the babies, and tucked them under his wing.

  While Jordan was smiling, Edra was beaming. Even in the dusk, his eyes were bright and the happiness radiated off him as though they were his babies.

  Jordan nudged him. “Are you getting baby fever?”

  “What? No… not really. I guess at some point I will have to go to the rookery. There aren’t enough of us for me not to. But I never wanted to be a rookery parent. I wanted to be a knight.”

  “That’s what you were going to do, though, if….” He couldn’t say it.

  “Yes.” Edra kept his gaze on the dragons. “That doesn’t mean I don’t want to be here. These hatchlings will need to grow up around humans and learn how to survive. Their parents grew up in a place that valued and respected dragons. They defended their city and received tributes.” He glanced at Jordan. “You do realize that my hatchlings, should I contribute to any, will be dragons for the first five years or so? This body i
s secondary.”

  Dragon first, man second. “But you’re like this most of the time.”

  “Here. Less than half the time before. But there are others who rarely shifted.” He put his hand on Jordan’s leg. “When I go, I’ll take you and you can see what I mean.”

  “So you never knew your parents?”

  “I know who they are, but they’re just names on a family tree. I wouldn’t know them to greet them even if they were still alive. We lay our eggs and leave the raising to the experts, which I can tell from your face sounds really odd to you.”

  Jordan tried to erase the confusion and wasn’t sure he was successful. “You’d have made a good rookery parent. I saw you playing with them.” He touched Edra’s chest. “But you’re kind of covered in dragon spit.”

  “Trust-building, get-to-know-you spit.”

  “You gave them a good licking.”

  “Jealous?”

  “No… just you were very particular about kissing.”

  Edra leaned in and licked the side of Jordan’s face.

  “Ugh.” He drew away.

  “Humans don’t like nonsexual licking.”

  Jordan opened his mouth to argue but didn’t have a comeback. “You can lick me later… after you’ve had a shower.”

  Edra smiled. “Maybe next time you can come into the nest.”

  “I’m not licking them.” He was used to petting dogs, but he’d never licked one of them either.

  “Just let them lick you, learn that you’re safe. They won’t be able to fly for a few months. When they can, we’ll have to relocate them.”

  “I don’t know.” He didn’t want to get bitten, and he doubted they knew how to sit and stay or would appreciate being taught.

  Edra said something to the dragons, and the female huffed and then swung her head in his direction. Jordan leaned back and nearly fell in the nest, but Edra kept a firm hand on his thigh. He was stronger than he looked. Jordan had to remember that.

  “You’re the only one who can talk to them. They don’t understand any commands. If you hadn’t been there for the mermaid arrest…. It’s not safe for them.”

  Edra frowned and glanced at the babies and then the parents. “What would you teach them?”

  “I don’t know. Do I need to learn a few words? Is that even possible? What did she just say?”

  The corner of his lips turned up. “That you’d be tasty, but it was a joke because of the way her wings were angled. I have to be careful how I speak in this form because I don’t have the nonverbal cues that they look for.” He leaned against Jordan’s shoulder. “She approves of you, which makes life easier for me. She thinks you are amusing and has given you a name.”

  “A name?”

  “Limited vocabulary. Satyrs are dick and horns, mermaids are talking fish.”

  “Limited or literal?”

  Edra lifted one eyebrow and gave him that half smile. “She called you scaleless dragon, so you decide.”

  “What do they call other humans?”

  “Nothing complimentary. ‘Thin skin’ is fairly common.”

  The sky darkened as they sat on the edge of the nest, Edra’s head on his shoulder and his hand on Jordan’s thigh. Jordan put his arm around Edra and caressed the soft skin of his waist. He wanted to nip his belly and slide his lips lower. Later, when they went home, he would. Even though he wasn’t ready to tell his friends he was mated to a mytho, he’d made the right choice. Edra had a good heart and he’d entrusted it to him. Jordan had to live up to that because, when the truth did spill out—and it would eventually—all eyes would be on the cop and his mytho partner.

  More from TJ Nichols

  Mytho: Book One

  Police officer Jordan and dragon shifter Edra might have to work together, but they don’t trust each other—even if sparks do fly between them.

  If anyone finds out Jordan’s a mytho sympathizer, it could kill his career. No one can know that he frequents the satyr dens and uses the drug Bliss. A dead satyr might not get much attention, but two dead humans who appeared to overdose on Bliss? That shouldn’t even be possible.

  And it might not be an accident.

  Edra, Mythological Services Liaison, has been covering up mytho crimes to protect the community’s reputation. With a mayoral election looming, the last thing his people need is a scandal.

  To get a murderer off the streets, Jordan and Edra will be spending a lot of time together, and it won’t be easy to keep up with their deceptions… or to keep resisting each other.

  To save his soul, he’ll have to fix his one regret—the love that got away.

  The summer between the end of school and the start of what came next was full of sun, surf, and sex. For Will McLeod, that meant Tom, his first male lover. He knew the romance had an expiration date and would end when Tom joined the Army, but that didn’t stop Will from falling in love.

  Tired of being looked down upon for being poor, Will became a lawyer—but not just any lawyer. He litigates for the gods as they gamble with the lives of those desperate enough to make deals. His job is to make sure they don’t slip free. He has more money than he knows what to do with, but he’s fast running out of soul.

  Twenty-five years haven’t dimmed the candle Will holds for Tom, and when they meet again, he has a chance to put things right. Back then, Tom wasn’t ready to fight for them. Now the decorated soldier is willing to get his hands dirty, but will he be a match for the forces trying to keep them apart?

  Order of the Black Knights

  Olivier Merlo works for a dangerous man. He does what he’s told without asking questions because he needs to protect his sister and niece. When someone gives his boss trouble, Olivier does what he does best. It’s a routine hit—until the victim’s brother starts poking around.

  Cody Anders left his family behind a decade ago—along with their wealth and influence—to live on his own terms. Still, he knows his twin didn’t die of a drug overdose, and he’ll do anything to find the truth. What he uncovers is a conspiracy that will topple his family and leave him staring down the barrel of a gun.

  Olivier must decide if he’s going to obey orders or free himself from the curse that has guided his hand for centuries. Cody, who challenges Olivier’s notion that no one can love him, holds the key to breaking his chains. But when the truth finally comes out, it might be more than Cody can accept.

  Readers love Lust and Other Drugs by TJ Nichols

  “I am really excited about this series and found I couldn’t put this book down. I think Nichols has created something really fascinating here and I am very eager to continue on with the series.”

  —Joyfully Jay

  “You guys will be missing out if you don’t read this book. Highly recommend.”

  —Love Bytes

  “If you are a fan of the paranormal/ fantasy genres then Lust and Other Drugs is the novel for you. It is a fascinating first book in what I hope will become a collection of stories that features these two interesting men.”

  —Diverse Reader

  “At the core of this fantastic novel is some very creative worldbuilding with a reason why all kinds of mythological creatures have appeared in human reality with no way back.”

  —Rainbow Book Reviews

  TJ NICHOLS is the author of the Studies in Demonology and Mytho series. Having grown up reading thrillers and fantasy novels, it’s no surprise that mixing danger and magic comes so easily. Writing urban fantasy allows TJ to make sure that evil gets vanquished and the hero gets his man.

  With two cats acting as supervisors, TJ has gone from designing roads to building worlds and wouldn’t have it any other way. After traveling all over the world and Australia, TJ now lives in Perth, Western Australia.

  Website: tjnichols-author.com

  Twitter: @TobyJNichols

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/TJNichols.author

  Patreon: www.patreon.com/TJNichols

  By TJ Nichols

  Elf on the Beac
h

  The Legend of Gentleman John

  Lucifer’s Litigator

  Olivier

  Poison Marked

  The Vampire’s Dinner

  The Wolf’s Résistance

  MYTHO

  Lust and Other Drugs

  Greed and Other Dangers

  Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  Published by

  DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Greed and Other Dangers

  © 2019 TJ Nichols

  Cover Art

  © 2019 Tiferet Design

  http://www.tiferetdesign.com/

  Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

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