by Zoe Chant
“Real shifters?” Virginia flinched back a little. “Not just descended from them, like Dai?”
*What in the name of sweet green apples did you tell her?* Chase mentally demanded of Dai. *If I’d known you were lying to get laid, I would not have helped you out.* For once, he actually sounded completely serious.
*Kin-cousin, this is both unwise and dishonorable.* John’s sonorous psychic voice undercut Chase’s. His face was set in a mask of disapproval. *I cannot take part in your deception.*
The overlapping telepathic communication made Dai’s head hurt. “I was going to tell her, when I found the right moment,” he said, having trouble keeping all the conversations straight. He gestured at John, hoping to forestall any more awkward questions. “John here is another dragon shifter, but a different type of dragon. He’s a sea dragon.”
“Oh,” said Virginia, her usual boldness subdued. She looked John up and down, or rather up and further up. “Um. Majestic and noble, huh?”
A small smile cracked John’s stern face. “We like to think so,” he said. He tilted his head, the gold hoops that ran up the edge of his left ear glinting. “Although, from my perspective, I am actually a human shifter. My people live in the depths of the oceans. We are born as dragons, and we die as dragons. Very few of us ever walk the land.”
As Dai had hoped, Virginia’s curiosity overcame her apprehension. She leaned forward eagerly, her brown eyes alight with professional interest. “You have your own culture? Entirely separate from any human culture? How—”
“I’m sure John would love to tell you all about his people, but it’ll have to wait for another time,” Dai said. Inwardly, a glimmer of hope grew to a flicker. If she was warming to dragons, maybe she wouldn’t hate him when he revealed he was one. “In any case, you see now that dragons aren’t all bad? Despite Bertram?”
“Hm.” Virginia didn’t sound convinced. “Sea dragons, maybe.” She looked around the table again. “Somehow I’m guessing that you aren’t all sea dragons.”
“No,” said Griff, smiling. “My mother is an eagle shifter.” Virginia opened her mouth, but Griff was already moving smoothly on, leaving no opportunity for questions. “Commander Ash is the phoenix. And Chase is—”
“Ooh, ooh, let me,” Chase said, bouncing from his seat. He struck a dramatic pose, as if about to recite a Shakespearean soliloquy. “After all, how can mere words convey my full glory?”
“Not in here, Chase!” Dai yelled...but it was already too late.
The room had been crowded enough before. Adding a stallion did not improve matters.
John grabbed for the table, stopping it from overturning, while Hugh and Griff squashed themselves flat against the wall. Dai encircled Virginia in his arms, trying to keep her away from Chase’s hooves.
“My God,” Virginia breathed. She reached out to stroke Chase’s gleaming blue-black neck. He flirted his head, ears pricked, clearly delighted with himself. “You’re a horse.”
Chase gave an indignant snort. Virginia’s jaw dropped open as he spread his wings.
“Enough!” Dai slapped Chase on the withers. “She gets the point, you’re a pretty, pretty pony. Now shift back before you destroy the place.”
The air shimmered, and the room abruptly seemed a lot bigger. Chase straightened his suit jacket, an unrepentant grin on his face. He winked at Virginia as he sat down again.
Virginia sank back into her own chair as if her knees had given way. “And...you’re a phoenix?” she said to Ash, her voice wavering a bit.
“The phoenix,” Ash corrected, his tone mild. “Forgive me if I do not demonstrate.”
“Uh, right. Of course.” Shaking her head as if still in disbelief about what she’d just seen, Virginia turned to Hugh. “And you are...?”
“Private,” Hugh said flatly.
Dai cleared his throat, breaking the awkward pause. “Anyway, everyone here has special talents. Between us, I’m certain we can deal with Bertram.”
He quickly outlined the events of the last day—well, most of the events—to the rest of the crew, filling them in on the details of Bertram’s threat. “So you see, the first thing we have to do is protect the site, so that Bertram can’t destroy it,” he finished. He turned to John. “How are the clouds feeling today?”
“Clouds?” Virginia said.
“I have a kinship with water in all its forms,” John said to her. He held out a hand, humming a short phrase under his breath. Virginia gasped, jerking her fingers back as a pint of beer ran up the side of its glass and snaked across the table to curl up like a kitten in the sea dragon’s palm.
Griff looked mournfully into his now-empty glass. “I was drinking that.”
“My apologies, oath-brother.” John flicked his fingers, arcing the liquid sphere neatly back into Griff’s glass. He looked back at Dai. “In answer to your question, kin-cousin, when I sing the sky your tale, not a single droplet shall fail to grow fat with rage.”
“You can control the weather?” Virginia said, sounding awestruck.
“No. I merely talk to it.” John shrugged one massive shoulder. “But clouds are just water stricken with wanderlust, and are often pleased to hear a voice from home.” His teeth gleamed in a feral grin. “You may expect it to become very, very wet indeed.”
“Which should stop Bertram’s builders, at least for today,” Dai said. He looked at Virginia. “You said that you could report the find tomorrow?”
She nodded. “As soon as my colleagues in London are back at work. A find of this magnitude needs to go straight to the top, to the Head of the Portable Antiquities Scheme at the British Museum. I’ve met him before, so he should take me seriously. He’ll have the authority to shut down Bertram’s building works.”
“Why wait until tomorrow?” Chase asked. “Why not send him a message now?”
“I don’t know him that well,” Virginia said. “It’s not like I have his private phone number or anything.”
Chase grinned lazily. “I wasn’t thinking of a phone call. More like a personal courier.” He cocked an eyebrow at Commander Ash. “If you can spare me?”
“You’re not on call until Tuesday, anyway,” Ash replied. “Can you find him?”
“I can find anyone,” Chase said, with complete confidence. He inclined his head at Virginia. “If the lovely lady would care to write a note, I will personally put it in the hands of the Chief-Digger-Upper by dinnertime.”
A corner of Virginia’s mouth curved upward. “Okay, now I know what to put as my title on my next business card. Virginia Jones, Digger-Upper.”
She took a notepad and pen out of her jacket pocket and started scribbling away, still looking amused. For once, Dai was grateful for Chase’s clowning, if it could put a smile on Virginia’s face.
“Griff,” he said, turning to the dispatcher. “Can you talk to some of your contacts, see if anyone knows anything useful about the dragon shifter? I’d really like to keep track of where he is and what he’s doing.”
Griff nodded. “I know some shifters in the police. If I drop a few hints that he was involved in the fire last night, we might even be able to get him brought in. What was the name again?”
“Bertram Russell,” Virginia supplied, tearing off her note and handing it to Chase. “But be careful. His family’s rich enough to buy him out of trouble, and powerful enough to cause trouble. They own Russell Development Group, you see.”
Chase whistled. “RDG? That isn’t small potatoes. No wonder he trumped your hoard, Dai.”
“Thanks for bringing that up,” Dai muttered, as his inner dragon snarled at the memory. “But it does bring me to the final part of my plan.” He took a deep breath, his dragon’s shame at having been forced to submit amplifying his own shame at having to ask for this sort of help.
“Commander,” Dai said, not quite able to meet Ash’s eyes. “This isn’t like our usual rogue dragons, the ones I can freely fight. He challenged me in accordance with dragon custom. And...” Hi
s throat clenched on the words, but he forced them out. “He won.”
“It wasn’t a fair fight,” Virginia said, and some small part of Dai’s anguish was eased by her defense of him. She folded her arms over her chest, scowling. “His family just bought him a lot of trinkets, and he flat-out stole the rest from archaeological sites. It shouldn’t give him any power over you, Dai.”
“Unfortunately, by dragon law, it does,” Ash said quietly. He considered Dai in silence for a moment, his expression unreadable. “You know that my freedom to intervene is tightly constrained.”
“Bertram attacked a mundane and committed arson in the process,” Dai said. “Doesn’t that put him into your domain?”
Ash steepled his fingers. “In the heat of the moment, yes,” he said. Dai couldn’t tell whether the pun was deliberate. He’d never quite been able to decide whether or not the Commander had a sense of humor. “But the event has passed, and there does not appear to be immediate threat. I cannot trespass into the jurisdiction of the dragons.”
Virginia was looking from Dai to Ash, trying to follow what was going on. “So you can’t do anything about Bertram?”
Ash shook his head slowly. “Not while he keeps the peace. If he physically attacks you again, however, it will be a different matter. Let us hope it does not come to that.” He looked at Dai. “But it if does, I shall be there.”
“We all will,” rumbled John, to general murmurs of assent.
“Is there anything in particular you need of me?” Hugh asked Dai.
Dai shook his head. “Not at the moment.”
“Wait, yes there is!” Virginia interrupted, sitting up straighter. She poked Dai in the arm, glowering at him. “Or have you forgotten the enormous hole in your shoulder?”
“It’s nothing,” Dai said hastily, as Commander Ash raised an eyebrow in his direction. “She’s exaggerating. I’m fine, honestly.”
Hugh sighed. “One day,” he said, addressing the ceiling, “one, just one of my colleagues might finally grasp the subtle distinction between stoicism and stupidity.” He rose gracefully from his chair, taking a sealed packet out of his inside jacket pocket. Ripping it open, he extracted a pair of surgical gloves, pulling them onto his hands. “Let me see it, then.”
Dai pulled his T-shirt over his head, and was more than a little pleased by Virginia’s soft, involuntary intake of breath. He turned his back on Hugh so that the paramedic could peel back the bandages.
“Mm,” Hugh said. Dai winced as the paramedic’s gloved fingers lightly probed the wound. “For your future reference, Dai, ‘fine’ is an appropriate descriptor when one does not have a severe puncture in the supraspinatus muscle.” There was a rustle as Hugh pulled off one of his gloves. “Now hold still.”
Dai felt the paramedic’s palm brush his skin—but only for the briefest moment. Hugh snatched his hand back with a bitten-off curse.
“Something wrong?” Dai asked, twisting round in concern. Hugh had shown discomfort when healing him before, but never as vehemently.
“Just caught by surprise,” Hugh said through gritted teeth. He was gripping his wrist as if he’d put his hand down on a hot stove. His pained gaze flicked briefly to Virginia. “Though I should have guessed.” Clenching his jaw, he placed his palm back over Dai’s wound. “Now hold still.”
A familiar warmth spread through Dai’s muscles as Hugh did...whatever it was he did. Despite their years working together, Dai still had no idea how Hugh’s talent worked, or even what type of shifter he was. Still, however mysterious it was, it was certainly effective. In less than a minute, the dull, painful throb of the fresh wound had faded to nothing more than a slight twinge.
“That will have to do,” Hugh said, sounding dissatisfied. He stepped back, taking out a small packet of disinfectant wipes and starting to clean his hands. “Please try not to injure yourself more seriously, for my sake.”
Virginia touched Dai’s shoulder herself, sending a very different sort of warmth spreading through his body. “It’s almost completely healed.” She turned to Hugh, her eyes wide with wonder. “What are—”
“Gentlemen, you have your tasks,” Ash interrupted, rising. Chairs scraped as the rest of the team reflexively stood up as well, Dai included. “Let us all be about them.” His penetrating eyes rested on Dai for a moment longer than was comfortable. “And Daifydd, see that you do not neglect yours.” With a small nod to Virginia, he left.
“What did he mean by that?” Virginia asked Dai, as the others filed out after Ash.
Guilt coiled in Dai’s gut. He knew exactly what Ash had meant. But Virginia was looking so happy, at last reassured that everything would be well...he couldn’t bear to snuff out the light in her face so soon.
“My job is to look after you,” he said, hating himself for yet another half-truth. “We still have to get through today. I’m not leaving your side.”
“Well.” Virginia’s gaze dropped to his bare torso, and her soft lips curled in a wicked smile. “I’m sure we’ll think of something to do.”
Chapter 11
When I said we’d have to find something to do, Virginia thought, sea-smoothed pebbles shifting under her feet as she trudged after Dai, I didn’t exactly mean a trip to the seaside.
At any other time, Virginia would have enjoyed the walk along the promenade. She hadn’t spent much time in the city itself over the past few weeks, being far too busy hiking the nearby countryside looking for Brithelm’s burial site. The sea front was well worth a visit, with the faded grandeur of the old Victorian buildings making a stately backdrop to the cheerfully kitsch stalls and fairground rides that lined the pebbled beach. And, unfortunately, Dai seemed hell-bent on a long, leisurely stroll.
If someone had told me a few days ago that I was going to be given a personal tour of Brighton’s top tourist attractions by an incredibly attractive man, I wouldn’t have believed them.
Virginia sighed. She watched the play of muscles in Dai’s upper arm as he gestured at the pier, only half-listening to his lecture about its history. The breeze blowing in from the grey-green sea rippled the fabric of his T-shirt, flattening it against the hard planes of his chest.
And if they’d told me that I wouldn’t be having a good time, I would have laughed in their face.
The problem was, Dai didn’t seem to be enjoying himself either. His stride was just a little too quick, constantly hurrying her along, while his continual monologue never gave her a chance to get a word in edgewise. Virginia had a sinking feeling that Dai was taking her on this walk not because he wanted to share his city with her...but because he didn’t want to be alone in private together.
After Dai’s fire crew had offered their help in thwarting Bertram, Virginia had felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She’d even dared to start thinking beyond the next few days. In the cozy pub, with Dai at her side, she’d felt so at home that she’d had a brief, crazy, shining daydream that maybe this could be the start of something more.
If they stopped Bertram from destroying the site and she got funding for a proper dig, she could be based in Brighton for months to come. Years, even, if the site was as significant as she suspected. She and Dai could get to know each other properly. And if she played her cards right, she might be able to use the academic renown from this find to get her dream job at the British Museum. And if she did that...maybe she and Dai could have a future together.
Sure, there were a lot of ifs there, but for a moment it had all seemed so possible. And then she’d tried to take Dai’s hand, and he’d jumped for the door as fast as if she’d tried to taser him. Since then, Virginia had tried a couple of times to casually touch his arm, but he’d always evaded her, not-quite-casually moving away in order to point out an interesting building, charming view, or (in one case) a passing seagull. For whatever reason, he very definitely wanted to keep his distance.
Virginia forced herself to look away from Dai’s strong profile. There was no point tormenting her
self with memories of running her hands through that red-gold hair, or the feel of those lips on hers.
Last night didn’t necessarily mean anything. We were both high on adrenaline and stress hormones. It was just post-traumatic comfort-sex, that’s all.
She stared down at the beach, scuffing the sea-worn pebbles with the toe of her boot.
I bet it happens to him all the time. He must rescue a lot of women, from both fires and dragons. No doubt loads of them get overly attached to him. He’s a good guy, he must always try to shake them off without hurting their feelings too much.
Well, she wasn’t going to cling to him like some stupid damsel in distress, weeping and begging him to love her. She had her pride. Virginia straightened her back, ruthlessly crushing down her disappointment.
I’m about to announce the biggest find since the Sutton Hoo treasure hoard. I don’t have time to moon after some firefighter-slash-dragon-hunter, no matter how hot he is. Or sweet, or brave, or kind, or...
A rumble of thunder broke her rather unhelpful train of thought. The sky was darkening with ominous black clouds, rolling in from the sea so quickly that it looked like a cheap special effect.
“Huh,” said Virginia, interrupting Dai’s monologue about coastal erosion. She shielded her eyes as the wind picked up. All along the beach, people were hurriedly folding deckchairs and packing up picnics. “That storm sure is coming in fast.”
“Ah,” said Dai, looking up. “John.” He seized her hand, and all of Virginia’s determination not to let herself fall for him went up in smoke at the heat of his touch. “Run!”
“Why—” Virginia started—and then the rain came.
It was as if someone had scooped up half the sea in a bucket and tipped it out over the city. The raindrops came down so hard and fast they stung like hail. She staggered under the impact, pebbles shifting and rattling under her feet.
Without even a grunt of effort, Dai scooped her up in his arms, hunching over her in a futile attempt to protect her from the downpour. Virginia clung to his neck as Dai sprinted up the beach toward the promenade. The steps up to the top were thronged with people trying to get off the beach; rather than try to force his way through, Dai found shelter at the base of the wall, under one of the high vaulted brick arches.