Page 27 of New Nebraska Home

“No, it’s okay, angel, stay and see what all the fuss is about.” He gave her a heated look and I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to push him for it or not.

I’d determine that based on what came next.

“You can come closer too,” he called to Brock who was lingering in the hall behind us. Then he started his shift.

Watching any shifter move into their animal form was always a little discombobulating. Even as someone who had known shifters were real their entire life, watching the shift was strange, and it felt like reality was warping reality around you. It also felt like an invasion, like you were watching something not meant for your eyes.

It started with his skin shifting from its sun-tanned bronze, turning darker and then scaly.

For a moment, I was worried that he was a basilisk that would change into a giant poisonous snake. If that were the case, I would need to grab Liz and Brock and get them as far away as possible. Basilisks were never to be trusted. They had the unique ability of getting into your brain and breaking it. They could change your perception of the world; they could change your entire identity on a whim.

Even if all basilisks weren’t evil, that was far too much power for anyone to have. Thank goodness they were rare.

His eyes changed to a bright golden color, and his irises elongated at the top and bottom into slits. My hands immediately went to Liz’s hips, ready to grab her and run, when he went down to all fours and wings formed on his back.

Basilisks didn’t have wings.

It only took a few minutes, but when he was in his entirely shifted form, I was speechless.

He was a dragon. An actual fresh-from-mythology dragon.

“What in the fire lizard fuck,” Brock said, as this dragon about the size of a great dane stared us down. Half the size as before, but all the arrogance.

“He’s so beautiful,” Liz said on a breath.

I was pretty sure Malik heard her because his front two legs started going up and down, reminding me of a cat kneading a pillow. Then his body shrank. He went from the size of a large dog down to the size of a house cat. To the best of my knowledge, there wasn’t a single shifter or even a myth of a shifter that mentioned being able to alter their size at will. I had to admit that was a nifty little trick.

“Oh my god,” Brock said, pushing past me into the room. “He is pretty cute.”

Brock leaned down to pick him up and got a tiny little fire ball about the size of a ping-pong ball spat at him. He jumped back, but Malik kept spitting balls just for Brock to have to dodge them and put out the fire.

“Would you boys please stop trying to light my house on fire,” Liz said, like a disappointed mother, putting her hands on her hips.

Both Brock and Malik looked thoroughly chastised, and Brock muttered something under his breath and Malik put his little scaly head down like he was sorry.

Liz took a step closer to him, reaching out her hand as if to pet him. I wanted to grab her hand and pull her away, not knowing if dragons were dangerous, if they had any abilities like basilisks or other things that I had to worry about.

Malik didn’t just let her pet the top of his head. He crawled up her arm, making her giggle, and then wrapped his long thin tail around her neck as he rested on her shoulders.

I needed to make some calls; I needed to do some research and find out who else knew about this, and what there was to know.

“I’m going to go check the woods to make sure there’s no one else lurking out there. Can you stay with them and make sure he doesn’t start any more fires or, I don’t know, eat someone he shouldn’t?” I asked Brock.

Liz was too busy running her fingers over Malik’s head to hear me, but Malik let out a huff that sent a tendril of smoke up.

“Yeah, I got it,” Brock said, leading Liz back out to the living room where they could sit comfortably. “You go use those crazy bat ears for some good.”

I ran outside, straight out of the back door into the forest. I could still smell the kid, with his sandalwood shavings and fresh piss down his leg. The trail was faint enough to tell me he had run through these woods the moment we let him go, but he was long gone. In fact, I shouldn’t have been able to smell that, not so clearly and distinctly to pull out the individual scents.

Using my vampire speed while I was so hungry was a rookie mistake, and I was no rookie vampire. My master vamp heritage made me far stronger and far more dangerous when I was hungry, but I didn’t feel it. I didn’t feel the need to drink, so I just didn’t.

To be sure there was no one left in the woods, no threats to Liz, Leif or Brock, I ran a quick perimeter around the area, first following the path the little assailant took. It led about a mile out where it was clear he’d been picked up by some friends in a truck or car. I could still smell the exhaust, but they were gone. There wasn’t another soul anywhere near Liz’s property. Even the neighbors were out.

Once I was satisfied that she would remain safe, I grabbed my phone to make a couple of calls.

I hated reaching out to my former coven. When Pandora and I had split, I knew we needed physical space, and she got the coven; her nephew would be its leader when he was old enough. I tried not to call or ask favors from anyone in the coven, knowing she would hear about it, and I did not want to further rub our separation in her face. She didn’t deserve that. I didn’t hate her. I didn’t even dislike her, I just didn’t love her the way she needed me to love her, and she felt the same. But just because it wasn’t true love, didn’t mean that the end of a friendship didn’t sting.

“Hello?” Miles, my former coven mate, well-connected ambassador with other covens, and long-time friend, answered.

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