Page 83 of Guardian's Dilemma

Grumbling, because I was happy laying in bed with my mate, thank you very much, I got up and began to dress.

“Fine, we’ll go and find a phone. There’s got to be one in the village.”

I could tell that Glimmer was too impatient to walk over there, so I grabbed his clothes so I could carry them while I rode him. He gave me a strange look when he saw, one which I couldn’t interpret, but he smiled a bit so I assumed that, whatever it was, it was fine.

He landed in an alleyway and I slid off his shoulders so he could shift. I recognised this place. It was the same place I’d seen before. The same place that dragon had taken off from.

“Glimmer, do you know this place?”

He was yanking his clothes on and he spoke to me from inside his t-shirt.

“Yes, it’s the Honey Pot.”

“Why did you land here?”

“So nobody will see us from the street. They won’t see me while I’m in dragon form but they’ll see me as a human and I’ll probably stand out a bit walking around without any clothes on.”

“I mean why here exactly? There are shops all along here. You could have landed behind any of them.”

His head popped through the neck-hole of his t-shirt.

“Because I don’t know any of them. I don’t think they’ll help me.”

“So youdoknow thatcuraidh,” I said.

“Yes. She’s part of Seren’s new clan. I told you she wasn’tmyclan.”

“Does she live at the café?”

“She lives with Marcia in the village. Marcia owns the café. You’ll like her.” He grabbed my hand. He was pulling me through the back door to the café, barging in without hesitation. “She calls me ‘hon’ and gives me cake.”

Inside, he paused and I looked over his shoulder to see the same plump little man I’d seen before. The one I’d been sure knew something.

Reaching out with my senses, I looked for magic. Found none. He had no magic. But he was looking at me with horror, his face as white as his apron and chocolate sauce dripping from the wooden spoon in his hand.

“You’re dripping,” Glimmer said, nodding at the spoon.

A cat shot out of the open door, fur standing on end.

The man jolted and put the spoon back in the bowl he’d been mixing but he didn’t do anything else. His eyes were rivetted on me.

Not on the dragon. On me.

“Does he know what you are?” I asked Glimmer.

“Yes. He’s Marcia’s brother, Randall. They all know.”

I didn’t ask who they ‘all’ were because I didn’t think I’d be able to keep up with the family tree. So I focused on Randall.

“He’s not afraid of you?”

Glimmer peered round at me, his eyebrows rising up his forehead. “Why would he be afraid of me?”

“Because you’re a dragon.”

“Yes, but he already knows other dragons. He’s basically one of the Hoskins clan now. Ah, that’ll be it. You’re aridire.”

“And he’s a dragon-sympathiser.” I nodded. It made sense that, if he knew what I was and didn’t want me to hurt any dragons – at least not the ones he knew – then he’d be incredibly wary of me.

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