Page 19 of Dragons & Dumplings
“Nothing.” Mei’s cheeks reddened, as if attempting to compete with her hair.
“You can tell me.” I met her eyes, hoping to convey with them what I couldn’t with words.
Her expression softened, and she bit her lip. “I just… It always feels as if no matter what I do, my parents are always disappointed in me. So while they were away on their trip, I was hoping to prove to them that I can run this place on my own. That I can be more than just…a waitress.”
Her words struck far closer to home than I could have imagined. My heart of ice started to melt a little, going out to the kindred spirit who was meant to be my sworn enemy.
I caught her hand, and waited for those alluring golden eyes to return to mine. “You have always been more than your job description. Your job is not the reason you are able to touch so many lives, or to breathe warmth into the coldest hearts. I have seen the way you treat even your most difficult patrons with kindness—my former self included.” I chuckled drily, trying not to cringe at the memory of how I’d behaved towards Mei at first.
“I’ve had worse,” she said teasingly, with the smallest of smiles.
“What I mean to say is that I understand where you’re coming from. How the pressure your parent pust on you can be…stifling, to say the least. But I’ve found, from personal experience, that sometimes it becomes necessary to ask whether what your parents want for you is also what you want for yourself.” My heart ached as I spoke some of my most hard-won conclusions aloud.
Mei wasn’t the only one whose parent was overbearing.
As if conjured by the thought, I caught a flash of white hair from the corner of my eye. A quick glance out the diner’s windows revealed only a deserted street. My mind must be playing tricks on me.
“Idowant to run the diner. I love cooking, and I love spending time with all the people who come here,” Mei said slowly. “But I wish that I could do that without feeling their constant, disapproving gazes on my back.”
“And you believe that pulling off a flawless Harvest Feast will show them how competent and trustworthy you are?” No wonder she was so anxious to create the perfect recipe.
Mei nodded.
“Then how about we try a few more recipes tonight?” I hesitated for a moment before offering, “I actually have some ideas for a combo dish that dragons might enjoy—with or without the spice.”
The sweet look she gave me was worth the inevitable heat I knew was coming.
Chapter nine
Caves & Chemistry
Mei
“Whereexactlyisthiscave supposed to be?” I grumbled, stumbling over yet another root. Though we had started our hunt in the early morning, the sun was now high in the sky, and even the shaded forest floor had warmed up. Fortunately, Nalini had agreed to cover my morning shift today. “We’ve been looking for ages!”
“It would have been nice if the vampire had been a little more specific.” Yuri had insisted on wearing his pristine vest and jacket, but even he was starting to perspire.
“This would be so much easier if we could find it from the air.” I wiped my brow.
“We’d never spot it, not through all this thick foliage.” He glared at the colorful red and gold leaves around us that clung stubbornly to their branches, as if they had hung on with the sole purpose of inhibiting our search.
“Maybe we’re going about this the wrong way—we need to think like Glacius would have. Where would an ice dragon make his den?” I paused, bracing one hand against a tree.
“For starters, he would have wanted to put a fair amount of distance between himself and the vampire colony.” Yuri folded his arms over his chest, the motion pulling the fabric taut around his biceps.
“I’m guessing he would have headed due north or maybe west, right?” I tugged my gaze away from his arms and instead turned in that direction.
“Undoubtedly.” Yuri walked up beside me. “Are there any cliffs or swatches of barren hillside in this forest?”
I had to think about it for a moment. “There are a couple of places I know of that fit that description—I’ve seen them from the air. But I don’t remember seeing any caves.”
“Then let’s fly there—give our legs a break.” At my nod, Yuri unfurled his alabaster wings, crouched and launched above the treetops. He circled, waiting for me to join him.
I stretched out my ruby wings and joined him in the sky. The brisk breeze in my face was a welcome relief, and when Yuri’s wingtip brushed mine, a pleasant chill skittered over my skin. After taking a moment to get my bearings, I gestured to Yuri and began flying northwest.
After only a few minutes, I spotted a barren little hill, on which no trees or flowers grew. It was decently steep, and although it could have provided an easy landing site for a dragon, I had never touched down there. Something about the place unsettled me, and the pervasive sense of wrongness it emanated made my skin crawl.
Yuri studied it closely, but shook his head. “Something sinister happened here. No dragon would make a den in a place like this.”
