Page 7 of Dragons & Dumplings
“Not at all.” I gently took his hand, sucking in a quiet breath as that now-familiar jolt of frost and comfort sang through me. I felt him shiver, too.
Closing my eyes, I used my senses to locate the small hint of heat that still remained in his burned skin. A normal human would not have even registered it was there, but to a being of cold and ice, it must have been incredibly uncomfortable to have even a hint of the fire element in his body.
I coaxed the warmth from his hand into mine, welcoming it home. It settled into the flames that lived eternally in my magical core, so small that it didn’t raise my high internal temperature by even half a degree.
But Yuri exhaled in relief as I opened my eyes and released his hand. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.” I smiled, and saw the ghost of a smile tease the stoic dragon’s lips in response.
“You must have gotten plenty of practice doing that with your own burns when you were younger.” He smirked.
I stiffened, my smile fading. “Something like that, yeah.”
Memories of a raging, crackling fire I couldn’t control and the scent of ash flashed behind my eyes. I stood abruptly, shoving those memories back into the corner of my mind that I never touched. At least, not while I was awake.
Yuri’s brows pinched together, and he started to reach a hand out to me. “I didn’t mean—”
“I should go check on your inferno-less eggs benedict,” I mumbled.
But just as I turned to head back to the kitchen, a sharpslaprang out. I whirled towards the noise as the diner went deathly silent. What I saw brought my inner fire up to the surface, and had claws forming at my fingertips.
A girl who looked to be a few years younger than me stood staring at her boyfriend in shock. She slowly raised a trembling hand to her red cheek as he scowled at her, clearly furious.
“How dare you?!” he roared into the silence. “Howdareyou look at another man right in front of me!”
“I… I wasn’t looking.” The girl’s voice trembled nearly as much as her hands.
“Like hell you weren’t looking! I saw you sneak a look at that icy bastard!” He clenched his hands into fists.
The temperature around Yuri plummeted, so much so that I saw a thin sheen of ice creep across the floor. A few murmurs broke out as the girl shook her head vehemently in denial, green eyes wide. Her fear caused her to lose her grip on her magic, and her black tail and cat ears appeared.
She took a step back, looking around the diner for help. But most of the diners were older, and though they frowned in disapproval, none stood up to defend her. I caught a glance of Pyra’s and Nalini’s furious faces peering out from the kitchen, so with a sigh, I began to stalk forward. If I let those two handle this, the diner would either be burned to the ground, or that foolish man wouldn’t be leaving with all of his limbs intact.
Neither option was good for business.
“Sir, I am afraid I am going to have to ask you to leave.” I kept my tone calm and level as I approached the pair.
“Who would want to eat in this dump, anyways?” He lifted his lip as he raked his gaze over me, and my temper flared at the insult. “Come on, Kiki. We’re leaving.”
He grabbed the cat girl’s wrist and yanked. She stumbled after him, but when she turned to look at me, her slitted eyes were lined with tears, and she mouthed, “Help me.”
My hand shot out, and I grasped the man’s wrist in talon-tipped fingers. My thin control was slipping, but I tried not to burn him. “Kiki stays.”
“Excuse me?!” He stopped abruptly, his eyebrows inching towards his hairline.
“You heard me.” I tilted my chin up, refusing to back down from the challenge in his stare. I increased the pressure on his wrist until the bone creaked, and he finally released his hold on Kiki with a curse.
The man rubbed his wrist vigorously as he glared daggers at me. “Fine, have it your way, you little brute.”
He turned to leave, so I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down, even though what I really wanted to do was breathe a fireball at his back, and focused my attention on Kiki.
“Are you alright?” I asked her gently, scanning her for any injuries besides her cheek, which had started to swell.
She nodded mutely. I glanced up over her shoulder to see Pyra and Nalini give me a nod and a thumbs-up. I sighed in relief, glad to have avertedthatdisaster. After all, while my parents were away, it was up to me to take care of the diner—and each one of its patrons.
“Good. Now, why don’t you take a seat at one of our cozy corner tables, and I’ll get you something warm to—”
Kiki’s eyes widened at the same moment I realized I had yet to hear the bell over the door chime. Which could only mean…
