Page 30 of Taught By the Dragon

That’s what you said about Edith.

Well, I won’t do that again.

His beast sniffed.We’ll see.

He didn’t like his dragon’s words. But Percy walked toward him, book against her chest, and he focused solely on her.

He sat down at the table, in his usual awkward way, and then gestured to a chair farthest away from him, as well as to the sofa on the other side of the room. “Sit wherever you feel most comfortable.”

She hesitated but then sat at the table, across from him.

And the fact she hadn’t opted for the sofa sent a rush of approval through him.

Although as she handed him the book, he realized something. “Do you even like being called Percy? If you want me to use something else, just let me know.”

She shrugged. “Percy is all I know. And since my dragon liked the name, I want to keep it. That might help her recognize me.”

It was unusual for a dragon half to comment on the human half’s name, but considering what Percy had endured, nothing should surprise him. “Right, then, Percy, let’s start with the first chapter. We’ll read it together, and as we go, write down the words you don’t know. It’ll probably be overwhelming at first, but it’ll better help me understand what to do next. Does that sound okay?”

She bobbed her head. “Just don’t make fun of my handwriting.”

“Considering mine looks like chicken scratch, I’m not one to judge.” She eyed him skeptically, so he opened the notebook on the table and wrote out, “My name is Bronx Wells, and I hate writing by hand.”

He turned it toward her, and she scrunched up her nose. “What the hell does that even say?”

Laughing, he told her, and she added, “I can do better than that.”

He wanted to praise her but held back. For all he knew, praise had been a manipulation tactic. “Right, then time to stop messing about and get to work. Tell me to stop when you need to write down a word, and don’t dare hold back, okay?”

She bobbed her head. He read the first chapter, stopping whenever Percy needed to jot down something on her list, which was often. He noticed how she relaxed more and more the longer she heard his voice. Add in how she kept making quips about unnecessary words—“Why not just saybad behaviorinstead ofdisorderly conduct?”—and he grew hopeful.

Not too much, though, as it was early days. Although when he explained a lengthy word, saying some people needed to feel important and act as if they were smarter than everyone else, Percy smiled, and both man and beast nearly hummed.

Yes, he needed to give her dragon-shifter and reading lessons. But he was also determined to make her laugh, learn to trust, and understand not everyone in the world was as fucking selfish and cold-hearted as her former captors.

All of which his dragon wholeheartedly approved of, maybe with a little too much enthusiasm.

ChapterThirteen

At the end of her lessons, Percy was completely exhausted and took a nap before Violet came to get her.

Making dinner was, well, nice. Bronx hovered, always at a respectable distance, and kept a notebook ready for when she found another word she didn’t know.

She’d half-expected Violet to make fun of her, but the young dragonwoman barely batted an eyelash. No, the female was extremely determined to make the best curry of all time, albeit not too spicy for Percy, and took it all rather seriously—to the point that when she added a wrong spice, she wanted to throw out the whole batch and start again.

Luckily, Bronx convinced Violet it would be fine because they could salvage it. And so they finished making it, and everyone sat in front of the TV, food in hand.

Violet was next to Percy on the couch. She turned to her and asked, “Aren’t you going to try it? The show will start soon, and it’s going to take some work to get you up to speed on all the characters and relationships. And I want to see your reaction when you taste the curry. There’s no potatoes in it, so you can’t use that excuse.”

Percy brought the dish closer and inhaled. She replied, “I’m just memorizing the smell, is all. I’ve never eaten anything like it.”

Violet ate a big spoonful of her curry and rice, and once she swallowed, she nodded. “It turned out okay after all. Although next time, I can do better.”

At the determination in Violet’s tone, she smiled. When Violet wanted to do something, little could stop her, or so Percy was discovering.

Bronx stopped eating long enough to say, “Told you so.”

Violet stuck out her tongue. “You’re my dad. Aren’t you supposed to be all supportive and uplifting?”

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