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I headed for my desk, sat down, and made a note about the seals of power. “Are they literal seals?”
“Once upon a time, there were physical seals. Nowadays, no. There has been so much draconic power imbued within the very land there’s no need for a physical seal. The seals will react with your genetics, so if you do decide to go investigate, you should be prepared. I would start with the colors you know are active. Purple would be your wisest first place to visit, as you grew into that power fairly early. It’s least likely to waken additional abilities, too. The first color rarely does. It’s when you visit other seals you’ll possibly run into issues.”
“I can open any jar to cross my path,” I announced with pride.
My father snickered. “One of the more useful abilities from your tin kin. That one will develop more, I’m sure. That’s usually an opening volley rather than the final power. If you do want to pursue more of the healing arts, save purple for the second or third shrine. Cyan might be a wise first color; you’ve already ensnared Erik as much as you need, and you don’t want to be luring off every man on the planet when you’ve already secured the one you want. That shrine is also popular as a tourism spot, as humans tend to feel the cyan dragon shrine can bless romantic endeavors.”
“I thought that was yellow.”
“Well, if you want productive romance, then yellow is what you want. In your case, you’ll likely develop a green thumb and an enhanced desire to help things grow. Be wary of yellow dragons. They fixate, and if they start sniffing at your turf, they won’t quit. And they’re idiots.”
I laughed at the complaint in my father’s voice. “How are yellow dragons idiots?”
“They point themselves in one direction and get stubborn about it. You know all that stubbornness that sent you barreling out of Miami? That would be a ‘gift’ from your yellow ancestors. It really depends on what your goals are for going to the shrine. That much exposure to draconic magic will start the process of you transitioning from dragon-kin to dragon. With your heritage, it’s inevitable. That’s part of why we decided to live in Miami when your mother was pregnant with you. We wanted you to choose to become a dragon. The instant you step foot at the shrines, the process will begin. You won’t have any problems with the shrines. You’ll have more problems with learning to cope with the powers you’ll waken when you go visit the shrines.” My father made a thoughtful sound. “If you were to go to the shrines, I would recommend that you start with cyan first, as I mentioned. I would then go to the orange shrine—you do not need to add any extra strength to such powers. Your mother and I contribute plenty on the orange side of things, so going to orange early in the process would be wise. Copper would be a good third color to visit. You love art, but you do not need to love art to excess.”
I noted the order, appreciating he understood some powers were best left weak and undeveloped. “And after copper?”
“Purple. You’re plenty developed in your purple heritage, so there’s no real need to traumatize yourself further.”
I could live with his comment, and I made a note. “Which color do you think I should pursue? Won’t I become the color of the first shrine I visit?”
“No. That might be how it works for most humans or dragon-kin, but your spirit will determine your color. I honestly don’t know which color you’ll become. That’s part of the joy of discovery. I can say this much, however. If you want to find out who is killing pilgrims, you’ll need to fight fire with fire—and someone with a great deal of magic at their disposal is surely behind these crimes.”
“Why do you think that?”
“I’ve been looking into the situation, and I have a good lead for you,” he announced.
A lead sounded good. A lead excited me. A lead might let me do the job I missed and yearned to return to. “What lead? If you’re pulling my chain, Dad, I might come visit Miami to teach you some manners!”
According to his laughter, he thought the idea of me trying to teach him manners to be funny. I scowled.
He kept on laughing.
“I might,” I complained.
“I’m not yanking your chain about the potential lead. When you mentioned it, I thought it might be wise to look into the situation. I have contacts you don’t, and I decided to make use of them. I feel you should be safe enough going to the shrines. While women are being attacked, they aren’t being murdered. All the murder victims are men—and they’re men of disreputable tendencies.”
Disreputable tendencies? “What does that even mean?”
“If they approached you, my most beautiful daughter, I would tear their limbs from their bodies and feed their remains to tigers.”
Something about the situation must have tripped my father’s trigger. “All right. So, I should dress up so I’m clearly a pretty young lady doing the tourism thing.”
“Yes. You need a proper camera for the tourism angle.”
Knowing my father’s taste in cameras, he expected me to spend several thousand on a body and lenses suitable for tourism. “I can’t afford that, Dad. I am not registered in Dragon Heights.”
He made a triumphant huffing sound. “So you are still in Dragon Heights.”
Damn it. “Dad, stop it.”
“No. You need a camera if you want to play the ruse. I have imposed upon your future mother-in-law, and she has used my money to pay for your camera. I knew you’d need it, so it will be delivered tomorrow morning. Expect a courier.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You found out where I live.”
“I might have done that.”
“You scaled piece of shit bastard!”