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“Maybe you can lock her in the building while I escape with Tourmaline and Garnet. Then you can take her and release her somewhere safe. I think the last thing I need is a wild hummingbird living on my street. There aren’t a lot of flowers for her, and she won’t be a happy bird.” I stared at Cedrick, hoping that the dragon-kin understood he would help me or I’d be forced to take measures.
He laughed at me. “Easily done. Flee while you can, Kinsley. I’ll make sure this little girl finds a good home, even if she has to be spoiled rotten in my father’s menagerie.”
I liked the thought of the little girl being spoiled rotten. “Can we do that anyway? It’s a gift that keeps on giving, and if she’s spoiled rotten, she’s not wanting for anything, is she? Surely, you’ll get other birds like her from this rain.”
“That would be suitable for her. The menagerie would have everything she needs,” the purple dragon rumbled. “That would be a good way to safeguard her health. She would always have clean nectar.”
“Then that issue is resolved. She will go home with me, and I will tell my father we must make space for my new pet bird.”
I appreciated I wasn’t the only sucker in Dragon Heights. “I’ll even bring Tourmaline over from time to time so they can have a play date.”
“If we end up rolling in baby hummingbirds, I’m fully blaming you for this.”
“I can live with that.”
* * *
Sunday, April 26, 2167
The Gray Ward
Dragon Heights, Wyoming
A tall, dark, and handsome man reminiscent of Erik but with green eyes instead of brown loitered on my doorstep. His jawline had a sharper edge than my ex-fiancé’s, and as I drew closer, I eyeballed him as being an inch or two taller. Garnet changed from her wisp form and took over my shoulder, growling at our visitor.
According to his apparel, he was a cop.
Judging from Cecilia’s commentary, her favored yellow had come calling.
Making good use of my new understanding of the situation, courtesy of my parents, Erik had family in Dragon Heights.
I went up the steps, dug out my keys, and said, “You will pretend you know nothing of Erik, anything outside of Dragon Heights, and that as far as you know, I popped out of the ground fully formed without assistance from any parents.”
My unexpected guest laughed. “But I like Erik.”
“Brother?” I guessed.
“That might be the case.”
“Are you the little yellow dragon that Cecilia keeps talking about?”
“Yeah, I am.”
Great. Trouble had come calling, and he did an excellent job of reminding me why I’d sacrificed everything for his brother’s sake. Rather than allow the hurt to boil up and surface, I quenched it, straightened my back, and considered him, hoping with an interested expression rather than one betraying my emotions. “I’m not dating you, but you can tell Cecilia you’re my type just to screw around with her. I do like that you’re teaching the cops to play nice with the brothel workers. You’re doing good work there. I just thought I’d warn you if you keep playing hard to get, you might end up with an entire harem of brothel women willing to show you a good time. You’re well on your way to earning your place as the king of that brothel.” Given some more time, I bet he could even wrangle Cecilia—and he’d make her like it. I unlocked the door, opened it up, and gestured for him to come inside. “What brings you my way?”
“You’re in the paper.” Erik’s brother followed me inside, glancing around the place. If anything like his brother, he likely contemplated how to burn the whole place down to get me out of it. I opted to ignore his disdain for my home, set up a clean feeder for Tourmaline, and put a small serving of milk out for Garnet.
“I’m actually on official business, as my supervisor saw the article and wanted to do a wellness check. He’s aware I visit the brothel to improve our relationship with the workers, so he sent me over. After dealing with those dragons, you are clearly on your last leg. He was so convinced he’d finally be able to catch them doing something wrong. Instead, they were dragging you around Dragon Heights and treating you like a lost princess in dire need of retail therapy. As they have a reputation of doing that for people they like, he is being forced to send me to check in on you just in case.”
The article would do worse than haunt me; trouble would ambush me around every corner. However, I burst out into laughter at the thought of my parents being shady, and that included after considering my father’s abilities as a navy dragon. The lost princess part absolutely tracked, which added to my amusement over the situation. “I saw the article. Nobody noticed the resemblance?”
“Erik saw the picture. I thought I’d give you warning. Since I was ordered over to check on you, I thought I’d kill multiple…” Erik’s brother stared at my hummingbird. “I can’t say that. I might lose my life if you think I’d actually kill any birds, with or without stones.”
I appreciated that he understood how I operated. “Thank you.” I glanced at Tourmaline, who flitted off to his nest to take a nap. “I’m a bit unreasonable when it comes to the little ones.”
“Anyone who has heard of you by reputation knows. As for your family, no. Nobody noticed any resemblance. While I know you’re a very pretty, slender, and non-muscular version of your father, nobody was looking for the tell-tale signs. I really doubt anyone is going to guess. Your plan to test into the system should be fine.”
Well, that was something. The rest of his statement would cause me problems, however. If Erik saw the picture, he knew I’d seen my parents, which meant he’d be paying them a visit. If he paid them a visit, my parents would absolutely inform him I’d issued a challenge. Then, Erik being Erik, would go right overboard and do his best to meet my terms. And he would, because Erik operated on stubborn pride once he got an idea into his head. “Your brother is in Dragon Heights, isn’t he?”