A wave crawled up the shore, foaming over my toes. Taking my phone out of my pocket, I walked away from the water and set it and Riley’s note in the sand. When the next wave hissed over up the shore, I followed it back to the ocean, wading out into the depths.
I stopped when I was waist deep, feeling the cold seep into my skin, calming the flames that still flickered inside. Hugging myself, I closed my eyes and let the salty breeze cool my face. I should probably go home. Dante had the car, which meant I’d have to take a cab, the bus, or walk back to the house. Flying was, as always, a tempting option. But I’d promised my brother I wouldn’t jeopardize our time here, and tempting fate seemed like a bad idea right now. I sighed again, resigned to a purely human trek back home.
“Ember.”
My heart leaped at the low, quiet voice, and I turned. Garret’s lean silhouette stood on the shore watching me, the ocean wind tugging at his shirt. Seeing him, I felt a rush of happiness and longing; he’d come after me. Quickly, I shut it down. Garret wasn’t interested. He’d made that clear tonight.
“What do you want, Garret?” I called, not moving from where I stood. A wave slapped against me, cool on my skin, smelling of salt and foam and the sea. I faced Garret across the dark water and crossed my arms. “Shouldn’t you be heading home? The cops have probably broken up the party by now.”
“I wanted to talk to you.” He took a step forward, stopping just shy of a wave as it hissed onto the sand. “I didn’t want to leave things between us as they were.”
“So talk.”
Those mercury eyes blinked, reflecting the moonlight, as he gave a slight frown. “Maybe you could come onto the beach?” he suggested, nodding to the sand behind him. “That way we won’t have to shout at each other.”
“I’m fine right here, thanks.” I raised my chin, feeling stubborn and insolent. Garret sighed.
“All right,” he said…and strode into the ocean, wading through the water in jeans and a T-shirt. I dropped my arms, startled, as he stepped in front of me, the waves lapping at his stomach and chest, drenching the front of his shirt. I felt the heat from his body as he leaned in.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, his voice just a murmur between us, nearly lost in the rushing waves. “For tonight. For everything. I guess I…”
“Freaked out and turned into a possessive jackass?”
“Yes.” His mouth quirked. “So, I’m sorry for that. My head wasn’t on straight. But…” He took a deep breath. “I think I see things a little clearer, now. I’d like to try again. If you’ll let me.”
The waves and surf surrounded us, and overhead, the moon glowed fiendishly bright, illuminating the beach and turning Garret’s hair silver. The distant lights and sirens faded away, until it seemed it was just the two of us, on a lonely shore hundreds of miles from anything.
“I’d like that, too,” I whispered.
He relaxed, some of the tension leaving his back and shoulders.
“So, we’re okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.” He moved closer, sliding his hands up my arms, sending electric tingles through my whole body. “I wanted to make certain, before I did this.”
And he kissed me.
This time, I wasn’t afraid. This time, my eyes closed, and I leaned into him, kissing him back. His arms slid around me, and I wrapped mine around his waist, pulling us closer. I forgot about Talon. I forgot the fact that I was a dragon, and we weren’t supposed to have these crazy, intense emotions swirling through us. I didn’t care that my instructor said humans were the lesser species, and that we were higher up on the food chain. None of that mattered. For this one moment, with Garret’s cool lips on mine and his arms trapping me against him, I was neither human nor dragon.
Just me.
PART II
They’re not who you think.
Riley
“We’ve got a problem.”
That was not the first thing I wanted to hear after returning from a party that, for all intents and purposes, sucked ass big time. Granted, kicking around those human yuppies was fun, if not at all challenging, as was getting under the skin of that human kid. They didn’t matter, though. I hadn’t gone to that party to beat up humans, or to threaten obnoxious mortals who didn’t have a clue. I’d gone there for her.
“Riley.” Wes came into the kitchen as I tossed my bike keys and wallet on the counter. I gave him a weary look. The gangly human looked disheveled—shirt rumpled, brown hair in disarray, normal for him. His English accent grated hard on my nerves this evening.
“Did you hear me? We’ve got a problem, mate.”
“This better be important,” I growled, brushing past him into the spacious living room. Hell, I was tired. It had been a long night.
Through the enormous windows, the moon hung low over the ocean, tempting me to leave the room and head outside, if only to get away from Wes. If I walked out to the veranda, I’d have a great view of white cliffs, sky, and eighty feet below, the pounding surf. The house was built halfway into the cliffs, and the wide, open veranda was a great launching point for those nights that I didn’t want to take my bike on the road. Not bad, for a house that wasn’t ours. The real owners were off in Europe for the summer and had needed someone to house-sit their big empty mansion. Lucky us. With a little online finagling, Wes had made certain they hired him: a responsible, middle-aged accountant with a wife and no kids or pets, who wanted to rent a house for the summer. No one would suspect the truth. Or at least, no one would come nosing around, wondering why two college-age guys were squatting in a multi-million dollar beach house.
Wes followed me into the living room. “Another one of our nests went dark,” he said gravely.
My fury spiked. I spun on him, narrowing my eyes. “Which one?”
“Austin.” The human raised a hand in a helpless gesture. “Their signal went down this afternoon, and no one is answering. I haven’t been able to contact them at all.”
“Goddammit!” Spinning, I slapped an expensive vase from an end table, sending a few thousand dollars worth of porcelain flying into the wall. Wes flinched. Heat flared across my lungs and I breathed deep, controlling the urge to Shift and blast something to cinders. “I just came from there!” I snarled. “I spent all last month setting that safe house up. Dammit! What the hell is going on?”