She said something—probably how weird I was again—but a dragon came into range of my senses, and I barely heard her. It was Zav, which should have relieved me, given the alternative, but he was arrowing straight for the house.
To warn me of trouble? To accuse me of trouble? I hadn’t killed any criminals he’d been assigned to hunt lately.
“I’ll be back in a minute.” I headed to the foyer, wanting to speak with him outside and without witnesses, but he came in fast.
He opened the door in human form and strode into the foyer, his robe swishing around his feet, feet that clacked on the tiles because they were now clad in… Were those cowboy boots? With… peacock feathers?
I barely noticed his powerful aura and the familiar tingle that ran over my skin. I was too busy staring at the boots.
“Zav.” I recovered, lifted my gaze to his, and held up a hand. “You can’t just walk into people’s houses.”
“I am Lord Zavryd’nokquetal. I go where I wish.”
“No, you don’t.” I smiled into the living room at a gaping Amber and clasped Zav’s hand to lead him out before Thad came down.
Zav seemed startled by the handclasp. I pretended not to notice that his skin was warm and pleasant—or the little zing of electricity that shot up my arm. He let me lead him out onto the porch, where I pointed at the doorbell.
“When you go visiting, you press that first and wait to be invited in. You can’t presume that humans want you in their house.”
“You cannot presume that a dragon wishes you to hold his hand.” Zav withdrew it from my grip.
He didn’t wipe it off, as if I’d contaminated him with cooties, but I couldn’t help but feel stung.
“Look, you pressed your forehead against mine last month, and I’m pretty sure you were contemplating kissing me. I think that entitles me to a hand-holding if I wish it.”
Zav gazed at me with his violet eyes, his strong jaw tight. I expected him to deny that he’d contemplated anything kiss-related.
What he said was, “We have battled together, and I would like to believe your intentions are honorable, but I do not trust you so close to me.”
My mouth fell open. “What? Why? I’m just a mongrel—your own words—so it’s not like I could do anything to you even if I wanted to.” Admittedly, I’d sliced open a couple of dragon toes this summer, and Dob was dead, but that had been due to an extenuating circumstance. Zav had grievously wounded Dob beforehand, and he’d been lying helpless in the river.
What did Zav even think I could do to him? Poison him or stab him with some horrific dragon-slaying artifact? If I had such a thing, I wouldn’t be hacking at toes with Chopper.
For a long moment, it didn’t look like Zav would explain. His jaw remained tight, his face carved in stone.
Then he spoke quietly. “I cannot read your thoughts, and I have been betrayed and almost killed before by a lesser being.”
There was a story I wanted, but he’d only reluctantly admitted as much as he had. I doubted he would tell me the rest. But the little he’d given me made a couple of our past encounters make more sense. Like the time I’d reached for his shoulder to brush off a leaf and he’d grabbed my wrist to stop me. I’d definitely gotten the vibe that he’d been suspicious of my intent.
“I don’t have any plans to betray you,” I said, holding his gaze. “Just get rid of the dragon threats to Earth.”
His eyes narrowed, and I realized he might think I meant him. Earth would be better off without any overpowered dragons around, but I’d been thinking of Shaygor and anyone else who came here to cause trouble for humans.
I opened my mouth to explain that but grew aware that Thad had come downstairs. He stood in the foyer, and Amber was leaning out of the doorway to the living room. They were both staring at us. Amber was gaping at Zav, and Thad was glowering suspiciously at him.
Zav and I were chest to chest, less than a foot apart, and though he was only a few inches taller and didn’t exactly tower over me, he did radiate that power. Even mundane people sensed it to some extent and saw him as a threat.
“Are you all right?” Thad asked me, taking a few steps closer, his fingers curling into a fist. “Who is this? What’s he doing here?”
Thad was the most unlikely bruiser out there, but he genuinely looked like he planned to step in and protect me if needed. That would not go well.
I lifted a hand, palm outward toward him, intending to explain, but Zav spoke first.
“I am Lord Zavryd’nokquetal. I am here to ensure that Val is not arrested by the inquisitor from the Dragon Justice Court. I am also here to inform her that a pack of goblins is spying on this house from up on the hill.”
Even though I’d been hoping the goblins would come for their artifact, I barely heard his second sentence. Something about the way he said the first made me certain that a new development had come along.
“Is he on drugs?” Thad asked me.
“Probably not. I don’t think he’d know where to get them.”
Amber hurried into the foyer and grabbed Thad’s hand. “Don’t bother him, Dad. He’s something scary.”
She looked at me, eyes seeming to ask if she was right, and I nodded. She ought to be able to sense that Zav’s aura was as powerful as Shaygor’s had been, and she’d had the opportunity to sense Shaygor up close. Too close.
Thad scoffed, but the disbelief didn’t quite reach his eyes. I kept my hand up in case he had some delusion of rushing to my rescue in a manly and misguided manner.
“Thad, Amber, this is Zav. He’s a—”
“Lord Zavryd’nokquetal,” Zav interrupted coolly.
“They’re not going to be able to pronounce that any more than I can,” I muttered.
“Your species is linguistically challenged.”
“Yes, it is.” I waved to Thad and Amber to finish my introduction. “He’s a dragon from a place I also can’t pronounce.” Had Zav even told me the name of his world? I couldn’t remember, but I was positive my statement was true. “He has the ability to shape-shift into different forms, such as this one. I hadn’t realized he could change his shoes, but apparently, he can.”
Zav squinted at me. I suspected he was underwhelmed by my introduction.
“He’s here on Earth collecting criminals who have fled to our world to escape the Dragon Justice Court.” There, that was true and not even snarky.
I waited for Amber to comment again on how weird I was—or how weird my acquaintances were—but she tried to tug Thad out of the foyer instead.
Scowling, he rooted his feet to the floor.
“Uh, Zav.” I wasn’t sure I should finish the introduction, since it wasn’t going superbly, but I wanted to make sure he knew this was my family and—hopefully—that they were to be protected, not hurt or threatened. “This is my daughter, Amber, and my ex-husband, Thad.”
Zav had been indifferent to them before, but now, he turned his attention on them. Mostly on Thad. He skimmed over Amber—he’d probably already known she was my daughter, the same way Shaygor had detected it—and looked Thad up and down. Dismissively.
“That is your mate?” Zav stepped closer to me, his chest brushing the back of my shoulder as he faced Thad.
“He was my mate. We’re divorced.”
Remembering his overreaction to the guy who’d hit on me at the ice cream parlor, I turned and planted my hand on his chest. Unbidden, the memory of our kiss-and-grope session in the water-treatment plant jumped into my mind. His chest was as hard and muscled under his robe as it had been then, and he didn’t budge when I tried to push him back.
Thad was Mr. Nice Guy and also Mr. Mellow Guy. He rarely got angry, but now, his face flushed red, both hands clenched at his sides. Since Zav wouldn’t move, I stepped away from him, though it annoyed me that he wouldn’t respect my wishes—and my space—and step back on his own.
“Zav, I’ll talk to you later,” I told him. “I appreciate you coming to warn me, but I have to learn about the house rules.”
And if I only had a few minutes to spend with my family before they left, I wanted to spend it with Amber discussing six-fingered men, not trying to break up a staring contest. Now, I wished I hadn’t let myself be distracted from having a discussion with Zav about boundaries. I wasn’t sure what his deal was, since he’d told me numerous times he wasn’t attracted to me, but I wasn’t going to let him loom over my shoulder like a jealous lover every time I spoke to a man.
“It’ll only take a few minutes,” I added, since he was still standing there glaring at Thad. “Then I’ll come find you and listen to everything you have to say. I promise.”
“You would prioritize speaking to that one over me?” His glare left no doubt that he meant Thad, not Amber.
“Yes, I would. Maybe you can enjoy a walk on the trail while you wait. Or fishing in the lake. Or, look, there’s a porch swing and a hot tub on the deck. Knock yourself out.” I stepped back into the house and closed the door in his face.
Almost immediately, I worried he would throw a dragon temper tantrum and make it burst into flames. Fearing for Thad’s damage deposit, I almost opened it again, but as I reached for the knob, I sensed Zav stepping back. He paused at the top of the steps—maybe he was checking out the hot tub—then strode toward the driveway. Through a window beside the door, I saw him change into dragon form and fly toward a hilltop.
“Do dragons use hot tubs?” Amber’s tone was less dry and sarcastic and more awed.
“No,” Thad said firmly, then stalked into the kitchen.
I was tempted to ignore him and discuss dragons, or whatever she wished, with Amber, but Thad made a noisy show of yanking open drawers until he found a pen. He grabbed a piece of paper hanging from a fridge magnet and wrote something on the bottom. Then he stalked back to me and thrust the page at me.