I spoke again to Shaygorthian today. He has made it clear that he will capture you at the first opportunity.
Capture or question? Had something changed?
Both. You wounded him when you fought. Now that he realizes you have a weapon capable of harming dragons, he has started to suspect you played a role in his son’s death. He returned for a time to our world to do a secondary investigation of Dobsaurin’s body.
My gut twisted. Did he find anything?
He did not tell me, but it is possible he unearthed my tampering. When he returned, he was more angry than before, and he promised retribution. Then he flew off to a mountaintop, but he is not far away. I can still sense him.
I thought of Amber and worried anew. I needed to wrap up this mission and get out of here.
I have been contemplating an option to protect you from the court, but it is not an appealing solution, especially not when I am in this form. Zav’s tone turned dry. When I am in human form, it seems less unappealing.
What was he talking about? I’d love to hear about it in the morning. After I get my goblins. Could you move out of their range for a while? I’m trying to lure them down here.
How?
By getting rid of the powerful dragon standing next to my tent.
A powerful dragon could assist you with capturing them. And then you can return to the city and assist me in finding the dark-elf scientists.
Yes, yes. I’ll do that as soon as I’m done here.
It is not only I that they fear but the Ruin Bringer. They may not come down when you have those weapons on. They are cowardly.
I was wearing my gear as I lay on my sleeping bag, everything from ammo pouches to armor to gun to sword.
So I need to appear more helpless?
Likely. Perhaps you should activate your charm but leave the artifact out in the open nearby.
I don’t think they’re dumb enough to fall for that. They’d see it was a trap.
Perhaps.
But they’ll know I’m helpless when I fall asleep. Which I was pretending to do when you came.
I can diminish my aura so they can’t tell I’m a dragon.
You don’t think the tail and fangs would give that away, aura regardless?
I would do it after changing forms. His tone grew dry again. Maybe he found my situation with the goblins amusing.
Well, come back in human form if you want, but maybe you could just wait a few miles away and keep an eye on Shaygor so he doesn’t come after me tonight. I would appreciate that.
Hm. Zav backed away from the tent.
I leaned out in time to see him spring into the air and fly away. This time, he sailed off over the water and out of my range.
I settled back onto my sleeping bag to feign sleep while worrying about being dragged before the Dragon Justice Court.
21
Hours passed, and the goblins didn’t come. Now and then, one would wander away from whatever artifact was keeping the group camouflaged, and I would sense him for a moment, so I knew they were still there. But they kept their distance.
I yawned, almost falling asleep in truth, and made myself sit up. This wasn’t working. Maybe, as Zav had suggested, I needed to appear more helpless. By taking off my weapons? If they were next to me, I could still easily grab them. Maybe…
An idea popped into my mind, and I snorted. I wouldn’t have considered it at the busy campground, not that I’d seen anything as luxurious as a hot tub there.
Taking the backpack, I picked my way past my trip wires to the house’s deck. The hot tub overlooked the lake and the blanket of stars above it. A few houselights were visible on the far side, but they were too far away for anyone to see me getting naked.
I opened the lid on the hot tub, wrinkling my nose at the bromine smell, then removed my weapons and my clothes and set them on a bench built against the deck railing. The backpack went down next to the pile. There were towel hooks closer that I could have used, but if the goblins believed my gear was within my reach, they wouldn’t come. I would have to keep a close eye on that pile, though, or the camouflaged goblins could make off with everything, my weapons included.
Standing naked on the deck, it was hard not to feel vulnerable and second-guess this choice, but I shook my head and slipped into the hot water. I ignored the buttons on the side for turning on the jets, since the motor would be loud, and I wanted to hear the goblins coming—or at least hear them rustling in my gear.
I draped my arms over the side, leaned my head back, and closed my eyes to slits. All right, goblins, I thought. I’m helpless. I can’t attack you from here. Now’s your chance.
“This is how you will lure them in?” Zav’s skeptical voice came from beside the hot tub.
I swore and lurched to my feet before realizing that would show off my spectacular nudity from the waist up. Folding my arms over my breasts, I sank back down so that the water lapped at my shoulders. The solar lamps on the deck posts allowed me to see Zav in his robe, his chiseled face turned toward me.
“What are you doing here? I didn’t sense you coming.”
“No.” He sounded pleased. “I am masking my aura.”
“Good for you.”
He’d been looking at my face, but his gaze drifted downward. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to check me out or curious about this large box full of water. Probably the latter, but I reached over to hit the button to turn on the jets so the bubbles would obscure me. I wasn’t the self-conscious type, but I’d already been feeling vulnerable without my weapons, and something about a dragon ogling me was disconcerting. Actually, if he had been ogling me, it would have struck me as normal, but his scrutiny was always faintly puzzled, like I was an unexpected and flummoxing outcome in a science experiment.
Instead of hitting the button for the jets, I managed to turn on the underwater lights, putting my nudity on full display.
Zav’s eyebrows rose. He was still looking at me—with the lights, I’d practically invited him to. “What is this contraption for? Bathing?”
“Relaxation.”
“Relaxation?”
“Yeah, soothing aching muscles.” I stood up and leaned over, giving up on hiding my boobs or anything else, and found the right button. When I thumbed it, the jets flared to life, creating strong bubbles on the surface. I sank down onto one of the seats, hiding myself beneath the froth. A jet pummeled hot water against my back. “Do dragons not get sore muscles?”
His head was tilted as he regarded the burbling water, and I decided he’d definitely been checking out the “contraption” and not me. “Rarely, but I ached a great deal after my battles with Dobsaurin.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
“I have healed since then, but I am curious, so I will try it.”
He peeled his robe off before I could object, and I found myself gaping at another shifter who opted for a sculpted fitness-model alter ego. Why didn’t anyone ever turn into an aging human with a dad bod?
I did my best not to peep as he carefully hung his robe on a hook, then bent over, his naked back and ass all I could see from inside the tub. He held the position long enough, shifting left and right slightly, that I grew curious. Unless he was doing some pre-relaxation stretches, it was odd.
“Is there a problem?” I pushed myself over to his side of the tub and peered over the edge at him.
“This new footwear is difficult.” The robe had come off in a quick swoop, but he was struggling with the cowboy boots. His back flexed and shifted, nicely highlighting his strong muscles, as he stood on one foot and tugged at the other.
“What happened to your slippers?”
“That male that attempted to skylitha you in town implied there is a human cultural implication that slippers denote same-sex mating preferences.”
“Skylitha?” I could have sat back and looked away from his boot problem, but it was hard not to want to check out a guy that nicely proportioned, even a dragon-guy, and he wasn’t paying attention, so it wasn’t like he would know.
“I do not know the human word. Court or woo is inadequate. It is when a male or female has lustful thoughts about another and wishes to mate as soon as possible.”
“And you’re sure that was his plan for me?”
“Yes. I may have a hard time reading your mind without extensive probing, but human vermin couldn’t hide their thoughts from the lice that infest their hair.”
“Gross.”
“When I am in this world, when I change into a human form, I will wear footwear that makes it clear that I—” Zav tugged, growling but getting the boot halfway off with this effort, “—am not—” another tug finally removed the first boot, “—gay.”
He stood straight, holding the boot aloft in triumph, and I got a good look at his front half, which included verification that he had indeed made himself anatomically correct. And suitable for nude modeling and any other nude activity a human could want to engage in. I admit to looking a little longer than intended, and he caught my perusal.
Blushing, I looked away and pointed toward the bench. “People usually sit down to take off boots that tight. And sometimes they own bootjacks.”
Zav sat down without commenting on my gawk, and I gazed out at the lake, only watching him out of the corner of my eye. After a few more seconds of straining, he tugged the second boot off.
“This footwear is ridiculous.” He thumped it down on the bench.
“It’s hard work to be a manly man.”
He squinted over at me.
“Why didn’t you just use your magic?” It crossed my mind that he might deliberately be putting on a show for me, muscles rippling in the ambient lighting of the hot tub, but that seemed a touch disingenuous for my straightforward, honest dragon. And since he hadn’t announced any intent to skylitha me, why would he?
“I am joining your ruse to make the goblins believe we are helpless. They had crept closer when I arrived. I walked on foot in human form down the trail so they would not recognize me as a powerful predator.”
The powerful predator rubbed his heels. The idiotic boots had probably given him blisters during his walk, and if he wasn’t using his magic, he couldn’t heal them.