She’d been solucky when Selene had found her on the day she crashed her car.What were the chances of being found in a ditch by anothersupernatural being, one who didn’t ask questions on how she’dsurvived a fatal accident? She suspected the Fates had been lookingdown on her that day.
Kat checked thelevels of the spirits in the upside-down bottles, then wiped downthe bar, resigning herself to the fact she was never going to learnher true identity living in a deadbeat town on the south coast ofEngland where nothing remotely interesting ever happened.
And maybe itwas for the best because knowing the truth scared the hell out ofher.
What if shedidn’t like what she was?
“If you reallywant to find someone and prove you’re not cursed,” Selenecontinued, closing the glass-fronted fridge door, “stop dreamingabout a fantasy guy who doesn’t exist. Live for the now, Kat. Enjoythis life for what it is.” She smiled. “You’re a beautiful,mysterious woman—a little headstrong and a total flirt—but youcould bag any guy you wanted.”
Her friendmeant well, but it didn’t quell her doubts. The guys she dated werejust a way to forget her worries for a while, but none of themmeant anything. “But I can’t. Not humans, anyway. I’ve never felteven a smidgeon of a connection with any of them.”
“Who needs aconnection to have sex? Overrated, if you ask me.” She squeezedKat’s shoulder. “Anyway, the humans who come in here are totallyoblivious to the supernatural world. The guys are jerks, mostly,and the women are… I don’t think women know what they want thesedays, but if you want a ‘connection,’ as you put it, maybe we couldfind you someone like us.”
Kat frowned.“How?”
“Love Bites,that’s what you need,” she announced with a wide grin.
“Huh?”
Her friendgrabbed her phone off the bar, typed in something on Google thenhanded it to her.
Kat read whatwas on the screen out loud. “Love Bites. The number one datingagency for supernatural beings. Find the magic in love.” Sheglanced at Selene, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Noway. There’s a dating website for supernaturals? What’s to stophumans from finding it on Google too? I thought we had to keep ourworld a secret from them?”
Selene rolledher eyes. “You’re so practical and cynical. It’s cloaked by themagic veil too.”
The magic veilthat concealed the existence of supernaturals from the humanworld—handy if you had angel wings, or a demon’s horns, for thatmatter. But her friend, the witch, didn’t have to worry about thosethings, and neither did she; they both looked human.
“Seriously? Itdoes that too?”
“Duh, like Isaid, it’s the twenty-first century. Us magical beings had to godigital years ago. You know, move with the times and all thatjazz.”
Kat laughed.She learned something new every day.
“So, do youwant to eye up the talent on here, or what?”
“Need you ask?What do I have to do?”
She shrugged.“I don’t know. Sign up, I suppose.”
“You mean youhaven’t actually checked out the website? It could be a fake.”
“Argh, Idespair at you sometimes! Do you want to be alone forever?”
“Ouch, that’sharsh, Selene, even for you.”
Kat handedSelene’s phone back to her and then retrieved her phone from herjeans pocket. She typed in the name of the dating agency, and aftersome magical techno-wizard redirected her, the Love Bites websitecame up. She tapped the ‘enter here’ box on the landing page.
A speech boxappeared next to a picture of a woman wearing a headset. Hi, I’mJamie, your Love Bites coach.
Kat typed inthe box provided, asking for instructions.
The chat hosttook her through the process, and she signed up for a month’ssubscription. She set up her profile with a picture—one Selene hadtaken of her holding Toby—and filled out a brief bio, leaving itblank where they asked what species of supernatural she was.
Kat scrolledthe profile pics of various magical beings:
A vampire doinghis best to smile without showing his fangs. No. Swipe left.
A warlock wholooked like he’d have more fun playing with his magic wand thangoing on a date. Nope. Swipe left.
A ratherhandsome Fae posing on the bonnet of a flashy car. Yuk. Definitelyswipe left.
Allgood-looking guys, but none took her fancy.
She continuedto scroll and then stopped on another profile pic. A peculiarsensation washed over her like it had when she’d met the guy in thewoods. Kat peered at the man. While attractive, he wasn’t her usualtype, but there was something about him. Something… familiar? Didshe know him? She couldn’t recall, but it was too much of acoincidence to have the same feeling twice in one day. Kat read hisbio. “Wow… he’s a dragon,” she breathed, her voice a littlefangirl-y.
“What? Let mesee.” Selene snatched the phone from her. She stared at his picturefor a good few seconds, then wolf-whistled. “For the love of magic,he’s a hottie. I think I’ll join Love Bites myself.”
“I saw himfirst, hands off!”
Selene handedback the phone, grinning. “It says he’s only a half-dragon,” shepointed out. “Full-blooded dragons died out centuries ago.”
Kat hardlyheard her. She clicked ‘like’ and sent the guy a message beforeSelene could get her witchy hands on him. “I don’t care. He’s ahalf-dragon; that’s good enough for me.”
“Why the suddeninterest in dragons? You never have before.”
Kat rolled hereyes. “What century are you living in, Selene? Have you evenwatched Game of Thrones? Those dragons are awesome!”
Her friendchuckled at her enthusiasm. “So, what happens now?”
“I wait for himto reply to my message, I suppose.”
“Okay, good.How about actually getting some work done around here? The punterswill be here soon.”
Kat’s grinwidened. “You got it, boss.”
ChapterFour
Nix had neverbeen more grateful to get home to his cottage. His heart weighedheavier than the curse he’d endured for centuries.
It was her. Hissoulmate. Katarina.
He took hisfrustration out on the door and slammed it behind him, catching thetip of his damaged wing between it and the frame. Nix swore andyanked it free.
For oneglorious moment, a single ray of sunshine had beamed into hisdarkness, and he thought there had been a flicker of recognition inher eyes, but then she’d grabbed her dog and left.
Did he blameher? Hell, no. What woman, any woman, dragon or not, wouldn’t thinkit disturbing to find a
