How to Date a Dragon

another guy who’d put her through this to open his Hall-Snark card.

“I appreciate knowing that, but now I need to know how to keep her safe. I was thinking that maybe she could stay with you for a while. Perhaps you could use your psychic ability to give her a heads-up and keep her out of harm’s way.”

Sadie puffed out a breath.

“What’s wrong?” Drake asked.

“I live in a room the size of a closet.”

“Oh.” Damn it. On to plan B. “Maybe the tarot cards can give us another idea.”

She nodded. “I’m glad I don’t have to convince you of their value… or my abilities. That much is refreshing.”

“I’ve heard your accuracy is pretty amazing.”

She squared up the cards and laid the deck in front of him. “Cut it.”

He picked up about half the pile and set it to the side, then piled the other half on top. The whole time he was thinking of Bliss, so he figured he must be imparting some kind of positive energy into the cards.

Sadie shuffled them again and then fanned the cards out in front of him. “Pick three, but don’t turn them over.”

He did as he was asked, taking cards from different areas.

Sadie flipped them over and muttered something under her breath.

“What?” He didn’t tingle, but he could tell from her expression there was some kind of bad news in the cards.

“They’re all reversed.”

Glancing at the cards, he saw every one of the pictures had landed upside down. “I guess that’s bad?”

“Not always.” She gathered up the remainder of the cards and shuffled the deck again. Sadie set the pile in front of him and he cut it again.

She shuffled and fanned out the rest of the cards. “Pick three more.”

He did the same thing as before. Sadie flipped them over and sighed.

“What? Is someone going to die or something?”

“Not that I see here, but there are a lot of sinister events revolving around you. Bliss is better off where she is.”

“You’re not just saying that because she serves you drinks, are you?”

Sadie reared back, her eyes wide. “How could you even think that?”

“I’m sorry.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I’ve had very little sleep and I’m not myself.”

She relaxed, but the frown remained.

“Can you tell me what the cards indicated? What made you think she was safer here?”

She lowered her voice. “I know more about the paranormal than you might think.”

She knows? “I see. But I don’t understand what that has to do with Bliss.”

“Don’t you realize how much protection she has here that she wouldn’t have anywhere else?”

Drake glanced over at the bar. Two shapeshifters and a wizard were chatting casually while keeping up with a basketball game on the overhead TV.

“Shit. You’re right.”

“Of course I’m right. What better protection could she have from a misguided paranormal being? Here she’s surrounded by a number of super-strong, super-protective supernatural friends. Each one of them believes in the value of their shared safe place. That means no one messes with their status quo.”

Drake felt like an idiot. Why hadn’t he thought of that before?

“You’re too close,” she said, as if she’d heard his internal question. “You feel like you need to be the one to protect her. The thing is, every one of them would be happy to help. All you need to do is ask. Let the others know the scope of the problem, and they’ll give you all the support you need.”

“Is that it? Is that all the cards can tell me?”

“What else do you want to know?”

“Are you telling me to avoid her for her own good?”

“No. Not at all. Just don’t spirit her away from the safest building in the city.”

“But what about at night? I can’t always sleep here.”

Sadie lowered her eyes and smiled, as if she were in on some kind of secret. “Even at night there are protectors here.”

“What kind of protectors? You can’t be talking about the family from the third floor.”

“No, not the Balogs. But there are… others.”

“Others? What others? Does Anthony live in the building?” He had always wondered where the vampire owner lived, but he didn’t think there was an apartment on the fourth floor. He’d only seen two buzzers. One for the second floor and one for the third.

“It isn’t important that you know who they are. They don’t want to be bothered, and if you go poking around, you might not like the consequences.”

“Huh?”

“Leave it alone, Drake. You have enough to worry about.” She began to gather up the cards but stopped when he laid his hand over hers.

“Wait. These sinister events… Is there more than just the increased number of fires? Are there others involved in setting those?”

Sadie replaced and leaned over the cards, studying them for a few moments. “I don’t see a whole lot of different events, and all of them seem to be perpetrated by one individual.” She pointed to the Knight of Swords. “One very dangerous, determined individual.” She gathered up the cards, marking an unmistakable end to the discussion. “Watch your back, Drake.”

He honestly didn’t care about anything other than Bliss at the moment. As long as she was safe, he’d cope with whatever else happened. If only she were a dragon too, I’d know that Bliss could defend herself. Unfortunately, the odds of a mortal surviving a dragon attack were slim.

He suddenly thought about his mother. He was sure she’d had good intentions when she asked him to save their species, but even she wouldn’t have wished Zina on him.

“Thank you, Sadie. You helped tremendously.”

She nodded. “Thanks for the drink. Next time, buy one for yourself. You need it more than I do.”

* * *

Bliss had never felt so isolated in her life. Drake had asked her not to leave the building until he was able to deal with Zina. That meant she had two options. Sit in her apartment and try to work on another card, or sit in the bar and socialize. She had tried watching TV, but there was nothing on she wanted to watch. Angie didn’t have a way to record shows, and Bliss hadn’t planned to live there long enough to care.

She didn’t dare get hooked on a soap opera. Her schedule wouldn’t allow for it, although she’d heard viewers could miss several episodes and still pick up where they’d left off. Sounded like some kind of ripple in the time-space continuum.

She really didn’t feel like socializing. Something as bizarre as learning there were dragons in the world made “Look at this adorable necklace I got at a flea market” seem inane. She didn’t think she could concentrate on designing her cards, and there might not be any books that would hold her attention when her mind inevitably wandered to dragons… Hey, wait. Maybe I can find an ebook on dragons!

It was a long shot. She was fairly sure anything she read would be legend, but as Drake had said, “Legends come from somewhere.” Maybe she could do some digging and find out more than what she knew now… which was next to nothing.

She grinned. Wouldn’t it blow Drake’s mind if I could spout a few dragon facts he hadn’t told me yet?

But what if she blew her own mind? And how would she know fact from legend? She dropped down onto her bed. “Argh! All this stuff is mucking up my mind.”