How to Date a Dragon

until Friday night. I had printed out all the initial samples and made sure they were ready for the professional company I use to make a beautiful finished product. Even so, it would have had to be a rush job, but before I could get over to their shop in the North End…”

Judith pressed a hand over her heart as if she were so nervous she might have a coronary. “What happened? Tell us.”

“The bar burned down, and with it, my apartment, the CD, and all my samples. I was lucky to get out alive with my computer.”

Judith gasped. “Another fire? You were burned out of not one, but two apartments in the last few weeks?”

“Yes, but at least this time I managed to save my computer. It had all my designs on it, and since the bank burned…”

“What? The bank where you had the safe-deposit box burned too? What the…” Judith looked as if she was about to lose it, then she quickly pulled herself back from the non-scripted edge. She chuckled. “Thank goodness you had everything in two places. They used to say, if you could only grab one thing on your way out of a fire to take your photo albums. Now, everyone’s photos are on their computers along with a host of other things.”

“Yeah.” Bliss didn’t quite know what to say to that, so she just waited for Judith to talk again.

“So, it sounds like Boston has had more than its share of fires recently.”

“Yes,” Drake interjected. “It’s not usually like this.”

Psychotic, jealous dragon in town and everything…

“And were you there to save your girlfriend’s life again?”

The cameras both focused in on Drake.

He chuckled. “I was there, but Bliss saved herself that time. I was helping other people.”

“Oh my. You must have been worried about her…” Judith prompted. “I’ll bet you wanted to leave those people to the other firefighters and run right to Bliss. Didn’t you?”

“Well, of course I was worried about her and called out to her as soon as I was inside—but leaving people in trouble isn’t what we do. I was cut off from my fellow firefighters when the ceiling caved in.”

Judith sucked in another deep breath. “The ceiling caved in? And you knew Bliss was living on the second floor of that very building?”

She’s just loving this.

“Yeah. And there was a family on the third floor too. They all got out together. Until I saw my girl and knew she’d made it out okay, I was a little frantic.” He squeezed Bliss’s hand and they smiled at each other.

Yup, that’s the bit they were looking for.

“I can’t imagine what that must be like. To put yourself in harm’s way for people you don’t even know… the whole time realizing your own loved one could be in peril…”

Judith leaned back in her chair as if stunned. Meanwhile, something big and dark swooped over them.

“Cut,” the director yelled. “Where the hell did that shadow come from?”

Drake scanned the sky and muttered, “Oh, crap. It couldn’t be…”

A horrible feeling of dread made the hairs on Bliss’s arms stand up. No way… Zina? Had she found them somehow? What kind of exposure would she risk to cause trouble?

Drake rose from his chair and excused himself. He jogged toward the front of the house, despite the protests of Judith and the director.

“How can he just get up and leave?” Judith shouted. “How are we going to make a sensible segue out of a sudden exit like that?”

The director shrugged. “Say he got called to a fire. Maybe we can get him to film the call as soon as he gets back.”

“Nice save,” Judith said. “What an exciting moment that would make.”

Bliss jumped to her feet. “There won’t be any more filming. We all need to get inside and lock the doors.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Bliss?” Judith demanded.

“Roll ’em,” the director called as he fled.

“Trust me… and run!” She grabbed Judith’s arm and dashed to the house with the cameramen on her heels, capturing every second.

As soon as they were inside and the dead bolt was locked, Judith exclaimed, “This is insane!”

“No,” said Ricky’s voice from the living room. “What’s insane is Bliss’s boyfriend running down the street yelling, ‘Taxi!’”

“This isn’t the city,” Mr. Russo said. “We don’t have taxis trolling the streets looking for a fare.”

Oh, no. Bliss led the others into the living room to see her brothers peering out the side window, while her parents parted the lace curtains and stared out the little window on the front door.

“What did you do to scare him off, Bliss?” her mother asked tearfully.

How am I going to explain this one?

Emilio chuckled. “She probably mentioned the M word… marriage.”

* * *

Vulcan gauged the right moment to appear without being detected by humans. He snapped his fingers, and his white robe turned into a business suit. Drake had just rounded the corner out of sight of the Russo residence and halted, letting out a huge sigh of relief when he spotted him.

“Thank God, you heard me.”

Vulcan chuckled. If you only knew how true your words are. “Yes. I assume you’ve located the delinquent paranormal?”

“She just swooped over the area. I don’t know precisely where she is at this moment.”

Vulcan sniffed the air. A faint sour scent tinged the fresh ocean breeze.

“You can smell her?”

“No. I’ve never been close enough to catch her scent. What I’m detecting is smoke.”

Drake’s eyes widened in shock. “No… not again! I should have picked up the familiar smell. Are you sure?”

“There.” Vulcan pointed back toward Pleasant Street. A gray spiral rose into the air.

“Shit.” Drake dashed back toward the Russo home while Vulcan tried to keep up. He wasn’t used to running since he could transport himself just about anywhere with a thought.

The house didn’t seem to be burning, but smoke was billowing from a short distance behind it.

“Around the back,” Drake shouted.

Sure enough. The dock was on fire. If no one’s watching, I can put that out with one wave of my hand.

But at that very moment, several people rushed out the back door. Even a camera crew!

“Stay back,” Drake yelled. “I’ve got this.”

Two young men stood with their hands in their pockets, looking on and wisecracking. “I thought he ran off. Now he’s back?”

“Bliss has that effect on some people,” her father said.

Mrs. Russo elbowed her husband in the ribs. “And you wonder why she never brings her friends home.”

A metal bucket sat on the dock, enveloped in flames. Drake dashed into the blaze and grabbed the handle. The heat of the aluminum would have burned a human hand, but a dragon’s skin was so thick, it wouldn’t even make a mark.

Drake leaped over the flames to the part of the dock closest to shore. He filled the bucket and tossed the water where fire met dry wood.

Bliss appeared in the doorway, waving frantically to catch Vulcan’s attention. He started toward her, but then she pointed to the shed in the next yard. Apparently she’d spotted Zina.

Bliss started dashing toward the neighbor’s shed at a flat run.

Vulcan sprinted across the lawn and tried to catch up with her.

As he rounded the shed, he saw the female dragon zipping up her leather jacket. Her surprised gaze