How to Date a Dragon

“Well, they’re real. Case in point—Vulcan.”

Her eyes narrowed. “But Vulcan is a Roman god.”

“You’re right. His name in Greek is Hephaestus, but he prefers Vulcan. It reminds him of his blacksmith shop inside a volcano. I don’t think he gets to spend a lot of time there anymore, and he misses it.” Shut up, Drake. You’re babbling.

Bliss leaned forward. “Let me get this straight. You’re saying the reason Vulcan was able to walk through a wall and transport me out of Zina’s clutches was because he’s a god?”

“Correct.” Whew, this is going better than I thought.

And then Bliss burst out laughing. When her laughter disintegrated into giggles, she swiped at her eyes and said, “I suppose that’s one explanation for a majorly cool magic trick.”

Damn. If she didn’t believe Vulcan was a god, how would he explain Gaia and all the rest?

She held up her index finger as if she’d just remembered something. “Okay, so let’s say he’s a god. When he took me somewhere with a blinding white light, was that supposed to be Heaven?”

“Ah, I don’t think so. I wasn’t with you so I can’t say for sure, but he may have tried to blind you so you couldn’t see the rest of the Council.”

“Council? What Council?”

“It’s called the Gods and Immortals Association.”

“Wait a minute… we weren’t alone. I did hear a woman chewing him out for taking me there.”

Here we go… “That would be Gaia, also known as Mother Nature. She’s the head of the Council.”

Bliss’s jaw dropped and the conversation took a long, awkward pause.

“She’s the one who took Zina out.”

Bliss gasped. “She killed her?”

“Well, no. I said that wrong. Actually, she took away her fire, her flight, and her fertility, then dumped her in Siberia.

At last, Bliss closed her mouth and gulped.

“She wants to meet you.”

“Me? Are you saying Mother Nature is real and she wants to meet me?” Bliss’s eyes opened so wide, he could see the white all around her pretty brown irises.

Drake took a deep breath. “Yes. She’s very powerful, so I don’t blame you for being afraid.”

“I’m not…” Bliss took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Hell. I’m lying. I’m terrified. I can’t forget that blinding light and her anger at Vulcan for bringing me… wherever it was.”

“The Council is headquartered in a downtown office building.”

“In Boston?”

“Yes. They can go anywhere they want to with a snap of their fingers, but they seem to like it here. At least Gaia does.”

Bliss started with the giggles this time and worked herself into laughter. “Of all places… Boston? Why not Tahiti or Rio?”

“She likes the change of seasons.”

“Well, she’s freakin’ got it here.”

Drake chuckled, not only because Bliss entertained him, but also because he was relieved. His lover seemed to believe him. He smiled as he realized that was major evidence of her trust.

“So, why does she want to meet me?”

“She has a job offer for you.”

Bliss’s eyebrows shot up. “A job offer? What kind of job can I do for Mother Nature? Weed the public gardens? I’m pretty sure there are city workers already doing that.”

Now Bliss was babbling. He had to quickly explain the situation before she panicked.

“Bliss, honey, listen carefully. When I helped capture Zina, Mother Nature rewarded me by giving me back my immortality. I respectfully declined unless she could do the same for you. I couldn’t imagine going through eternity without the woman I love. As it turns out, she needs more muses. The original nine aren’t able to keep up with all the technological advances.” He waited for her to digest that much information before he continued… only Bliss filled in the blanks herself.

“And she wants me to be a muse?”

“Yes.”

“But what about my greeting card career?”

“You can still do that. In fact, she wants you to use your expertise in that area.”

“Huh?”

He reached across the table and took her hand. “You’re talented. You’re modern. You understand contemporary communication. She wants you to be the muse of social media.”

“You’re kidding. Like Twitter? What would I be? The head twit?”

“No, sweetheart. You’d be what you are—a goddess.”

“Awww…” Her eyes softened and she gave his hand a squeeze. “But no. I really don’t want a job outside of my card business. It’s about to take off, and it’ll be all I can do to keep up with that.”

Drake reared back. “You don’t want to be a goddess? Why not?”

“Well, for one thing, you know how I feel about the Internet. If I didn’t trust it for my cards, how can I trust social media? I’ll bet the pay and benefits suck too.”

He laughed but couldn’t help being a little disappointed.

* * *

“Way to go, Dragon Breath.”

Bliss whirled around to see a woman standing behind her. She wore a flowing white gown and had long, white hair, crowned by a ring of blue cornflowers that matched her eyes.

It can’t be…

The woman jammed her hands on her hips. “I wanted to be the one to tell her, blabbermouth. Now you’ve gone and ruined the surprise.”

Drake cringed. “Sorry, Gaia, I thought I ought to prepare her for your arrival.”

“Why? Because she might faint at the sight of me?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “Well, you never know… She’s been incredibly understanding up to now, but everyone has their limits.”

“Hey, people.” Bliss waved. “I’m right here.”

Mother Nature grinned. “She’s feisty. I like that. Vulcan vouched for her, so I was pretty sure she could handle my glorious presence.”

Drake smiled at Bliss and let go of her hand as he rose. “Gaia, I’d like to formally introduce you to Bliss Russo.”

Bliss rose and offered Mother Nature her hand. “Pleased to meet you, Gaia.”

“Odd little custom,” Gaia muttered, but she shook hands with Bliss.

“Please… have a seat,” Drake said and offered her his chair.

Mother Nature glanced around the room and finally pointed to a spot by the table where an extra chair appeared. “Sure. But first, I’d like a glass of water. Do you have any on tap?”

Drake moved quickly to the refrigerator. “I can do better than that. I have bottled water.”

“Ack!” Gaia turned her head and shielded her eyes as if just seeing the item might offend her delicate sensibilities. “Don’t tell me you buy water in those damn plastic bottles. It’ll take centuries for them to decompose.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t… never mind. I can get you a glass of tap water.”

Still frowning, Gaia sat in the chair, then popped back up. She pointed to the seat and a cushion appeared. When she sat again, she wiggled a bit as if getting comfortable. “There. That’s better. I don’t mind a few modern conveniences as long as they don’t muck up my world.”

She tapped the chair next to her, inviting Bliss to sit down.