Hot as he was, she couldn’t let him know everything about her without her knowing why he was asking. It was only fair.
“What does it matter?” she asked.
“How did the fire start? The one that killed your parents.”
It wasn’t that easy to throw her off. “You didn’t answer my question. What are you getting at?”
“You’re connected to more than one of my brothers and I want to know if you’re aware of how you’re connected.”
“As far as I know, a gas leak caused the fire. I never looked into it, as you can imagine, it’s a difficult subject for me. As for college, I got a scholarship, but also some distant cousin called up to say my grandmother set aside some money for my tuition. I was sure they had the wrong person, but I let them pay everything the scholarship didn’t cover. It was strange, but I needed the money. Are you thinking it was one of your brothers? Were they connected to the fire? Did they kill my parents?”
“No, he didn’t kill your parents. At least, I don’t think so. Thing is, he had a restraining order against your mother. I think he felt sorry for you after the fire.”
He’d already known about the fire. She felt a stab of betrayal. Was he trying to see if she’d lie to him? She pushed her feelings aside. Now she was the one who needed more information.
“A restraining order? Why?” Jess asked.
“It’s unclear. Is there a reason your family would come after my brother?”
“He must be a much older brother. My parents died over a quarter century ago.”
“He’s older than he looks,” Wrath said, clearly obfuscating. “Do you know what your family had against mine?”
It was hard to trust him now. He could give clear answers, but he wouldn’t. Why not just say that his dad had sons over a span of decades. He wouldn’t be the first. Wrath looked like he was about Jess’s age. It wouldn’t be unheard of for a man to have sons that far apart. The only reason she could think of for him to lie about it was if he wasn’t talking about blood relations. Maybe it was some kind of organization that was called a brotherhood.
From organized crime to secret organizations, her rational brain was on hiatus.
“If he’s your brother, why don’t you ask him?” Jess asked.
“Like I said, I’m not close to my brothers.”
“Well, I don’t know and until you stop holding out on me, you won’t get any more answers.”
His royal hotness could just suck on that.
Wrath didn’t respond verbally. He held out his hand, palm up while still watching the road and steering with his left hand. A ball of orange flame appeared in his hand. Jess could feel the heat off it. It was like an oven door had just been opened beside her.
“Magic,” Wrath said. “My family has magic. There are people who try to kill us for it. Thing is, you have magic, too. I can sense it. I sensed it when you weren’t burned this morning and I sense it now. That fire is hot enough to be painful for you at that distance, but you haven’t flinched.”
The ball of flame disappeared, and he returned his hand to the wheel.
“How’d you do that?” Jess asked. She wasn’t ready to jump on the crazy train just yet.
“I told you already. What do you know about dragons?”
“They’re not real. If they were, they’d nap on piles of dwarven gold and chat with hobbits when they aren’t burning villages.”
“You’re wrong on all counts. Well, napping on gold is nice, but the rest is wrong. Did you know your mother and grandmother were dragon hunters?”
“You sound insane.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“No, and I don’t think they were.”
“Okay, well your grandmother was convicted of harassing the same brother who had to file a restraining order against your mother. Your mother was making a pipe bomb in the basement when she blew herself up. I think she meant to kill him. I suspect he watched out for you after that. He helped pay for your college and helped you get a job with Kurt. It wasn’t your fault that you came from a line of hunters, after all.”
“Wait, my mother was trying to kill your brother? The same brother my grandmother harassed. How old is this guy?”
“Younger than me. We’re dragons. We live a long time.”
“You’re a dragon?”
“Yep.”
“Prove it.”
“I will.”
Wrath turned up the music. The conversation was over, she supposed, until he could prove he was a mythical beast. They turned off Route One and headed down a winding country road, over a set of railroad tracks, down another winding road, and then turned onto a narrow gravel driveway.
They came to a clearing just large enough for the house that sat there. A teenage girl was setting something on the front porch. She looked at the truck sheepishly, as though she’d been caught.
“Who’s that?” Jess asked.
“Lily. I told her to stay away for the rest of the day, but it looks like she found an excuse to come back. Come on, I’ll introduce you.”
They got out of the truck and the girl put on the best innocent child face Jess had ever seen.
“Mom made some cookies this afternoon and I thought you’d want some,” Lily said.
“Mmhmm. Well, since you’re here, meet Jess. She doesn’t believe in dragons so…”
The girl’s eyes went wide. “You’re going to show her? Can I see? I’ve never seen a human react to a dragon before. Please, Poppy?”
Wrath sighed as though put upon, but a smile crept over his lips. “Okay, sweetheart. You can stay.”
Lily turned to Jess. “Have you ever seen anyone shapeshift before?”
“Can’t say that I have,” Jess said.
Lily looked at Wrath expectantly.
“Yes, you can change in front of the human. Do you want to go first?” Wrath asked.
The human. They were talking about this as though it was normal and real. Her
