How to Date a Dragon(39)
“Careful,” Drake said, as he came up behind her and plucked it out of her hand. “You don’t want anyone to steal those.”
“Hey! Give that back.”
“Only if you kiss me good-bye before I go in to work.”
She gave him a quick, closed-mouth kiss, then said, “Okay. Now, hand it over.”
He chuckled and said, “Wow. Don’t mess with the lady’s work,” then did as she asked.
“I’m on my way to the bank to open a safe deposit box. I think I found a way to keep from losing my whole portfolio if anything ever happens again.”
“Still don’t trust the Internet, eh?”
“No. I really don’t.”
He smiled. “Well, I’m glad you found a way to protect your interests, even if it’s old school.”
“Whatever works. So I guess your chief needs you badly enough to take you, beer-buzzed brain and all?”
“Yeah, I just can’t drive the truck.”
“That makes sense. How would it look if a firefighter wrapped the ladder truck around a tree, then flunked the Breathalyzer test?”
He gave her a look that said, “Really?”
She kissed him again but this time used her tongue. She tasted a little beer and detected some salt, probably from the pretzels, but he didn’t reek. “You’ll pass.”
“Thanks.” He handed her back her phone. “I’ll call you when I can. It all depends on what’s going on.”
“The chief didn’t tell you why they need you?”
“Looks like there’ve been a lot of small fires and some false alarms. I have a bad feeling it’s only a matter of time before we see a big one.”
A shudder rippled through Bliss. “Be careful.”
He gave her a cocky grin. “Always.”
It didn’t help her shake the worry. How he did what he did amazed her. She still had panicky dreams of fire and choking on smoke.
Chapter 9
Zina muttered to herself as she studied a map of Boston. “Stupid human. When I get rid of her, Drake and I can save the species.” She glanced at the bed in her hotel room. “Hell, if it weren’t for her, we’d be making baby dragons right now.” Ah, agony…
The western dragons were given only a month-long mating window every five years, and it was already two weeks into the month. Maybe others had all the time in the world, but if Zina didn’t get pregnant now, it would be a long wait for the next chance. No wonder there are so few of us.
The more she obsessed over how unfair it all was, the angrier she got. Scoping out the city had kept her busy for a little while, but now she was anxious to set her plan in motion. Over the past forty-eight hours, Zina had penciled in X’s on the best targets in the area, then erased each and filled in the space with a red marker after she’d set a fire there.
Her goal was to stretch the fire department’s resources so thin that they wouldn’t be able to respond when she eventually went after her final target. The bar where the stupid human worked. She’d watched her for the last two days and determined the bitch lived in one of the apartments over the bar. Perfect. Zina had shouted with glee when she’d realized she’d be eliminating her competition’s job and home at the same time. With any luck, she’d snuff out the human’s interfering life.
Zina knew when the bar closed and planned to break in from the back at midnight. Then she’d open all the bottles of alcohol and pour them over anything and everything flammable. The fact that she breathed fire was the perfect cover for arson. She didn’t leave any evidence behind—not so much as a matchstick for investigators to find.
“Drake will never know it was me who killed his girlfriend,” she congratulated herself in the mirror. “And I know exactly what to do after the bitch is dead. I’ll swoop in and comfort him in his hour of need. I’ll show him I understand him the way only another dragon can. If that doesn’t work, I’ll use voodoo.”
She whirled away from the mirror and ran her fingers down her long, bumpy dreadlocks. “Go ahead, girlie. Enjoy him while you can. It’s just a matter of time before he understands and forgives my jealous outburst and comes back to me forever.”
This plan had to be orchestrated very carefully. Nothing could be left to chance, so Zina went back to poring over her maps and choosing her timing precisely.
***
Drake dragged his tired body off to shower and prayed nothing else took him away from his bed for the rest of the night. His pillow beckoned him, and he wanted to lay down his head and kiss it. He hadn’t called Bliss yet, but he was too tired to hold a phone, never mind try to listen and talk coherently. She’d understand.