Maybe if I just tell her that… “I’ve never shown this side of me to anyone else.”
“G—good. I imagine it would scare the pants off most people.” She backed away for the first time since they’d begun talking.
“Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Oh, yeah. I’m good.” She grabbed her clothes with shaking fingers.
“Bliss, there’s more I have to tell you.”
She groaned but didn’t stop pulling up her sweatpants or fastening the drawstring. “Uh—can we do it later?”
“Not really. The whole reason I had to tell you about dragons was to warn you.”
“Warn me?” She finished tying her drawstring, then dragged her T-shirt over her head. “I thought you said you’d never hurt me.”
“I won’t. I promise you have nothing to fear from me.”
“Then why do you have to warn me?”
“Because I’m not the dragon who means you harm.”
She froze. “Are you saying there are more who do?”
“Just one. Possibly.”
She jammed her hands on her hips. “How possible is this possibility?”
“It’s a pretty good possibility. Remember the biker chick who kicked my ass?”
“Fuckin’ A!”
“I know…” He started to stroll toward her until she held up one palm to stop him.
“I need a minute, Drake. Maybe a whole lot of minutes. This is a crazy amount of information to process.”
“I understand. Please don’t be afraid. Let me help.”
“Help? What can you do to help? If you’re fireproof, I expect she is too. And you can’t possibly stand guard over me day and night.”
“I know. That’s why I need to come up with another way to protect you.”
“Can you… you know, breathe fire like in the legends?”
“No. My family lost that ability centuries ago, but I don’t know about other clans.”
“There are clans? Is that because you’re Scottish, or… Oh, fuck it. I don’t even know what questions to ask.”
“I’ll answer any questions you have, later. Right now it’s important to come up with a plan to keep you safe. I can’t lose you, Bliss.”
“Especially not to someone like her. I imagine that’s why she wants to get rid of me—so she can drag you off to Hanalei or wherever it is that dragons live happily ever after.”
“I can’t lose you to anyone, Bliss. Not for any reason. I wouldn’t have told you any of this—and you can’t imagine how many rules I’ve broken—but it was important that you truly understand the danger. I’d never forgive myself if I could have warned you but didn’t because of my own cowardice.”
She stroked his cheek. “A coward is one thing you’re not, Drake Cameron.”
***
It had taken Drake another hour to calm Bliss down to the point where she could sleep. The one thing he wanted most was for her to be safe. When he suggested she move back with her parents, even temporarily, she about lost her mind.
He couldn’t tell her what to do. He could only make suggestions and hope she’d see the wisdom in listening to him.
She moved in his arms and mumbled something unintelligible, as if having a restless dream. Drake stroked her hair until she calmed down and her breathing returned to the long, slow breaths of deep sleep.
He couldn’t tell her that he was under orders from the Supernatural Council. They had expressly forbidden him from sharing any knowledge of their existence. He had also been told not to reveal his own paranormal identity, but he had promised Bliss he’d be honest with her, need-to-know basis or not. And yes… she needed to know.
However, one promise kept and one broken with each competing part of his life had seemed half as bad before. Now he wasn’t sure he hadn’t blown it with both.
Warning Bliss had been the right thing to do. How could he have explained the danger to her without revealing the existence of dragons? She had to know that Zina could probably breathe fire from twenty feet away. His family lost their fire-breathing abilities when his uncle tried to burn down the City of Chicago. But he didn’t know if Zina’s clan was affected too. He didn’t get the impression that Mother Nature punished all dragons equally.
Bliss also had to know that dragons could fly and that Zina could spot her from the air.
Drake would never forgive himself if anything happened to the woman he loved… especially if he hadn’t told her what she was up against. Knowing Bliss, if Zina confronted her again, Bliss might say something she’d regret. If Zina let her live long enough to regret it.