How to Date a Dragon(76)

Two little men, no more than a foot tall, stood on the bar spraying soda water at whatever they could reach. Their droopy felt hats and suits would have caught fire except that they seemed to have sprayed themselves first. The miniature firefighters glanced up at Drake, dropped the soda sprayer, and looked as if they were prepared to run away—right into the blaze.

“Wait,” Drake shouted. “Let me help you.”

He reached them in a couple of long strides and opened his jacket. “In here.” He grabbed his suspenders and stretched them out enough to make a pocket in his pants to accommodate the little guys. They glanced at each other with their alien-like, totally black, almond-shaped eyes, then leaped off the bar and into the safety Drake was offering them.

“You’re not afraid of us?” one of them asked in a Munchkin-like voice.

“Afraid of a couple of house brownies? Nope. Are you afraid of dragons?”

“Yes,” both of them answered simultaneously.

It figured. I hope I don’t shift. “Just stay out of sight.” Drake zipped up his jacket, hiding the little fellows who were clinging to his suspenders. His fellow firefighters had finally managed to break down the front door. When Benjamin rushed inside, Drake handed him the hose and said, “I have to find Bliss.”

Benjamin had to shout to be heard over the crackling blaze and the powerful spray of the hose. “Is she here? Now?”

“She lives upstairs,” he yelled.

“Always in heat for your hottie, aren’t you?”

Drake ignored the obvious dig and quickly disappeared into the back.

If she made it out, she must have used the fire escape. He hadn’t seen any residents standing on the street out front. He prayed that he’d see her far down the alley, safely out of the way.

Drake was surprised that the back door was missing. That must have been how Zina got in. He rushed out into the night and frantically cast a glance all around, hoping to see Bliss somewhere. The fire escape hadn’t been lowered. In fact, it looked like it was about to fall off the brick facade. Meanwhile, the roof of the bar caved in.

Crap. He unzipped his jacket and said, “Out you go, boys. You’re safe now.”

The brownies hopped out of his pants and landed on the pavement. They paused just long enough to thank him and waved as they ran away.

He heard one of them mutter, “Boys. Hmmph.”

True, they had white hair and beards, and goodness knows how old they could have been. They might even be immortal like he was… rather, like he used to be.

Drake backed away, hoping only smoke had reached the upper floors. Smoke was deadly too, but he had on lifesaving equipment. If the floors could support him… Horrified, he watched as fire roared and smoke billowed out of every window.

He was needed back inside, but there was no way he could survive without shifting into his dragon form. Fucking Zina. She wanted this to happen. He threw his jacket on the ground and was about to drop his pants in order to shift so he could fly up to Bliss’s apartment on his dragon wings.

A window in the building next door opened and a couple of frightened men stepped out onto the fire escape. It’s a good thing Drake was there. They had no idea how to use it and simply froze. Drake directed them down and stayed to help the other five people from the third and fourth floors. Damn it.

Hoping Bliss had gone somewhere safer, Drake pointed at the charred shell behind him and asked, “Did anyone from this building come over to yours?”

The residents glanced at each other and shook their heads. One of the men who came down first said, “We opened the front windows to see what was happening, and the fire chief said to go out the back, using the fire escape. They were about to hose down our building too.”

“Do you think our building will burn?” one of the women asked, trembling.

“Probably not. They do that as precaution.” Although with the heat of this particular blaze, Drake figured anything wooden and dry might catch. That’s why the chief had sent them to the fire escape, not the stairs.

But where was Bliss? And what about the Balogs? He knew Angie was out for the night, but that left at least one family who may or may not have been paranormals and his very mortal girlfriend.

The nearest side street was only two buildings down, so he directed the residents to get to the chief out front and report that they were all accounted for.

“Go.”

When they didn’t move faster than a stroll, his frustration got the better of him and he yelled, “Run!”

A couple people glanced over their shoulders briefly, then they all took off at a flat run.

Finally, I can get up there and look for Bliss. Drake made sure all the people he had helped were safely out of sight before he shed his clothes. Then he shifted until he could spread his dragon wings and flew up to the second-floor windows.