Defender Dragon (Protection, Inc 2)

Finally, they came to the center of the labyrinth. It was a glen carpeted in wildflowers, surrounded on all sides by red roses of every shade— scarlet, crimson, fire-engine, lipstick, burgundy, vermilion, swirled red and white, and a red so deep it appeared almost black.

Lucas set down his trays down, and they sat and had breakfast in the heart of the labyrinth. The air was warm and still, smelling of greenery, roses, and rain.

“How did you come to leave... Lummox?” he asked.

Journey couldn’t help laughing at the disdain in

his voice, which eased the sting of what she had to say in return. “After I graduated from high school, I was going to spend a couple years working and saving money, and then leave. So I worked the farms and imagined where I’d go. But before I could go, I met a man. His name was Scott Griffith, and he was a new farm hand in town. He was handsome and charming, and on our very first date, he told me he loved me.”

“I see.” There was an odd tone in Lucas’s voice.

Journey was sure he was recalling the wild promises he’d made to her the first time they’d met. She still didn’t know what to make of them. He couldn’t have fallen in love with her at first sight— that didn’t exist. Maybe he’d fallen in lust at first sight and liking at first conversation, and had mistaken it for love.

Unable to look into his eyes, she went on, “He seemed so different from the Lummox men. Romantic. Passionate. He promised me the moon and stars. He told me he’d love me forever and go with me anywhere I wanted. And I believed him.”

Lucas’s voice sounded dry and brittle. “I assume he was not to be trusted.”

“No. He wasn’t.” Journey took a drink of coffee, but it didn’t clear the lump in her throat. Why had she even started telling this story? She didn’t want him to know how stupid and naïve she was. “One morning I woke up and he was gone. And so was all my money.”

A low, menacing sound made Journey’s head jerk up. Lucas’s eyes had gone hot and bright, but not with desire. His cool exterior had given way to burning fury. “And where is this Scott Griffith now?”

“He doesn’t exist,” Journey replied. “It turned out to be a fake name— everything about him was fake. I have no idea who he even was, other than a con man. I found out later that he’d been going town to town, finding stupid girls like me and—”

“No.” Lucas laid his fingers across her lips, silencing her. “Never call yourself stupid. You were young and innocent. He took advantage of that. But you were not in the wrong to believe him. He was wrong to lie and steal and betray.”

“I—” Her lips moved against his strong fingers. He dropped his hand, then tugged her close, cradling her against his chest. The contact brought tears to her eyes. “You’re the first person to not blame me. Everyone in Lummox said it was my fault for being stupid enough to trust him. And they said if I’d spent my money on house payments like a normal person instead of saving it all, he wouldn’t have been able to clean me out.”

“And what did their normal person payments gain them?” Lucas asked rhetorically. “What a prize: a house in Lummox!”

Journey let out a watery giggle. “That’s true. Well, I spent another two years working in Lummox, with everyone telling me every day that I’d never make it out— I’d throw my money away on the next handsome stranger to claim that he loved me. But I didn’t. I bought a backpack and a plane ticket, and I left and never looked back.”

“Never?” Lucas asked quietly.

Journey knew what he meant. She was forever marked by her past, just as he was. But she said lightly, “Almost never. I did see it in the news once, while I was in Budapest. It had been officially voted the most boring town in America. I felt totally vindicated.”

Lucas’s chuckle vibrated through his chest.

Journey settled back, leaning her head against his shoulder. “What about you? What have you been doing all these years away from Brandusa?”

He didn’t reply. When she turned her head to see his face, she found him looking uncertain. He was biting his lower lip, a gesture she’d never seen from him before.

“If it’s something you don’t want to talk about...” Journey began.

“No. I mean...” His voice trailed off into silence.

“...then forget that I asked,” she concluded.

“No, ” Lucas said again. He hesitated again, then said, “I traveled. For years. I brought some of my hoard with me, so I didn’t need to work. About a year ago, I was travelling in America. I was flying low at night over a city called Santa Martina. As a dragon, I mean. I was invisible, of course.”

“Of course,” echoed Journey, grinning.

“I saw a commotion in an alley, so I landed on a roof to get a better look. I saw a young man who looked like a gangster, covered in tattoos, fighting with an older man in a suit. The young man was trying to snatch the older man’s briefcase.”

“And you flew to the rescue?”

“Yes. I flew down to the street— the alley was too narrow for me to fit— became a man, and ran into the alley. I struck the man with tattoos and knocked him down, and handed the briefcase back to the older man.”

“That’s great!” But she saw from the ironic twist in his mouth that the story wasn’t going to be as straightforward as she’d thought.