Liana stared at Timothy. There was a strange light in his eyes again. They gleamed a bright azure, deep and blue like the ocean.
She shivered instinctively, remembering the powerful dragon that had rescued her at the last moment.
Braeden was still glaring at Timothy. “I’ve told you what they’re trying to accomplish. They’re trying to take over the world. They want revenge. And they don’t care if this means that innocents die.”
“And what about the other questions? Because innocents will die if we don’t get answers to those.”
Now Braeden flinched. “I don’t want anyone to get harmed,” he said softly. “But you don’t understand... All that’s left to me is my honor. I won’t be a traitor.”
Timothy snorted. “There you have it,” he said in disgust. “That’s how it goes every time. Well, I for one am sick of it. Next time I go to the council, I’ll leave you there. Let the chimera babysit you again. We’ve got a perfectly nice prison cell there for you.”
“I want to see the world,” Braeden said mulishly. “If you want me to learn about humans, you need to let me live among them.”
“No fucking way,” Timothy declared, “not while I’m responsible for you. Your friends just nearly killed my mate.”
“They are not my friends,” Braeden ground out and got up, banging his fists onto the table.
For a moment, he and Timothy glared at each other, the tension in the room rising until Liana nervously began to wonder if the kitchen would fit two dragons if they shifted.
Then Braeden lowered his eyes, grimacing. “Thank you for the pancakes,” he said stiffly, then got up and stalked away.
“Phew,” Liana said when he was safely out of earshot. “Is it just me, or is he a bit... fiery?”
She giggled nervously at her own pun.
Then Timothy suddenly gasped, his eyes widening. A moment later, he pulled the forgotten pan from the stove.
“Just in time,” he declared in relief after he’d inspected it, arranging the rescued bacon on a plate.
Liana smiled at him when he came to sit down next to her. He began attacking the pancakes they’d left for him, while she helped herself to the very crispy bacon.
“He hasn’t been able to stretch his wings and fly for quite a while now,” Timothy explained between bites. “Drives all of us a bit mad if we can’t. And then of course, there’s the bit where he is a fire dragon.”
“It’s weird to talk to him,” Liana murmured, looking at Braeden’s abandoned plate. “He doesn’t look like a monster at all. He doesn’t talk like one either. But the dragons who attacked us... They weren’t like him.”
She hadn’t talked to them, of course—but she didn’t particularly want to, either. She remembered all too well the jets of fire they’d breathed her way. They’d wanted to kill her, not squabble over syrup.
“He’ll come around,” Timothy said. “It’s actually true what he said—he’s made friends with the human mates of the storm and earth dragons. I don’t know what they see in him, personally, but I guess there’s no accounting for taste. And the chimera likes it.”
“The chimera?” Liana gave Timothy another questioning look.
“He’s the master of the council. Very old and powerful. He never leaves the seat of the council though.”
Liana shook her head with a soft laugh. “This is all so weird,” she murmured. “Dragons and chimeras...”
“There are more shifters.” Timothy gave her a searching look. “If you’d like to learn more, my offer still stands. Come spend a day in our town by the ocean. There are no dragons there—but we’ve got lions and dogs and wolves.”
“Any mermaids?” Liana asked, her heart racing in her chest. Timothy was so close that she found herself staring at his mouth again, remembering the sensation of his lips against hers.
Despite the danger and the confusion of this strange new world, something inside her clenched with sudden longing to feel those strong hands pull her against his hard chest again.
“No mermaids,” he murmured, “but I couldn’t imagine a greater wonder than to get to see you swim in the sea...”
Liana swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. Her heart was pounding. Despite her earlier worries, it was difficult to think of the dragon attack, now that Timothy was so close again.
“Maybe you will,” she said, something in her tight with need. She licked her lips—and then, slowly, reached out to touch his arm.
She could feel his muscles shift beneath her fingers, hard as rock. She remembered how he’d felt against her when they’d said goodbye in his car, the way he’d smelled of clear, cold water and freedom.