Fire Song (City of Dragons) (34 page)

I pointed to my car. “Can’t I just have my keys? Didn’t you find them somewhere?”

“Everything in that house is being tagged as evidence.”

I groaned.

The EMT tapped me on the shoulder. “Hey, I’ve got an extra set of scrubs if you’d like to put those on.”

I wanted to hug her.

Once I was dressed, even in bulky blue pajama-type clothes, I felt oodles better. I was able to talk to all the officers on the scene, go over everything that had happened.

Well, I might have left out the part about Lachlan and I snuggling on the mattress when it was cold.

But it all passed in a whir, and finally, we were released, and I got in the car with Lachlan, who drove us away. I’d come back later with my spare key for my car. Right now, that wasn’t my first priority.

Lachlan drove until we found the ocean.

He waited, and I ran into the waves and shifted.

And then, in my dragon form, flying up into the bluest of blue skies, everything was okay.

“Out of the way,” I bellowed. I was coming up the steps to Jensen’s apartment, floating about ten boxes in the air in front of me. They all belonged to Felicity. Today was officially move-in day for her, and I wouldn’t be a good best friend if I didn’t help.

Connor ducked out of the stairwell. “Geez, Penny. How many boxes you got there?”

Okay, technically, it was moving night by now. It had taken all day to pack up the rest of Felicity’s stuff—even though she didn’t have any furniture—and that was handy, because it meant Connor was awake to help.

“Just move,” I said, using magic to push the boxes ahead of me as I climbed the stairs.

“Don’t drop anything,” he said.

“Shut up,” I said. “I’m concentrating here.”

I climbed the rest of the steps, turned onto Felicity’s floor, went down the hallway, and stopped in front of her door, floating the boxes the whole way.

“Open up!” I called.

Felicity opened the door. “Why, Penny. How nice of you to stop by.”

I glared at her. “Where do you want these?”

She got up on tiptoe to try to read the label on the box floating just above her head. “Um, can you lower this a little so that I can see?”

I pointed at the boxes and they all stacked up in one corner.

“Hey,” she said. “You’re not going to make me carry them all the way back the hall, are you?”

I shut the door behind me and collapsed against it. “Sheesh, Felicity. You know it actually takes effort to use magic?”

She laughed.

Someone banged on the door.

“Who is it?” I yelled.

“It’s Connor,” he said. “I’ve got boxes. Let me in.”

I moved away from the door.

Felicity opened it.

Connor came in, carrying a stack of four big boxes.

“Whoa,” said Felicity.

He set them down. “Gargoyle strength comes in handy sometimes.”

“Thank you, Connor,” said Felicity. She turned to me. “Thank you both. It’s awesome having such magical friends.”

“You just love us for our special abilities,” said Connor.

“I’ll go down for the rest of it,” I mumbled.

“No, I think that’s it,” said Connor. “I saw Jensen down there, and I think he was gathering up the last of it—”

Jensen burst through the door at that moment, weighted down under at least three more boxes.

I reached out with my magic and lifted them. “Let me help you out with that.”

“Thanks,” gasped Jensen. He was sweating. He looked at Felicity. “Babe, your friends are really showing me up. I’m feeling a wee bit emasculated. I can’t even carry up your boxes without looking like a wimp.”

“Wimp is good,” I said. “I want Felicity with a wimp.”

Felicity rolled her eyes. She grabbed Jensen by the collar and pulled him against her. “You’re not a wimp.”

And then they were kissing.

I looked at the floor.

Connor coughed pointedly.

They kept kissing.

“Well,” I said, “if that’s everything, then I guess we help ourselves to beer in the refrigerator?”

“We were promised beer,” said Connor.

“And pizza,” I said, heading for the kitchen. “Are you two going to stop kissing long enough to order pizza?”

“Pizza’s already ordered,” Felicity called after us. “And totally snag yourselves some beer.”

She and Jensen were following us into the kitchen, fingers linked.

“We really do appreciate you guys helping us move her in,” said Jensen.

“No problem. What are friends for?” I opened the refrigerator and took out two cans of beer. I handed one to Connor and held the other aloft. “Either of you guys want?”

“Yes, please,” said Felicity.

I handed it over. I raised my eyebrows at Jensen. “You?”

He nodded.

I got out a beer for him and one for me. I gave him his. “Listen, it goes without saying that if you hurt my best friend—”

“You’ll burn me alive with your fire-breathing capabilities. Yeah, yeah, I know.”

“I wouldn’t burn you alive,” I said. “I mean, unless you killed her or something.”

“Just stop it,” said Felicity. “He’s not going to hurt me.” She lay her head on his shoulder. “I’m happy, Penny. Just be happy for me.”

I smiled. “I am.” I held my beer up. “To Felicity and Jensen.”

“Felicity and Jensen,” said Connor, holding his up.

“I’ll drink to that,” said Jensen.

We all clinked our cans together, and then took a drink.

I eyed Felicity over my beer. “I am going to miss you, you know?”

She smiled. “I’m going to see you every day at the hotel, you know that, don’t you?”

“It’s not the same,” I said, and I was ashamed to say that my eyes were getting a little misty.

She let go of Jensen long enough to hug me. “Best friends forever,” she whispered in my ear.

“Forever,” I whispered back, hugging her tight.

*

Later that night, I was sitting at the front desk in the hotel. I had told Connor to go out on his own, that I’d cover his shift for the night, because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sleep.

Even though Felicity hadn’t been sleeping up there for a long time, the emptiness of the place seemed so… final.

I didn’t want to be there alone tonight.

I didn’t want to feel that emptiness.

The truth was, I suddenly felt more on my own than I ever had.

When I had been young, I’d had my parents. When they were gone, I’d had my grandparents. And then there had been Alastair. And when I left Alastair, I had Felicity.

But now…

I was really doing this.

And it was a big deal, because I wasn’t in hiding anymore. I wasn’t trying to lie low. Everyone knew who I was, knew I was a dragon, knew that I had helped take down Anthony Barnes, the dragon serial killer.

Things were changing now.

I had thought that when I closed this case, I’d be putting Alastair behind bars, closing that chapter of my life.

But it had turned out that Alastair hadn’t killed those women after all. That didn’t mean he wasn’t a despicable human being, of course. But he was still out there, and a part of me would always want him, no matter what.

I hated that.

But I was strong. I could handle it.

I could do this. I could live on my own, by my own rules, in my city.

The door to the lobby opened, and Lachlan walked in. “Am I late?”

“Right on time.” I smiled. “Did you get it?”

He held up the bottle of wine he was carrying.

“Not the wine,” I said. “Anyway, I think I may have had too much beer at Felicity’s earlier. I need to go easy on that.”

He set the bottle down on the front desk. “Not the wine,” he repeated, looking confused for moment. “Oh. You mean this?” He pulled a folded-up piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to me.

I unfolded it eagerly. “My own network password.”

He smiled. “So that you can log onto the computers at the police station whenever you need, since you are now an official consultant to the SCPD.”

I smiled back. “Awesome. Thank you.” I threw my arms around him.

He stiffened.

I released him. “Sorry. I guess we don’t hug.”

He put his hands in his pockets, grinning at the floor. “We could hug.”

“Yeah?”

“You startled me is all. What’s a little hug between friends?”

I chewed on my lip. “Is that what we are, Lachlan?”

He gestured at the piece of paper he’d given me. “Now, we’re coworkers.”

“Well, but not really,” I said.

He smirked. “And it would be very unprofessional to allow anything to come between us and our work, don’t you think?”

I narrowed my eyes.

He picked up the wine. “You have a corkscrew somewhere?”

I picked it up off the counter. “Right here. I was waiting for you to show up with wine.”

He took it from me and began screwing it into the cork.

“Hey,” I said. “What about that hug?”

He laughed. He set down the wine and the corkscrew. He opened his arms, waggling his eyebrows at me.

My breath caught in my throat. Sometimes, he was shockingly attractive, even when he was just joking around.

“Well?” He stepped closer to me.

Suddenly, my pulse started to pick up speed. I looked up at him, questions in my gaze.

“A hug, then,” he murmured, but his voice had dipped into his lower register.

I licked my lips.

In one fluid motion, he slid an arm around my waist and tugged me tight against his body.

I let out a tiny breath.

And then he kissed me.

I clutched his shoulders, surrendering to the sweet pressure of his lips, the warmth of his arms around me, the goodness of our closeness.

Outside, the stars twinkled and the moon reflected on the dark, deep ocean.

The lights of my little hotel shone out into the darkness, one building among many that dotted the coast of Sea City. My city.

My home.

*

Now what?

1. Leave a review

2. More Penny and the gang?

Find info on the next City of Dragons book
here
.

3. Join my email list

To find out information on new releases and all the Val St. Crowe news first!

Join
here
.

4. Check out other Val St. Crowe books
here
.

Thanks so much for reading!!!