Dragon 2 Chapter 2 (Patreon)

Scarlett was happily munching down a muffin at the table as I came back from the kitchen with an omelette the size of my head.

Morgana’s bar, Bumps in the Night, was slowly becoming my home. It helped that her kitchen was open 24/7, and I ate for free. Between the free food and the awesome suite she’d created for me in the magical pocket dimension she called the Atrium, I didn’t have much reason to leave. She’d taken her role as my mentor seriously.

“I see you got your muffin fix for the morning.” I teased Scarlett.

Scarlett narrowed her eyes over the tasty pastry. She had a love hate/relationship with muffins. The hate was all about what they did to her hips. “I really need to go teach Morgana’s chef about muffin making. These were in the oven for too long.”

Reaching over and tearing a corner off, I popped it in my mouth to confirm. It tasted perfectly fine to me.

Her mouth dropped open like I had just committed the foulest of betrayals. “MY muffin.”

“You can get another.”

“No, I can’t. Because then I’ll eat an entire second muffin. Yet here I am now, without a full muffin.” She held it out as if asking me to examine the crime scene. “We can share a toothbrush, but a muffin?! That’s a step too far.”

I snickered at her mock indignation. Though, knowing Scarlett, it was a little true. But I enjoyed getting a reaction out of her. “Fine. By the way, you should probably bring some things over to the room here.”

“Ha. I think if I brought much over to your little lair, you might stuff me in your hoard.” She teased.

“My lair? You make me sound like some sort of villain that’s kidnapping you to my evil lair.” I started in on the meat packed omelette, though I’d added spinach in an attempt to be healthy. Or at least, that’s what I told myself.

I was still eating far more than made sense. This omelet was big enough to feed a family of four. Thank goodness the chef knew I was a paranormal and didn’t think much of it.

“You’re a…” She looked around and leaned in. “You-know-what. You have a hoard, and your kind have lairs.”

“Huh.” I hadn’t thought of it that way before. “Okay, it’s my lair. But not an evil lair.”

“Of course not. Unless we want to try that out with role play.” She tapped on her muffin. “That might actually be kind of fun. Once I’m rested up and ready to go again, we should try it out. Because no doubt if we play like that, you are going to get real dominant and rough.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me.

But I didn’t really process what she was saying, because her father had walked in as she started talking. His fox ears swiveled to us and the scowl that formed on his face as he approached told me he had just had the displeasure of hearing his daughter talk about sex.

The detective was a kitsune, like his daughter, and they had that same fox orange hair. The difference was he had it covering his face in a thin beard that wasn’t very well kept at the moment.

He looked tired and overworked to me, but then again, the way he ran around for the Scalewright family, I had a hard time imagining him taking a day off to rest.

“You know maybe we could—”

“Scar, your father just walked in.” I interrupted her, knowing she’d already be embarrassed as she replayed what she’d just said.

“Shit.” She cursed and looked over her shoulder. “Hi Paps. Want some of my muffin?” She must have felt terrible about it to offer her muffin as a consolation.

The detective remained unamused. “You stayed here tonight. The Scalewright family is our responsibility to protect.”

She waved off his concern. “I had two men watching the sorority house all night long. There’s no problem.”

He narrowed his eyes dangerously before giving up on his daughter and focusing on me. His face was all business. “Is Morgana here?”

“Don’t think so. But I can take the request.” Technically, Morgana had made me a partner in her mercenary business. We split profits 50/50 if we worked together, and I’d even started taking a few jobs on my own for full value.

“I want both of you on this.” He pulled a manilla folder out from under his arm. Pausing, I hadn’t noticed it when he’d walked in. Had he hidden it with an illusion, or had it just blended in with his tan jacket?

“What’s this?” I took the folder. The tab read ‘OTM Conference’. But before I gave it another thought, I asked, “Any news on the person you were looking for from the drug case?” There had been someone who used a human like a skin suit. Apparently skinwalkers weren’t real, but because of the only piece of evidence we had, I tended to call the mystery person the skinwalker.

“No, but these are just the people to have answers if you want them. We don’t govern the magi.”

Scarlett leaned over to read the folder’s tab and swore. “I forgot it’s in Philly this year.” I cleared my throat and raised my eyebrows, prompting her to look up and realize I had no idea what she was talking about. She gave a sheepish smile. “Order of the Magi. Or OTM. They have a yearly conference in one of the para hub cities every year.”

“Like magicians?”

Both of the kitsunes snorted in the same way that marked them as family.

“Please call them that.” Scarlett laughed. “Oh, they hate the word magician; it makes them feel like stage performers. No, they lump themselves all together as ‘magi’ and then argue endlessly about what makes them all different.”

The detective hid his smirk only a second after showing his amusement, returning to his typical neutral face. “It’s a big deal. Thousands of them will flock here. Market East will be flooded with them, and we need to keep disturbances to a minimum.”

“So just have the council throw up their normal rules. Why do we have to babysit them?”

“They aren’t part of the council.” Scarlett stepped in to explain. “They are humans who use magic, so it is a little of a gray area when it comes to paranormal definitions.”

The detective cut in, going with a more direct approach. “They identify as human and fall outside the council. They govern themselves, and not effectively.” The way he said it sounded like he didn’t quite accept that someone could choose to not be part of the paranormal community. “The convention starts on Saturday, and with your ability to see magic, we’d like you to do a sweep of the convention center beforehand. Make sure everything is clean before we let the magi in to set up.”

“I have class today, and we are on another job managing the swamp trolls. I could probably swing by on Friday afternoon and do the sweep, if that works?”

“You can’t do it tonight?” He pressed.

I scrunched up my nose and leaned back, thinking about it. “I’ll talk to Morgana and see if she can handle the troll sweep tonight on her own. No promises. Our usual rate works?”

Detective Fox grumbled about the cost, but he didn’t put up a fight. He simply nodded and turned to Scarlett. “Daughter, please don’t shirk your duties too long. Boys will come and go, but your bond with Jadelyn isn’t going anywhere.”

Scar rolled her eyes while looking away from where her father couldn’t see it. “Got it.”

I hadn’t poked too much into the exact nature of her and Jadelyn’s relationship. But it was odd. Both she and her father were the right hand of the current head and the heir to the Scalewright family. Her father had made it seem as if he got her mother pregnant when he’d learned Jadelyn had been conceived in some sort of odd arrangement.

But it didn’t feel like that between Jadelyn and Scarlett. Scarlett seemed like the closest thing Jadelyn had to a sister. She just also happened to manage her security detail.

Waiting until her father was gone, I turned back to Scarlett. “I’m not getting in the middle of any obligations, am I?”

“No. It’s fine.”

Normally I left it be, but this time I decided to press a little further. If I was to make inroads with Jadelyn, I should untangle their relationship. “Is it really? We’ve avoided it, but what exactly are you to Jadelyn? Could you walk away?” I hated putting it out there like that, but I wanted to make sure.

“What? Oh god. No, it’s nothing that bad. I’m not her servant or anything.” She took a deep breath. “You should have asked earlier if you wanted to know.”

She continued. “The Scalewright family is old money. Like barons and dukes. But it was in the renaissance period that they really boomed, taking an iron grip over the waterways around Europe. And then their business went crazy when colonization happened. As sirens, ships didn’t sail if the Scalewright family didn’t want them to.”

“Right, but how does the Fox family fit in?” I pressed.

“Getting there.” She gave me a sly smile. “The timing is important to understand, because a lot of how things work was built during those times. So the practices seem a bit archaic. Our family has been guarding them for generations. Tradition dictates that the guard is raised with the royalty they are supposed to protect, to form a bond.”

It definitely seemed archaic. “And you don’t resent that?”

“No. I went through a phase as a teenager where I did and I swore to my father that I was going to quit. I even quit for a whole six months at one point.” Her ears wilted at the memory.

“What happened?”

“Jadelyn got hurt. The guy who replaced me did a shit job. So I came back, beat the shit out of him, and took the job back. She is like a sister to me. She treats me well, and the pay is fantastic. I own a small chunk of their company and get fat dividends.” There was a big smile on her face.

I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it. I especially judged her father. But as long as she was happy, I wasn’t going to complain. “So, if you’re making good money and have a lifelong job, why go to college?”

“Jadelyn’s here, so might as well. Also, I like having options. Even if I never end up going into pharma or whatever with the degree, I’m smarter for it.”

I nodded. I wasn’t sure I would have made the same decisions, but I didn’t need to. It had brought Scarlett into my life, and as long as she was happy, I didn’t have to go all protective dragon boyfriend and kill a bunch of people. I paused, realizing I really would do that for her.

“Let me scarf down this omelette and then we should head to our classes. I’ll see you in organic.” I pushed past the awkward conversation and dug into the meaty omelette with the gusto that only a hungry dragon could have.

***

I sat in one of the cafeterias during my break between classes, staring at the information within the Order of the Magi folder the detective had given me.

But my concentration was broken when somebody sat down next to me. I quickly flipped the folder closed.

“Hi Zach.” Jadelyn smiled at me. It was that same neutral smile she’d been giving me for months, like she was always afraid she’d be seen as too forward. Although I appreciated that she was giving me space after the complexity, her kissing me at the sorority party had caused at the onset of Scarlett and my relationship.

“What are you working on?” She glanced at the folder, and I saw a flash of recognition when she read the tab.

“Detective Fox handed this to me this morning.”

“Oh, that’s a big deal. I… uh… threw your name out for that, actually. Since you can see magic and Scarlett vouched for you. The other option was two dozen elves going around and casting spells to sense magic in a grid to check out the venue.” She blushed before her straight platinum blond hair fell in front of her face like a curtain.

“Oh.” I hadn’t realized Jadelyn was responsible for me getting this job. “Thanks for thinking of me.”

There was a long awkward stretch of silence during which she pulled her hair out of the way. I wasn’t sure how to work to ease the tension between us.

“So, have you talked to Scarlett at all?” I fumbled for a way to tell her that I was going to date other people now. Knowing how her kiss went over with me in the past, I figured Scarlett should probably give her the all clear first.

Jadelyn laughed. “You realize she is both my roommate, and we work on nearly everything together, right? So yeah, I’ve talked with her. But if there’s something you’re getting at, you should probably be more specific.”

Taking a deep breath, I tried to let go of my nerves. “Well. You remember when you kissed me earlier this semester?”

The way her cheeks heated told me she remembered that well enough.

“Well, what she couldn’t tell you exactly is what I am. But she knew that because of it, I would likely have more than one girl around me. Possibly a harem.” Just saying that word out loud was uncomfortable. I felt like I was butchering this.

Jadelyn nodded. “I got that picture already. But you are just with Scar right now.”

I nodded, pausing before I continued. “Right, and that’s all it was. But, she changed her view last night. I’m officially on the market, I guess... for more. Scarlett and I are still together though.”

“Uh, huh.” She made a slow nod. “But what does this have to do with me and Scar talking?”

There was a bit of anger, or maybe hurt, in her eyes as she said it.

I realized that after avoiding her for months, things might not be the same. She might not still have feelings for me. I hadn’t considered that she wouldn’t be ready when I was, and I deserved that for making her wait.

But I needed to dragon up and make my desire known. She could decide what she wanted from there. “Well, I’d like to ask you on a date, Jadelyn.”

She cracked a smile and then slammed it back down into a frown. “You won’t even tell me what you are.”

“Does that matter? Even if I was a swamp troll, would that make a difference? Would that suddenly change it all?”

“There are some paras that just don’t do well—”

I held up my hand to stop her. “What I am won’t cause you any harm. I am, however, extraordinarily dangerous. Just not to those I care about.”

She eyed me up and down. “Okay. I’ll bite. I’m free on Saturday.”

A relieved rush of air slipped out of me. I was glad she hadn’t lost interest. “I can make Saturday work. Meet me at Bumps.”

Jadelyn raised a curious eyebrow. “What am I dressing for? A dinner and then the club?” Her tone suggested that was boring, and she expected more.

I realized Jadelyn had enough fancy meals and clubs in her life. She was looking for something different. “Wear jeans you wouldn’t mind getting dirty and shoes you can walk in for a while. And nevermind on Bumps. I’ll pick you up at the sorority?” I made a mental note to bug Morgana, to borrow one of her cars.

“Ah. That would be lovely. I need to warn you though, a trip like that might warrant a security detail for me.”

I hadn’t considered that, but it made sense. “I’ll work it out with Scarlett. Don’t want to ruin my surprise just yet.” I had no clue where we were going, but a hike and maybe a nice spot under the stars sounded like the perfect way to get to know Jadelyn.

She tilted her head. “I guess you dating my head of security does make things a little easier.”

“Good. Then I’ll pick you up Saturday at seven.” I made an entry in my phone before changing the subject. “Do you happen to know anything about these, Magi? Gotta be honest, I feel like I’m studying up on a class I haven’t gone to all semester.”

“Like biology?” She gave me a telling look; she knew exactly why I’d been missing class.

I didn’t even try to make an excuse and owned it. “Scarlett is too important to me. I was a little afraid of messing it up.”

“Until now.”

“Until she gave me the all clear to explore my paranormal nature and seek other women.” I took a sip of my water as a way to hide my nerves. Talking about trying to form a harem both made a part of me smug with satisfaction and made my human instincts cringe. But it was something I was just going to need to push through.

Jadelyn made an innocent hum of understanding. “That’s not quite the way she described it. More like, you are insatiable in the bedroom and need more than just one poor, sore kitsune to satisfy you.”

My water came out in a spray. Thankfully, no one was sitting across from me. “You said you didn’t talk to Scarlett.”

“I said you had to clarify. Of course we girl talk all the time.” She smiled, full of cunning. I had to remember not only was she a beautiful woman, she was also a businesswoman, training to take over a colossal business empire. There was about zero chance she wasn’t an expert in negotiations. Of which angling for a date, most certainly counted.

I buried my face in my hands. “Please. Spare me the details. The magi?”

Having won, she wore a satisfied smile on her face. “Sure, what do you want to know?”

Flipping the file back open, I skimmed through the first few pages. “So, I get the request from the detective. But what I don’t get is exactly how they all divide themselves up. He switches between sorcerer and wizard like they mean more than just some generic terms. This didn’t exactly come with an appendix for that.”

Her eyes opened wide in understanding. Having been part of my unfortunate introduction to the paranormal society, Jadelyn knew I was new to all of it. I didn’t know what those raised in the paranormal world their whole life knew instinctively. “Okay, so wizard and witch are pretty much the same. Both of them are more into a ritual and academic approach. Lots of mixing, grinding and detailed drawings.”

I nodded along; that made sense.

“Sorcerers are like the guys who don’t need to understand anything. They just have a talent for it. They have something not human in their heritage, giving them an innate control over a limited part of magic.”

When I nodded, she continued. “Then you have warlocks. They have magical potential like wizards and witches, but none of the understanding. So they rely on something more powerful than themselves through a pact to control their magic.” She made a disgusted face when she talked about warlocks.

“We don’t like warlocks?”

“We barely like any of the Magi. They refuse to be part and parcel to the para councils. Yet they are probably the biggest danger to the secret of the paranormal world. Think about it, if the big secret came out, which side do you think they’d be on? Do you think they’d be hunted like the rest of us?”

“Oh.” I understood then. “They know the secret but don’t have the same risks as everyone else.”

“Exactly. And that’s how it went down in the 17th century. So, we are forced to make sure things go smoothly at the convention. Even if they won’t claim to be paranormal, we claim Philly and will make our presence known.”

I smiled, enjoying watching her talk like a person of authority. I liked this side of Jadelyn far better than the woman who was tied up in an arranged marriage she didn’t want. Ever since the engagement with Chad had ended, Jadelyn seemed to be taking life by the horns, and I found it way sexier.

My phone buzzed, and I picked it up. ‘Swamp Trolls. Need back up. East side of campus.’ Morgana texted.

“Shit. Got to go. More swamp troll fun.” I waved the phone at Jadelyn as I stood. Not wanting to leave it there, I added, “Saturday. 7 pm. Dress for a hike.”

“I’ll be there. Be careful with the trolls. They are a great way to lose an arm. And I’d prefer you have both your hands available when we have our fun for the first time.” She winked at me.

Her flightiness caught me off guard slightly, but then filled me with a bit of warmth. I was looking forward to Saturday and seeing where things between us would go.

I gave her a smile and added, “Maybe they should be terrified of me.”

AN: I'm not sure why, but the muffin stuff really gets me. I laughed a lot editing this tonight.