Page 7 of Burn Dragon Burn
“Yeah but look at the estimated times of death.” Pointing at each of the M.E. reports hanging under each victim’s photo. “Each one could have been on a Wednesday and that means we are looking for not only a serial killer but one that knows alchemy and witchcraft and is trying to send his victims’ souls to the Devil.”
“You mean Hell.”
“No, I mean the Devil, Lucifer, the Grand Poobah of bad guys.” Once again walking the length of the freestanding boards, he popped the tip of his index finger on the tattoo on the inside of each girl’s wrist. Stopping at the last picture which belonged to the first victim, Jean Smith, he left his finger just below the mark and asked, “Do you know what this is? What it stands for?”
“No, I have no idea.” The perfect mix of curiosity and agitation colored her tone. “But, I’m guessin’ you’re gonna tell me.”
If he wasn’t mistaken, which he rarely was, Det. Hale was poking at him. He was making headway at winning her over. Put a tick in the positive column and keep ‘em comin’. “I will if you want me to.”
Leaning her hip against the table, still using it as a barrier between them, he first turned to completely face her and held out his hand. “I know your name from the file I was given when they shoved my ass on the plane, but I’d feel a whole lot better if we did this the right way.”
Making himself not react when she reached for his hand, Rafe went on,” Name’s Rafe O’Rhordan. You can call me Rafe. I don’t do ‘agent’, ‘special agent’, or ‘sir’.” Skittering up his spine the instant her hand touched him, he cleared his throat, praying she didn’t notice the pounding of his heart as he hurried on,“This is your case. I’m only here to assist. Point and tell me what to do, okay?”
Slowly nodding with her eyes narrowed and the slightest of smiles on her gorgeous lips, she began, “As I’m sure you know, I’m Donatella Hale, but if you call me that, I might shoot you. Only my Nona gets away with calling me by my Christian name. Around here, they call me Hale. I also go by Nat outside of work. Either’s fine.”
Pulling her hand from his, she continued, “We’ll get along fine as long as you keep me in the loop, don’t upstage me, and don’t make me look like an idiot. I have a partner. Don’t need another.” Pushing away from the table, she walked to the first whiteboard and looked at the photo of Jean Smith’s wrist. “Now, tell me about this whole alchemy – witch connection, and while you’re at it, tell me how I can sell that shit to Captain Isaacs.”
Unbuttoning his cuffs and rolling up his sleeves, Rafe crossed the room, grabbed his briefcase and pulled out an old grimoire that had been in his clan for centuries. Laying it on the table, he opened it and began thumbing through the pages.
“Exactly how old is that thing?”
Looking up with only his eyes, he winked. “Do you really want to know?”
Without an answer, Nat turned and headed towards the door. For a second, he thought she was leaving again, but the click of the latch and her returning footsteps calmed his fears. Waiting until she stopped beside him, he looked up just as she asked, “What are you…really?”
Seeing she had more to say but was still thinking about how to say it, he stood up, turned to face her, and crossed his arms over his chest. The moment the light shined in her eyes and her mouth opened, he had to smile. His mate was nothing, if not blunt.
“I’m what most people call psychic, but it’s not really that, and we can talk about that later, maybe. The Captain knows and Fitz knows, other than that, I don’t share.” She looked over his shoulder and bit her bottom lip which made not only his Dragon roar but his cock jump to attention.
Down boys. She’s nowhere near ready for that yet…
Looking back just as he’d schooled his features, Nat went on, “I don’t want to presume anything, and I need to trust you. So, I’m gonna tell you what I can see.” She lifted her hand and imitated washing a window or erasing a chalkboard which he immediately knew meant his aura.
Uncrossing his arms and letting them fall to his sides, trying to look as open as he could, he nodded and waited. It didn’t take long until she explained, “Aside from the normal colors I would expect for what I know of you, there’s a strong brassy outline filled with a lighter but still very prominent scale design in the shape of a Dragon.”
Looking over her shoulder at the door then out the window that looked out onto the Squad Room before turning back around, Nat added, “Now, I know there are a lot of things out there in the world, people like me, people like the asshole who’s killing girls I’ve even met some of them, but if you really are a man who can shift into a Dragon, then I owe my Nona a hundred dollars.”
Giving a dramatic pause, just because he could, and because he was sure it would irritate Nat at least a little bit, he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, gave her a hundred-watt smile, and chuckled, “You better stop by the ATM, ‘cause you owe your grandma some money.”
5
Sitting at the last stoplight before her favorite Chinese takeout joint, Nat thought over all she’d learned in the last six or so hours and wondered if she’d been dropped into an alternate universe between her visit with Nona and arriving at work. Dragon Shifters were a real thing. The lunatic killing girls was using Witchcraft and Alchemy, and tomorrow, she would meet the honest to God, King of the Big Cats.
“I can’t wait to hear what Nona’s got to say about that?”
Reminiscing about all the bedtime stories her grandmother used to tell, it finally clicked. “Every damn one of them was real.” Her voice echoed through her empty car. “She was telling me the truth. Using her amazing ability to wave a tale to tell me about the world she’d grown up in.”
Parking in front of Hot Dumpling Hut, she was out of the car, in the store, and back in the car in less than five minutes. Placing her bag on the passenger seat, she got out a fresh, hot crab rangoon before pulling into traffic. Blowing until it was cool enough to eat, she headed towards her grandmother’s for the second time in the same day.
Pulling into the driveway, in one way it felt like she’d never left and in another it felt like it’d been years since she was there. So much had happened, so many things she needed to sort out in her mind, but in that very moment all that mattered was finding out why she couldn’t stop thinking about that exasperating, frustrating, totally irresistible Special Agent Dragon Man.
Setting the bag on the table without looking up at her grandma, Nat got out the containers of food, the chopsticks and the sauce packets, basically fell into her seat, and blowing out a huge breath, let all the tension she was feeling float away. Feeling Nona’s stare, she looked up and deadpanned, “So, I’m sure you know this, but let me throw it out there anyway. The big, hunky Fed is also a Dragon and tomorrow I get to meet a guy who can not only turn into a Black Panther, but is also the King of the Big Cats.”
“Maximillian is coming to town?”
Flying forward in her seat, all pretense of nonchalance gone, Nat yelled, “You know the guy?”
“Well, of course, I do, Dear. What kind of Seer would I be if I didn’t know the Others of our Community?”