Chapter 35 #2
The sound of laughter broke something open in the yard. The earlier terror Phin harbored vanished. Her hand still trembled against Rhaz’s scales and her heart raced, but now those feelings were accompanied by wonder and, dare she say it, love?
Yes, Phin had chosen to love Rhaz, and somehow that realization made everything else seem less impossible.
Jessica wiped her cheeks and took a cautious step forward. “Can I... I mean, is it safe to touch him?”
One of Rhaz’s great golden eyes shifted to her.
Jessica immediately stopped. “That was a stupid question. Never mind.”
“I think it’s safe,” Phin told her, her voice coming out stronger than she expected.
“Are you sure?” Jessica asked.
Phin looked up at Rhaz. He was a dragon. He had claws and wings and could probably breathe fire.
And he was also Rhaz. The man who’d bought her too many clothes because he didn’t understand how shopping worked in Moon Creek Falls if you were “just” friends. The man who took milkshakes seriously, and the same man who looked at her as if she were something rare and impossible.
Her eyes widened. Suddenly their last conversation came flooding back. Good grief. If he really did replace Chief Morrison… “My fire chief is a dragon,” Phin muttered.
Jessica blinked. “What?”
“Nothing.” But she couldn’t stop smiling. This was still Rhaz. He was just in the shape of a dragon now.
Jessica approached again, dragging Richard by the wrist.
Richard dug in his heels. “Why am I coming?”
“Because I am not doing this alone,” she hissed.
“I am very comfortable doing whatever it is from back here.”
“Richard.”
“All right. I’m coming.”
They stopped beside Phin, and Jessica stared up. “Oh gosh,” she whispered. “You’re huge!”
Rhaz blinked once.
“Excellent observation,” Quill called from behind them.
Jessica ignored him. She lifted one hand, then hesitated. “May I?”
Rhaz lowered his head another few feet.
Jessica touched one scale with the very tip of her finger, then snatched her hand back. “Okay, wow. That is... that is very real.”
Richard leaned in, touched Rhaz with two fingers, then stepped back. “There. I did it. I touched a dragon. That’s enough personal growth for one evening. Can we go home now?” He grabbed Jessica and tried to pull her back, but she wouldn’t budge.
Jackson clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re doing fine, Richard.”
“No, I’m not,” Richard said emphatically. “But thank you.”
Jessica looked at Phin, her eyes wide. “You’re in love with a dragon.”
Phin glanced up at Rhaz. His eyes locked on hers again. “Yes,” she said softly. “I am.”
Jessica shook her head. “Mom is going to lose her mind.”
Richard made a strangled sound. “We are not telling your mother and father. Do you hear me?”
“Not tonight,” Jessica agreed.
“Not ever!” Richard put a hand on her shoulder and tried to pull her back again, but once more she refused to move.
Anon cleared his throat. “Perhaps we can postpone Mrs. Ironwood’s introduction to the supernatural until everyone presently in the yard has stopped looking as though they may faint.”
Richard raised a hand. “I vote yes.”
Quill straightened. “I vote we ask him to breathe fire.”
“No, absolutely not,” Anon said.
Rhaz made that rumbling sound again. This time, Phin laughed. She leaned her cheek against his warm scales and let herself breathe.
Her world had changed. No. That wasn’t quite right. The world had always been this strange. She simply knew it now. And somehow, impossibly, she was standing beside the most wonderful man she had ever met.
Rhaz lowered his head until his brow touched her shoulder with exquisite care. The gesture was so gentle, so completely at odds with the power he possessed, that Phin’s throat tightened all over again.
Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I’m here,” she whispered.
His breath warmed her hair. So am I.
For the first time since Anon looked at Rhaz and told him to shift, Phin believed they might actually survive this.
No matter how surreal or frightening it was.
The front door opened, and Aaron stepped onto the porch, with Betty right behind him. He took one look at Rhaz, and his face broke into a grin. He spread his arms wide. “There he is!”
The dragon turned one enormous golden eye toward him.
Aaron ran down the porch steps. “Look at him! Isn’t he magnificent?”
Betty rolled her eyes as she plodded down the steps. “You’ve seen him before, honey.”
“That doesn’t make him any less magnificent,” Aaron said.
Rhaz made a low, rumbling sound.
“I know.” Aaron pointed excitedly. “The wings are my favorite part.”
The rumbling stopped.
“Aaron,” Betty said.
“What?” Aaron asked.
“Nothing,” Betty said with a sigh. Phin laughed despite herself as Aaron hurried across the yard and stopped near Rhaz’s foreleg.
“Have they seen you yet?” He turned to the rest of them. “Oh, I guess they have.”
“Seen him?” Jessica cried. “We’ve practically had a religious experience.”
Aaron beamed. “I remember my first time.”
Richard made a strangled noise. “There was a first time? Oh gosh, how many times have you seen this thing?”
“Well, let’s see,” Aaron said. “There was the second time and then the third time and the fourth time…”
Jessica’s eyes widened. “You’ve seen him like this more than once?”
Aaron’s face screwed up in confusion. “Yes.”
“Was there a fifth time?” Aaron asked Betty.
She shrugged. “I believe so. Yeah. To be fair,” Betty said, turning to Phin, Jessica and Richard. “I didn’t know Rhaz was a dragon either.”
Jessica bobbed her head back and forth. “Okay.” She turned back to Aaron. “Do you ride him?”
He brightened. “Oh yes, of course.”
Richard made a choking sound. “You—you do what?”
Aaron pointed at Rhaz. “I’ve flown on him several times, but Anon’s flown on him the most.”
Jessica let out a squeal. “Oh my gosh, you’ve flown on a dragon? That’s so cool.” She spun toward Rhaz. “Can you fly to Hawaii?”
Rhaz cocked his massive head, appearing to consider the question.
“A dragon can fly great distances,” Aaron announced.
Jessica slapped Richard’s arm. “See?”
“See what?” Richard demanded.
She threw her arms in the air. “We could go to Hawaii.”
Richard’s jaw dropped. “We are not going to Hawaii on a dragon. We’ll fly on an airplane!”
“You don’t know that.”
“I absolutely do know that.” Richard crossed his arms and looked away.
Aaron nodded, a serious look on his face. “It would take planning and math. Quill likes math.” He glanced at Betty, then Richard. “Betty says you like math too.”
Richard stared at him. “You are not helping.”
Aaron cocked his head. “I am trying to be accurate.”
Jessica laughed and pointed at Rhaz. “Can Richard ride you?”
“No!” Richard screeched. He folded his arms. “Absolutely not.”
Jessica put her hands on her hips. “You didn’t even think about it.”
“There’s nothing to think about, darling,” Richard stated emphatically.
Aaron grinned. “You know, he’s surprisingly comfortable.”
“No.” Richard repeated.
Jackson began to laugh. “Oh, come on, Richard. You’d get used to it.”
“Absolutely not.” Richard put his back to the lot of them.
Quill approached and slapped a hand on his shoulder. “I fell off once.”
“That is not helping,” Richard screeched.
Caelen burst out laughing. “He’s kidding.”
“It’s still not helping,” Richard shot back.
Phin found herself laughing. The tension from Rhaz’s shift had faded. He remained enormous and impossible and beautiful, but somehow she was starting to see past the dragon to the man she’d fallen in love with.
“Wait.” She looked around. “Have you all ridden him?”
“Only Aaron and Anon so far,” Jackson said.
Phin looked back at Aaron. “You’ve really ridden him?”
“Yes,” Aaron said. “Why do you not believe me? Rhaz, can we show them?”
Rhaz’s head lowered.
To Phin’s, Jessica’s, and Richard’s complete shock, Aaron hopped onto his neck, just past his shoulders.
“Oh my gosh,” Phin breathed.
“Can he breathe fire?” Richard asked cautiously.
“Excellent question,” Quill said, stepping forward.
“No,” Anon said, holding up a hand.
“Why not?” Quill asked, the question laced with disappointment.
“Because if Rhaz sets the lawn on fire, Betty will kill him.”
Betty nodded. “That’s very accurate. Thank you.”
Rhaz made another rumbling sound that might have been laughter.
Jessica, a delighted look on her face, opened her mouth to speak when at least four phones erupted with some sort of alarm simultaneously.
The sound cut through the yard like a knife.
All laughter died as everyone pulled out their phones at once.
Everyone froze.
Phin remained where she was, one hand still resting against Rhaz’s scales, and watched as Anon, Jackson, Caelen, and Quill stared at their screens. For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Jackson looked up. “Eastern snare.”
Quill frowned. “Yeah, my coordinates match.”
“What does that mean?” Jessica asked no one in particular.
The men ignored her. Caelen was already typing something into his phone. “Isn’t this supposed to register a timestamp?”
“Twenty-three seconds ago,” Jackson replied.
Quill nodded. “That tracks.”
“Tracks what?” Phin looked from one face to another. The words meant nothing to her. What the heck were they talking about? Eastern snare. Coordinates. Timestamps. Was this some sort of weird science project?
Rhaz lowered his head slightly and nudged her with his snout, as if saying, everything will be okay.
“Movement?” Anon asked.
“Unknown,” Jackson replied. “Nothing’s moving on my screen. It’s just a blot of something there.”
Anon studied his own screen. “Well, you know what this means, chaps.”
They started putting their phones away and continued talking as though they had done this dozens of times before. Maybe they had. The four men headed for the van.
“Wait a minute, what’s happening?” Jessica asked.
At least she did. Phin couldn’t seem to get herself to move. Rhaz wasn’t moving, so she was going to stay put.
Then the phones went off again.
Everyone stopped where they were, the four men exchanging the same look of horror. Anon was the first to whip his phone out again.
“Oh,” he squeaked, “this can’t be happening.”