Page 19 of Cats Never Fly

Igulped.Icouldn’t lie my way out of this.Withthe wayIlied—or rathercouldn’tlie—I’djust anger thedragon ifItried.Ihad to be smart about this, exceptIwasn’t the smart one in the family.Thatwas my brotherJustin.Myheart pounded faster.ButIdid have the whistle still.IfIsurrendered it to the dragon, maybe that’d be enough.HolyMagic,Ihoped so.

Onlybecause the creature allowed it wasIable to move my arm and free it from the dragon’s coils.Ipresented the whistle to the dragon.

“Ithink this did it.”

Thecreature’s electric blue eyes narrowed at the whistle.I’dnever seen eyes that color.Theywere shockingly bright and vivid and very pretty.

Andwasn’t that a stupid thought to entertain asIwas about to be eaten?Weren’tyou supposed to have your life flash before your eyes or something?Ishouldn’t be mooning over a dragon’s pretty eyes.

“Youare a dragon summoner,” the dragon spat the words at me. “Howmany of my kind have you captured?Whoelse is here with you?Whereis your coven?Arethey hiding as they perform the spell to capture me?Doyou plan to hold me down?Tortureme untilIsubmit?Youmight have been toldI’dbe weak and vulnerable after being summoned, but you can see you are wrong.”Thecreature swung its massive head around with its long tongue fluttering through the air, as if searching for more threats.

“Uh.No.ImeanIdon’t think so?Justa cat, remember?Nota summoner.Nocoven.Shiftersdon’t form covens.AndIhaven’t captured anything.OrImean anyone.”Althoughwas that technically true? “ImeanIguessI’vehunted for mice.That’swhatIwas doing whenIfound the whistle.Justa bit of hunting.But, uh, no supes.Justfield mice.Really.Promise.Anddefinitely no torture.Idon’t even play with the miceIcatch.Nope.Noneof that.”

“Well,JustSimon,JustaCat, if you aren’t a dragon summoner, why do you have that whistle?”

“I…Ifound it?”

“Areyou asking me?”

“No?”

Itseyes narrowed again.

Icleared my throat. “No.Definitelynot asking a question.”

“Anydragon worth his gold would eat the person who dared to blow a whistle like that.”Thetip of the dragon’s long, long tail brushed my cheek again, then it followed the same route with its tongue.Wasit sampling me?Checkingto see ifIwas tender or ifI’dtaste good?

“DidImention how much processed meatIeat?”

Thedragon laughed, tilting its head from side to side as if it didn’t know what to do with me. “Butyou are too adorable to eat, aren’t you?Ican think of all kinds of other things to do with you instead.”

Mymouth went dry.Wasthat an improvement?Whatkinds of things did he want to do?Theywouldn’t be sexy things, would they?No.Ofcourse not.Whyhad my brain gone there?

“Iam inclined to trust you,” the dragon said.

“Oh, thankMagic,”Igasped.

Thecoils unwound, leaving me quivering on my owntwo feet again.Islumped in relief.Thenthe dragon’s body started to glow.Itgrew brighter and brighter until a blast of white light blinded me.Ilifted my hands to my eyes with a cry.

WhenIshifted into my cat form, the process was a lot less dramatic.Therewere no bright lights.Nothingglowed.Truthfully,I’dnever considered the ability to shift forms to be particularly magical before.Itwas just something all the other shifters inWillowLakedid.Therewas nothing overtly special about shifting, except this guy’s change had been beautiful and strange and, yes, definitely magical.

Inthe next moment, everything was dark again.Idrew my hand from my face and blinked.Whenmy eyes cleared,Iblinked again.There, standing in the dragon’s place, was the most beautiful manI’dever seen.

Andhe was completely naked.

Theman’s blue eyes sparkled as he smiled at me.Hisdark brown hair was short, and he had a scruffy sort of beard on his jaw like he’d forgotten to shave this morning.Although, honestly, it would take me at least three weeks to grow that much, so it was hard to tell.Igauged him to be older than me, but with supes you could never really tell how old someone was based on their appearance alone.Hecould have anywhere from five years to decades or even centuries on me.

Despitesensing he was older,Ifelt an instant sort of connection to him… like he was a homeless puppyI’dfound in an alley.Iwanted to take him home.Excepthe was no puppy.Hewas a strikingly handsome man, one that was way out of my league.Iknew that at just one glance.

Hislean frame was smaller than mine, which probably contributed to whyIfelt a little protective of him.Notthat he needed my protection.Whenhe’d had me wrapped in his coils, he could have ended me.Buthe hadn’t.Istill had my nine, which was more thanIthoughtI’dhave when he burst out of the water and swooped toward me.Butdespite his obvious strength and abilities, my burgeoning and misguided protective instincts weren’t going away.

Andhe was naked.

DidImention he was naked?

Likeall of him.Rightthere.Hangingout.Infront of me.

Itried desperately not to look.