~excerpt from Shadow's Embrace. #2 in the Daemons of San DeLain
The drive was no more
annoying than usual. Meaning that the traffic was bad in
the city and on the Interstate. They were heading toward the
northwestern side of San DeLain, which was the more mountainous part of the
city. Hudson actually lived on the outskirts.
The radio played, but
it was more of a background noise because Austin, of course, was full of
questions about Hudson’s dragons.
“I read this book about
dragons that said—”
Kage groaned.
“Hey! I know it’s
probably all bull, but you never know. The books say dragons live in dank
caves, deep pools, wild mountain reaches—oh look, Hudson lives in a mountainous
region—sea bottoms, or haunted forests. You know, primitive places fraught with
danger.”
“Primitive.” Kage
snickered. “That’s funny. Just wait until we arrive. You’ll see just how
primitive Hudson’s place is.”
“No
dank caves for Hudson, huh?”
Kage laughed loudly.
“The man loves his luxuries just like the rest of us. No dank caves for him.”
“Having met him, I agree.
I can’t see the man roughing it.” Austin rubbed his hands together. “I love
this subject. Okay, so, did you know that dragons are reputed to be reptile-like
creatures. At least, they are in the folklore of many cultures.”
“Beliefs about dragons
vary considerably through regions,” Kage said, smoothly shifting lanes. “But dragons
in western cultures have often been depicted as winged, horned, four-legged,
and capable of breathing fire. Sounds like the Fire Court, doesn’t it?”
“Well, considering I
haven’t seen someone in dragon form, I wouldn’t know,” Austin pointed out. “I’d
love to change that.”
Kage nodded slowly. “That’s
right, you haven’t seen Hudson in his natural form—just partially shifted. On
day you might be allowed to witness it.”
“That would be fabulous.
And probably terrifying.”
Kage checked the
rearview mirror before speaking. “I’ve seen Hudson in his natural form. They
are intimidating. The partial shift you saw that night you were almost
kidnapped was just that, a partial. And honestly, hardly even a partial. They
have another humanoid form with even more dragon-like features. That one is
almost as scary as the dragon itself.”
“Another form? Right.
Right. Yeah, I remember Hudson’s eyes that night looked like a cat’s—the pupil
was slitted.” Austin sighed fondly. “That was certainly a night to remember.”
“I agree.”
“I mean, I almost got
kidnapped, I finally got to meet you, I found out what you were, you almost
kissed me while yelling at me, and I learned dragons exist.” Austin ticked off
each one on his fingers.
“I think you were more
excited about finding out dragons exist than meeting me.”
Austin poked Kage in
the shoulder. “Don’t be ridiculous. The whole reason I was almost kidnapped was
because I was trying to get information about you. Finding out about
dragons was just a happy coincidence.”
Kage chuckled. “Please
make sure you tell Hudson he was a happy coincidence. I’d pay good money to see
the look on his face.”
“Yeah, no. Do I look
stupid? He’s a dragon.”
“Overgrown lizard, you
mean.”
Austin snorted, choked, and spluttered out a laugh. “Oh my God.”
