Page 16 of Dragon’s Ending

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I was lost in the depths of the thirteenth century when I blinked at what I was reading. An abbey on Bedwyr land? I hadn’t expected that. Dragons and the Church were an unusual combination.

The door opened sharply behind me, and I turned just far enough to see it was Dominic. He said nothing, so I went back to my paperwork.

Because God, this house was a treasure trove. During the centuries when my family had hidden from other dragons, they’d passed down stories that were still being told when I was a dragonet. About how a dragon family somewhere out there had a hoard of documents full of dragon history, neglected and undiscovered. And most dragonets had dreamed of being the one to uncover the hidden cache and find all our secrets.

Maybe this house didn’t possess quite the hoard of imagination, but it was a stunningly comprehensive collection of records. It had to be at least the equal of those kept by the Welsh humans, which went back to the fifth century. The human records mentioned notable dragons, but gave no indication they were dragons. As so often, I wondered when—and why—humans had started to believe dragons were no more than a fairy tale.

I understood, of course, why we didn’t reveal our existence now. If we did, there’d be experiments and prisons and probably bombs in our immediate future. That was why even our own records never mentioned the d-word. Why shifts were referred to as transitions. Why treasure was described as personal effects. And those were just the records that had survived. What little had been recorded had largely been destroyed by dragons scared that even coded history could betray them to humans.

It had kept our secrets safe. The problem was, even we now had an incomplete understanding of dragon history.

I forced myself back to the page in front of me. I couldn’t do anything about the records that had been lost. I needed to concentrate on those we did have.

Except it appeared Dominic had a different agenda. My dragon stirred and I became aware Dominic was standing close behind me, leaning past me to read the papers on the desk in front of me. Disconcertingly close, I could see the way his dark hair curled slightly at the ends, the tiny nick on his jawline that must be from shaving this morning, and there was his scent. Even over the paper and dust of the room, I could scent soap, warm skin, and faint hints of dragon-smoke that had my dragon stirring, interested. I could almost swear I could feel the heat of Dominic’s body. Dragons run hotter than humans, but even so, it was improbable.

He tilted his head and met my gaze, amusement in those dark brown eyes, which deepened as I moved my chair away from him slightly.

“Find what you’re looking for yet?” he asked.

I couldn’t be sure, but I felt that was double-edged. I chose to answer the question and ignore any other meaning. Perhaps he was used to guys simply keeling over into his arms whenever he wanted, but I had no interest in being one of them.

“I’m not looking for anything specific,” I told him.

“You’re sure about that?” he asked, and that lazily amused smile was still in his eyes. Which I was going to stop looking into right now.

Unfortunately, I tore my glance away just in time to notice the way he hitched his hip onto the table. Right next to me, making it impossible not to notice his thighs or think about the fluid ease with which he moved. It was as calculated as everything else about him.

“You know,” he said, “I’m sure I could help you out.”

I wasn’t always the quickest to pick up when someone was flirting with me, but there was no mistaking the intent in his voice. It had lost its usual drawl, turning low and smooth.

“Can you read medieval Latin?” I asked him. “Because that would be helpful.”

He just looked at me, his lips tugging slightly at the corners. “Does Welsh work?”

“Oh, God, yes.” Because I’d already discovered the limits of my Welsh. Before I could stop myself, I was reaching for the document I’d had to put to one side earlier. “There’s this whole section here—”

“So what made you decide to start halfway through the records rather than at the beginning?”

My irritation at his interruption evaporated as I realised what he’d said. Surely he couldn’t mean there were even more?

“I haven’t found anything further back than these yet,” I told him.

He shrugged and moved away. To my relief.

“And you’re just hoping something turns up.” He leaned against the shelves like he had every right to be there. Like they’d been put up for that purpose alone.

“That’s the general idea.”

“So what happens when the thing you need to see is actually somewhere else?”

That made me pause. “If you have something to say—”

“I do,” he said, pushing off from the shelves.

Too close again. Deliberately so. My dragon stirred, low and uneasy as he reached out to the ledger in front of me and moved it slightly, just enough to be out of square. It took every bit of willpower not to correct it immediately.