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It’s my turn to cackle. The last of my irritation evaporates away. “You always know what to say to make me feel better.”
“You didn’t hire me for my looks. Although, that’s a definite bonus.” He peers down at me, mischief glimmering in his eye. “Oooh, I know that look. What are you thinking?”
A smile spreads over my face. Hope burns in my chest as an idea takes hold. “I’m thinking if new is what we need, there’s a whole new city I can scout for talent.”
“Where, like Los Angeles? Chicago? Miami?” The way Jonah’s face screws up as if he tastes something increasingly foul as he names off each city makes me giggle.
“No, I’m not thinking of a human city.” I tap my email app, and open up an invitation I received from the president of the chamber of commerce of Avalon Vale. “I’m thinking of a monster city.”
Lucky Blaze
The first visitorsto Avalon Vale are scheduled to arrive today. At least that’s the plan. A fresh group of humans who would be welcomed here. Handpicked by the Chamber of Commerce and everything.
I’ll believe it when I see it. It’s not the first time a bunch of humans change their mind for something—else. Their kind aren’t good at keeping their word. Hell, they’re not good for much of anything except for being cannon fodder.
I lean against the tree, letting Kenzan run around. Damn goofy dog. He would run tongue first into a hornet’s nest just to make new friends. He’s gonna learn that the world would as soon slap him back as they would help him.
“You lost your dog again, Blaze?”
I peer down at the wulver below. Technically, yes. I don’t tell that to Vane, though. The leader of the local pack is also the makeshift lawman of these parts, so he’s triply nosey and compelled to fix any little thing that falls out of line of what he thinks is the proper order. “Lost implies I don’t know where he is. He’s headed that way.”
I can see the shimmering scales on the sirens’ tails swimming in Lake Serenissima from the clouds; I can keep track of my wayward dog.
Besides, I’m tired of the sympathetic stares and offers of help. I might not fly as I once did, but I’m far from being crippled. And they all need to stop treating me like I’m about to fall apart at any second.
“All right. Say, how’s the setup for the festival?”
I want to set the entire island on fire before letting any outsider onto it. Thanks for asking.Instead, I take a steadying breath. “It’s going. There was a minor issue with the dock or the boat or something, but between the sirens and the orcs, they were able to figure something out.”
“Hm, I should have been notified at least,” Vane says to himself. “I’ll check on it soon. You sure you’re going to be ok?”
“Well, that didn’t take long. Vane, your attempt at a wellness check has been noted. You can report to the mayor that all’s well, and I won’t suddenly set something on fire.”
The wolver growls. “Dammit, Lucky, you don’t need to be so damned stubborn all the time. Some people care about you. I don’t know why since you’re such a surly bastard?—“
His ears perk up just as I see a car coming up the road. It’s starting. The first group of people.
I thought I could handle being around outsiders, but I can’t. Not now. Not like this.
Kenzan’s happy grunts tell me he’s found something that he eventually wants to take home. He’s going to have to be mad at me, because I’m not in the mood to deal with mossy branches or whatever else he’s found that he thinks will make a great toy.
I tuck my wings and land a few feet away from Kenzan. He’s doing a great job getting mud all over his thick fur. “Come on, boy. Time to go home. Let’s keep that thing here.”
I hope that what he has in his mouth is just a really sharp stick.
The car stops about a mile up the road. It’s a straight shot into the main street of Avalon Vale from there. There’s nothing around here, and yet a couple get out of the car.
One is a tall human male, athletic build with long black hair down to his waist and skin as dark as a forest after a rainstorm. He exited the passenger side of the car and started scanning the area with his handheld electronic device.
A phone. Humans are obsessed with them, I’ve been told.
The driver follows suit and exits from the vehicle. Her hair is a softer black with brilliant red and gold highlights. It’s gathered up on her head, but it’s so thick and lustrous that I can imagine it spilling down in soft waves down her back. She barely comes to her companion’s shoulder.
When they pose together, a strange feeling tightens in my chest. It twists to where I find it difficult to breathe.
When she turns toward me, I am gifted with her luminous black eyes dominating her heart-shaped face. They pose, and her smile makes the knot melt in my chest.
A deep and powerful heat pulses from my breastbone and radiates down to my toes, and then I know.
