Theron sighed, and his smile sagged. “Welcome to our home.”
TWO
THERON
The kitchen smelled like burnt toast, but it wasn’t the scorched scent that me or my dragon craved.
“It was Fraser.” Rory stood by the counter with his arms folded, looking exactly like me when I was annoyed.
“It was not.” Fraser, my six-year-old, had jam on his chin and toast crumbs in his hair. He’d poked out his bottom lip, but I didn’t sense any remorse. “Rory dared me.”
“You were supposed to make toast, not set the toaster on fire.”
“I didn't use fire.” Frazer stamped his foot and looked at me. “Not much.”
I pulled out the charred remains from the toaster and dropped them in the garbage disposal. The toaster was new, or it had been. Now it was a smoking, hissing remnant of a machine. I felt sorry for it because it would never realize its potential. The last device had gone up in flames too, but that was Rory, my eldest’s, fault.
“What did I say about using fire in the house?”
"Not to.” Fraser’s bottom lip trembled. “Never ever,” he added. His words mimicked mine because that was what I saidall the time. It was a house rule my kids had memorized but sometimes chose to ignore.
Skye watched us as she sat at the table eating cereal. I hoped she wasn’t assessing my level of annoyance and deciding whether she could get away with burning something down.
It was time for my children to wear their bracelets, the ones young dragon shifters wore before they met their beast when they had the ability to produce fire but not to control it. Some dragon families refused to put them on their kids, and they were the same people whose houses burned down and had the human authorities breathing down their necks.
I saw the bracelets as a necessity, like training wheels. They tamped down that urge to create flames no matter where or when. Once they could communicate with their beast, they’d be able to temper that desire.
The kids could still heat up and feel the fire with the bracelets on, but they couldn’t produce it externally. They’d worn them previously when we’d been out and about with humans, and especially in situations such as on a plane where any spark would be a disaster.
“I’m interviewing the new manny today.” I wrinkled my nose, not because of the interview but from the stink of charred bread.
Rory groaned. “Another one? Why?”
“Because the last one ran off.”
“He cried.” Fraser demonstrated by pretending to blubber and yelling, “I can’t stand this anymore.”
The guy had been scared off because Skye had asked him if he was fireproof. I couldn’t blame him for leaving. Besides, he was constantly sweating and walked around bare-chested. He’d lasted two weeks, and the one before him, ten days. We’d had no luck finding someone who could manage my kids and adjust to our household.
But I couldn’t have my children thinking it was okay to mock someone. I placed a hand on Fraser’s shoulder. “We mustn’t make fun of someone when they’re frightened. Remember that book we read about the old house and how you didn’t like it and were scared?”
“Yes, Daddy,” all three children chorused.
I supervised the next round of toast and poured my third coffee of the morning while the kids ate.
Meara had called me after the last resignation. She was adept at managing difficult clients, and our family was definitely in that category.
“Theron, I'm running out of candidates who meet your requirements.” She hadn't added “and who won't be terrified of your children,” but I'd heard it in her voice.
This new candidate she was sending us was different, and when she told me he was human with no knowledge of shifters, I’d shut her down.
“No way.” The previous ones understood who we were and theystillleft. “The others were wolf, bear, and fox shifters, and they were terrified they'd die in a fiery ball of flames or drown in a puddle of sweat.”
“This one, Ledger, is a grad student who needs the work.”
“I said no, Meara.” Not only would a human be mystified at our lifestyle, but if they discovered who we really were, they might announce it to the world.
I'd told her no again, and she'd said to think about it. I'd told her a third time, and she'd suggested I think harder.
