Page 49 of Dream Reaper

And Brynja seemed to know more about dragon shifters than anyone, even if her knowledge came secondhand from old wives’ tales told around the firepit at bedtime.

“You need to be careful,” Ava whispered, interrupting his thoughts. “That’s all we’re trying to say.”

Brynja stiffened. “We are not trying to say anything. I am telling you what I know, and she is just trying to get on my good side so I don’t put her back in the closet.”

“Is that where you had her? In a closet?”

Brynja’s mouth quirked. “We’re fresh out of cells, I’m afraid. And the closet seemed lonely, if a bit crowded.”

We should put the cranky human in the closet…

Jerrid tugged his blanket a little tighter and ignored Dragon’s snide whisper. While he might be trying to convince Ava and Brynja that he wasn’t worried about Dragon…he and Dragon both knew the truth. They were a disaster about to go off at any second, and if he didn’t stay in control, bad things were going to happen.

What if she’s right about the dragon sickness? Dragon’s thoughts sounded surprisingly somber, almost pained.

Jerrid felt that same pang of worry in his own gut. They’d be careful. That was all they could do.

That’s Jerrid Speech for, “Let’s just ignore the problem and hope it goes away,” Dragon muttered. I hate to break it to you, but I won’t be going away. You’re stuck with me.

A fact Jerrid was all too aware of.

“Very well,” Brynja said suddenly, her tone brisk. “I won’t put her in the cell, but she isn’t allowed to leave the camp without permission. You’ll sleep by the dragon, and I will be watching all night long.”

Ava exhaled quietly. Was that a sigh of relief?

“But if you try to leave the camp,” Brynja continued in a harder tone, “I won’t be held responsible for my actions. You’ve been warned.”

If this threat frightened Ava, she didn’t show it. Or maybe she just had no intention of leaving the camp, which robbed the sting from the promise of violence.

Brynja turned back to Jerrid. “We do need to get you some clothes. I won’t have you parading your manly glory around all the girls.”

Jerrid’s face went hot, but Dragon chuckled.

“Come along. We’ll go see Finnr. He should have something that will fit, but if you don’t keep your dog on a leash, you’ll soon run out of clothes. We might have to put you in a dress.”

This time, it was Ava who laughed.

As Brynja stormed ahead to find clothes, Ava leaned toward him, her expression sobering. “You do remember I’m not actually your wife, don’t you?”

His face exploded with heat again. “I’m, uh, trying to make it convincing. So she doesn’t decide to kill you or leave you locked up in that closet for eternity.”

She sucked on her lower lip, a wrinkle forming between her eyebrows. “I appreciate that, but maybe you’re taking things a little too far…”

He just shrugged and set off after Brynja. He didn’t want to talk about it anymore, too embarrassed and frustrated by the whole situation, by his whole life.

Finnr did indeed have clothes. They were a little large, but when Jerrid came out of the tent, freshly scrubbed and clothed in clean garments, he felt respectable at least. The donor looked him over with a critical eye, stroking his unkempt beard with long, agile fingers.

“They look better on you than they look on me,” he said grudgingly, a twinkle in his eye.

A pretty woman with nut-brown hair came up behind him and swatted him on the arm. “You vain old goat.”

“I’m not vain!” Finnr threw up his hands in mock horror. “I was merely stating an irrefutable fact, oh suspicious wife. Look at him. Do you not agree that he looks better than I do?”

The woman slanted a glance at Jerrid, a bit of pink in her cheeks and a saucy smile playing about her lips. “Oh, yes, I do agree he’s more handsome than you.”

Finnr’s mouth turned down, but the twinkle remained in his eyes. “Alas! Close your eyes to temptation, woman.”

She put her hands on her hips and laughed. “You’re the one who told me to look at him. Do you prefer that I disobey? I can oblige, darling.”