Page 62 of Red Dragon’s Heart

Maddie hadn’t had another person to talk to ever since she met Zak, and it was hard to stop herself. “He’s a good person,” she said to Lucinda. “Sweet, when he stops being so prickly. Strong. Kind. Princess Diana loves him.” She stroked the little orange kitten. “And when you see him snuggling her and playing with her, it’s enough to melt your heart.”

“Sounds like you really like him,” Lucinda said, eyeing her speculatively.

Maddie said, “It’s weird, because I haven’t known him long, but I feel…”

“You feel like you have,” Lucinda said. “It was the same for me, when I met Cazbek.”

“Really?” She would have liked to ask Lucinda more about her relationship with Cazbek, what it was like being involved with a dragon, but she didn’t feel like she knew her well enough yet.

Lucinda said, “I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you, but they do a lot of scientific work here, and at the Silverlake wolf pack in Idaho, trying to learn more about shifters and their abilities. Without hurting them or endangering them.”

“They do?” Zak hadn’t told her that. Maybe she wasn’t supposed to know. But the thought fired her imagination. Was it possible she could still continue her research?

“I probably shouldn’t have said anything,” Lucinda said. “But keep it in mind. And… I don’t live here, but Mikah knows how to get in touch with me. If you ever need to talk?”

Maddie thanked her, and then Lucinda left. After she was gone, Maddie stared out the window at the valley below, her mind whirling. She’d never thought there could be a place for her among shifters, or that she’d be able to continue her work after Eric had trashed her reputation.

But if she could…

Stop it, she told herself. None of them trusted her, and Zak—she didn’t know what Zak would want, when this was all over. She hadn’t had a chance to process what he’d said to Emon back at the lair, but it haunted her now.

It was the monster who had feelings for her, the monster that wanted her as a ‘mate.’ Zak hadn’t said that he did.

What if she got rid of the monster, and Zak didn’t have feelings for her anymore? What would happen to her then?

Chapter 27

It seemed like forever until Zak came and joined her. When he finally arrived, he was carrying a flat box filled with papers.

“What’s that?” Maddie asked. “More research?”

He gave her a little grin, and she caught her breath. He still didn’t smile often enough, and he had no idea how heart-stopping he looked when he did. “It’s Kendra’s pictures. I stopped off to get them.”

He put the box down on a table against the wall, and Maddie went over and looked inside. The stack of drawings had to be at least four inches thick. “There must be hundreds of them.”

“She drew me one almost every day since I left.” Zak’s face had gotten that blank expression it did when he was hiding his emotions, and he looked away.

Maddie bit her lip. She knew he hated giving in to his feelings, but the faith of a little girl drawing pictures for her favorite uncle day after day almost made her cry.

“I’m glad she wasn’t mad at you for leaving,” she said.

“Oh, she was. She’s a royal Al-Maddeiri. They can love you and want to kill you at the same time. It’s a gift.”

He shuffled through the top few drawings and pulled one out. “See? In this one she’s beating me over the head because I was a bad uncle and left.”

He held out the picture, which showed a red dragon lying on the ground, eyes crossed and head bashed in, while a little girl stood over him with some kind of weapon. Blood was crayoned enthusiastically over the whole background.

“It’s certainly… heartfelt.”

He frowned and tilted his head, still looking at the drawing. “Yeah. I can’t tell if that’s a broadsword or a garden spade, but whatever it is, she’s serious about it.” He shook his head, a smile touching his lips. “I love that kid.”

He dug out a second drawing. “And here’s the one she drew the next day, when she’s kissing me and telling me she’s sorry she killed me, and making me better.”

This one was another red dragon, with a bandage around his head. The little girl had her arms around him and was kissing him on his scaly cheek.

Maddie didn’t know whether to laugh or back away slowly. She touched the box. “How many times did she kill you, in there?”

Zakerek shrugged. “I don’t know, I haven’t had a chance to look at them all. Probably a hundred. But she forgave me a hundred times too, if I know Kay-kay. Psycho on the outside, squishy on the inside, just like her dad.”