Page 31 of Red Dragon’s Flame

Michelangela went on, “So how are you? Are you okay? You look good. I was really worried about you, when we found you in that basement.”

Devon stared. “You were there? Mikah let you come? That was awfully dangerous.”

“Weell, I wouldn’t say he let me, exactly. I kind of followed him.”

Devon shook her head, surprised she hadn’t gotten in trouble for that. “Do you ever do anything you’re told?”

Michelangela sighed. “I get asked that question, like, six times a day. Usually not, because people never want to let me to anything cool, or brave, or interesting.”

“Well, the world is a dangerous place. Trust me.”

Michelangela stopped eating, then said, “I know. People think I don’t, but I do. When my dad was my age, his whole wolf pack was wiped out.”

“Wolf pack?” Devon said.

“Yeah, we’re werewolves. Wolf shifters. No one told you?”

Devon said faintly, “We were talking about other things.” How many different kinds of creatures were there, that she’d never known about?

“Well, anyway. A rival pack killed almost all of them. My dad and the alpha we have now, and a few of the others were the only survivors. They saw everyone they cared about die.”

She said it matter-of-factly, but something in her tone told Devon she’d thought about it—really thought about what it would feel like to lose almost everyone you cared about, all at once.

Devon knew—and hoped this brave, wild girl would never have to find out.

Michelangela picked at the cheese on her toast. “And my mom’s family was attacked by shifter hunters. She lost her memory—she still doesn’t remember hardly anything from before she was sixteen. Her brother—my Uncle Tristan—and their parents were captured and kept in captivity for years, and scientists did all kinds of experiments on them.”

She looked up at Devon. “Our pack has been attacked, too, by people trying to get our territory. I understand the terrible things people can do, and I’m not some little baby flower that has to be kept in a glass house. I want to do something real with my life, and everyone just treats me like I’m in kindergarten.”

Devon looked at Michelangela with the beginnings of respect. There was a lot going on in there—but she was still so young. She knew terrible things could happen, but she didn’t really believe any of them would happen to her.

But there was no point in saying so. “They love you,” she said instead. “It’s natural for people to want the people they love to be safe and happy.”

Michelangela made a face. “I’d rather be badass and do some good in the world.”

Devon didn’t know what to say to that. She knew how restrictive being safe and protected was. But it was better than being dead.

She didn’t want to say that either, though, so she tried to change the subject, in her own awkward way. “So… you know Mikah pretty well, right? Is he really—you know. Not weird?”

Michelangela rolled her eyes. “We’re all weird, trust me. But you’re asking should you go off with this strange dude you only know from the internet—where the serial killers hang out—to a place you’ve never heard of and probably can’t escape from?”

“Pretty much.”

Michelangela nodded. “Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, go. I don’t know exactly what kind of trouble you’re in, but I do know Mikah is one of the best people in all the worlds. He makes sure everyone in Emon’s domain has a place to live and plenty to eat, and medical care and all that. He spends his whole life looking after people who honestly I would want to punch in the face, and listening to their stupid problems and trying to solve them.”

That got a grin out of Devon. “Better him than me,” she said. “I hate people.”

“Right?” Michelangela grimaced. “But if Mikah says he’ll take care of you and keep you safe, then he’ll freaking do it, if he has to throw himself between you and fiery death. Like he did with that lightning bolt on the roof.”

Huh? “What lightning bolt?”

“Oops,” Michelangela murmured. “The one the winged monkey threw. Scorched the shirt right off his back and almost gave him a heart attack.”

It did? “He didn’t say anything.”