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“Nice to meet you, by the way,” I continue, straightening out the mint green blazer I picked out for my first day. The one that feels more like an uncomfortable costume at this point. “Nora’s told me a lot about you, so it’s good to put a face to the name.”

He makes a noise that’s not quite decipherable as an answer, and my discomfort doubles. God, this is awkward.

Still, new-Kenna doesn’t back down, and she doesn’t let the grumpy asshole of a dragon ruin her first day at a new job.

“I hope you have a good rest of your afternoon,” I tell him with my best, brightest, fakest smile before turning tail and heading for his office door.

Why in the world I feel the sharp sting of tears behind that smile, and why my chest feels like I’ve got a ton of bricks sitting on top of it, I don’t want to think about right now. No, all I want is to flee back to my desk and finish the rest of my day and pretend like I belong here.

“Kenna.” Blair’s deep voice stops me in my tracks.

Kenna. Not Ms. Byrne.

The sound of my name in his rough, graveled timbre sends a shot of unwanted awareness all the way through me. Awareness of him—his power, his aura, the inexplicable compulsion that makes me turn back around to face him.

“Yeah?”

“I…” he starts, and then trails off.

What does he want? He’s dismissed me, dismissed the possibility that what happened between us during the meeting was anything more than some kind of mental fog on this part. Why can’t he let it go?

A few more long moments pass, and he remains silent.

God, I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to be here anymore. Staring him dead in the face for three seconds, five, ten, it’s clear he’s unwilling or unable to say anything more, so I turn and leave without another word.

4

Blair

Inviting Kenna to my office was a mistake.

Big surprise, that.

What did I think I was going to accomplish? Convincing myself it was all in my head? Coming to the conclusion that she is not, in fact, utter hell for my sanity?

As soon as the door closes behind her, I’m out of my seat. An unconscious sway in my body tugs me in the direction she just left, but I let out a harsh curse and cross to my office windows instead. I stare out at the gray Seattle day without really seeing it, counting my breaths and trying to focus on reigning in the instinct pulsing through me.

I need to shift. Preferably sooner rather than later.

Only… would that help, or make things worse? How long has it been since I allowed myself to shift fully to my other form?

The answer comes to me immediately. It’s been since last fall, the night I took Sorenson out and let Elias and Nora make their escape. A necessary shift, one I don’t regret for a moment.

Before that… it had been years.

Occasionally I allow myself a half-shift, just to stretch my wings and work some pent-up energy out of my system. Full-shifts, though, are few and far between. Letting myself go entirely, letting the dragon out and ceding some portion of my humanity and control to his whims, it’s not something I indulge in lightly, and nor is it something I should be entertaining now.

Kenna Byrne is dangerous.

Not that she means to be, and not that she shoulders any of the blame for my temporary insanity, but left to his own devices my dragon would still follow her, steal her, hoard her. So perhaps it’s best not to give him the leash right now.

I’ve never lost control, not entirely, and there’s only been one time I’ve come close.

Still staring out the window, my mind is thousands of miles and hundreds of years from here. Another place, another time, another woman who would have done herself a favor by staying far away from me.

Despite all the time that’s passed, I seldom let myself think of the woman I recognized as my mate.

Lizzy.