Page 39 of Horn in My Side

Mal’s words from the other night rang in her head clear as a bell.

A smile tugged at her lips as she recalled how he had consulted a lawyer about Clawdia.

Aside from the fact that it probably cost money, that he even thought to do it without her asking touched her deeply.

He’d already proved to her that she could count on him, so maybe she should allow herself to believe him.

Nervous, she picked up her phone again and opened the “Best of Clawdia” folder, scrolling until she found the photo she wanted.

It was one of Mal holding Clawdia, the little hatchling looking up at the orc, her big blue eyes shining with clear adoration.

After only a brief bout of hesitation, she pressed her thumb on the share button, then tapped out a caption.

So . . . turns out, it wasn’t a carcinos. Welcome to the world, baby Clawdia! #babydragon #hatchling #notacarcinos #oopsies #fantastictailsandmagicalscales #officialmascot #clawdia #maltheorc.

Her lips twitched at that last one, but it was probably time he got his own hashtag since it was pictures of him that got the most likes anyway. After a quick prayer to her ancestor spirits, she hit “post”.

There.

No going back now.

Something hit her feet and a small ball plopped down next to her. “Are we done playing ‘make Jasmine chase you around’?” Clawdia let out a warble. “How about—”

A piercing siren interrupted her and made her jump, though it quickly faded off, as if it had zoomed away. Clawdia clung to her leg.

“Don’t worry, it’s just an emergency vehicle,” she assured the hatchling.

Bending down, she picked her up. “It’s really loud, huh?

Must be hard on your sensitive hearing, plus we don’t have any soundproofing spells in here, like in the shop.

” She made a mental note to ask Mal if there was anything he could do about that.

A vision of fire popped up in her head.

“Oh no, no. Please, baby, no more testing out your dragon breath.” Clawdia had already burned two blankets, a unicorn stuffie, and she’d singed one of Mal’s fingertips. “How about—”

The hatchling placed its paws on her chest then lifted her head to lick at Jasmine’s cheeks, as if to say, listen to me.

“What—”

The heat around her intensified.

“Oh Mother Goddess.” That was definitely Clawdia. She’d always used pictures and feelings to communicate with Jasmine before, but never anything as strong as actual sensations. But what was she trying to say?

Another loud piercing wail echoed from the outside, followed by another, both eventually fading into the distance.

Flames danced in her head, growing in size.

“Wait. Are you trying to tell me there’s a fire somewhere?

” Dragons were fire breathers, and as she learned from Mal, elemental magic was always connected.

In the same way wyrms could seek out the nearest water source or kamaitachi hopped on cyclones to traverse long distances, was it possible dragons knew when fires were ablaze?

A strange feeling crept into her stomach as Jasmine pressed her palm to her chest, surprised at the loud thumping from her heart. Surely they wouldn’t call Mal to help with any fire. He was the new guy, had barely had two days of training. However, the pressure in her chest increased.

“Let’s get you back to your pen, Clawdia. It’s time for bed.”

After settling the hatchling back in her crate, Jasmine quickly closed up the shop and rushed outside.

Another fire truck zoomed by, its sirens wailing like a banshee, the words BAYVIEW CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT emblazoned on the side.

If Bayview had sent their trucks, that meant there was a major fire somewhere.

Maybe it was over in Morristown and they cut through Main Street to get there faster.

Still, her chest contracted, and it was hard to breathe. Unsure what to do, she jogged down to Brew-tique. The sign in front proclaimed it as closed, but she ignored it and threw the door open.

“Minerva!” she called to the witch, who was behind the counter, head bent down as she scrolled on her phone. “Do you know what’s going on?”

Her head snapped up. “Aren’t you on the Main Street Business Association group chat?”

“Yeah.” She hurried inside and crossed the dining area, stopping right on the other side of the counter. “But I put it on mute a couple months ago. I couldn’t stand Martha’s passive-aggressive tirades. What’s happening?”

“Three-alarm fire.” Minerva slid her phone over to her. On the screen was a picture of a building with smoke billowing out the window. “Out by Maple Avenue. Blue Skies Vista.”

Jasmine knew exactly which area that was.

That part of town was barely Dewberry Falls, a fancy new neighborhood with big townhouses and a modern apartment complex with complete amenities.

The buildings popped up like mushrooms last year, and because of how quickly they finished construction, there were rumors that the developers had cut corners.

Oh no.

“Jasmine?” Minerva’s voice was filled with concern. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, one sec.” With shaking hands, she slid her phone out of her purse and dialed Mal’s number.

Pickuppickuppickup.

“You’ve reached Mal of Urduk Horde at Terra Forma Builders. I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you leave your name and number, I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”

While his low baritone would normally soothe her, Mal’s disembodied voice was like a portent of doom.

“What’s wrong, Jasmine?” Minerva came over to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s Mal.” She quickly explained to the witch about how he joined the volunteer fire department. “I know they’re all technically on call during emergencies, but you don’t think they’d send him out there? He’s only had one day at fire college and that was last Saturday.”

“It’s a major fire, though,” the witch pointed out. “They’re probably calling everyone in, even the ladders from the nearby towns.”

Jasmine’s throat turned dry as a desert. “Let me try Nick.” Despite her numb fingers, she managed to tap out a quick message to the satyr. After a few seconds, there was no reply, not even the bubbles indicating the receiver was typing a message popped up. So she called his number.

“Hey, this is Nick,” came the smooth voice from his voicemail. “You know the drill.”

“Argh!” She really was starting to hate Nick Amherst.

“Mal will be okay,” Minerva assured her.

“There’re tons of trucks responding to the fire.

He probably won’t even get near the blaze.

They’ll likely keep him at the back, turning on the hydrants or something, or maybe putting blankets on people.

Why don’t you sit down? Want a chamomile tea or something? ”

“N-no, I’m fine. But thank you.”

Jasmine worried at her lip. If only she had a car, she could drive over to Blue Vista and see what was going on. “Minerva, does anyone on the group chat have any news? Like . . . injuries or—” Her throat closed up before she could finish the sentence.

“No, no one knows anything. Emergency services and law enforcement are probably keeping things under wraps for now.”

“But—Oh, wait.” A thought struck her. Fumbling with her phone, she managed to dial a number from her contacts.

“Hello?” came Kap’s voice through the speaker.

“Kap! Sorry for the early call, but I just had to call someone. Please tell me you’re awake.”

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“Have you heard anything about the fire on Maple Avenue?”

“That’s why I’m already up and ready to head out. Station’s all abuzz. Hands-on-deck kind of situation, you know?”

She felt the blood drain from her face. “It’s that bad?”

“Yup. With these things, P.D. has to come in to direct traffic, crowd control, you know, for general public safety. Listen, I have to—”

“Wait, don’t hang up. You have to take me there.”

“There? To the fire?”

“Yes.”

“You know I can’t do that,” he protested. “I could lose my job, plus it’s not safe for you. Why would you want to go anyway?”

“Kap . . .” She took a deep breath. “Mal’s down there as a volunteer fireman. He’s not picking up his phone. Couldn’t you just say you were giving me a ride? I don’t need you to get me into the site. I just need to be there.”

“I . . .” He hesitated. “All right, fine. I’m already in the car.”

“Great! Come pick me up at Brew-tique.”

“See you in five.”

After a quick thank you to Minerva, Jasmine dashed outside to wait for Kap.

It was the longest five minutes of her life as horrible thoughts and visions of what could happen—or was happening—to Mal filled her head.

Her anxiety somewhat eased when she saw the familiar cruiser approaching.

She didn’t bother waiting for him to invite her inside.

“Thanks.” She clicked on her seatbelt. “I appreciate this. I owe you one.”

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he moaned. “Are you sure you want to come? Maybe I should drop you off at home. Have you thought that maybe Mal’s just sitting on his couch, twiddling his thumbs?”

“He would have answered my call or texted me by now.” It wasn’t like Mal to just ignore a missed call from her, even if he was working. “Please, Kap, we’re wasting time.”

The tree giant put the car into gear. “Jasmine, you’re a wreck. Is there a reason why you’re so worried about him?”

“No. I mean, he’s my boss . . .”

His eyes flicked over to her, then steered back to the road ahead. “Lie. You literally just turned red as a tomato.”

“Okay, fine.” She blew out a breath. “We’re dating, okay?”

“Good for you,” he said without missing a beat. “I was wondering when that was going to happen.”

“What?” She stared at him, slack-jawed. “What do you mean?”

“Jasmine, I’m a cop. Observation and deduction skills, remember?” He tapped at his temple. “But also, you guys have been eye-fucking each other this entire time. And he definitely wanted to deck me when I showed up at your place for dinner.”

“Deck you?”

“Yeah, he was jealous.”

“You’re crazy. I’d only known him three days at that point.”