Page 2

Gone. The fire was gone. All of it, down to the embers. Not even a spark remained to ride the wind. The only proof that it had raged at all was the blackened forest and the smoke that hung over it.

“Holy fucking shit,” I whispered as shivers raced up and down my arms. “What was that?” I turned to look at Kaspian.

That's when his beauty really hit me. And I do mean beauty. The man wasn't just handsome. He was on another fucking level entirely. Young—maybe early thirties at most—and yet his hair was pure white. White, not platinum. I'd thought he was a blond at first, but now, with the fire out, I could see that it had been the reflection of flames that had painted his locks gold. That white hair hung in layered lines to his chin—the angles directing the eye to his face. As if anyone needed directions to get there. That face was a billboard all on its own.

The guy had bronzed skin. I would have said deeply tanned, but that wouldn't have described it properly. No, it was almost shimmery, as if he'd rubbed himself in one of those glowy body lotions that women loved. But up close as I was, I knew that was no lotion. It was natural. He just shone. His body gleamed with health, his skin shining as if celebrating the fact that it got to be so damn close to him. And then there were his eyes—bright green, almost too pale. But his irises had emerald rings around the perimeters to keep him from looking blind. Instead, it made his eyes look as if they were glowing too, much brighter than his skin. In fact, the depth of his skin intensified the brightness of his eyes.

As I said, he was beautiful.

I gaped at Kaspian as shouts of relief turned into cries of confusion. Firefighters were popping their lids left and right, looking down the line at Kaspian. After the commotion he caused, everyone nearby had been watching when Kas did his thing. It was who had extinguished the fire. And it was also impossible.

“You are all very strange humans.” Kaspian took in the amazed expressions and motioned his hand at the other firefighters in a regal manner. “Yes, yes, you're welcome.” He looked back at me. “Where is your king? Why did he allow this fire to get out of hand? Why not extinguish it?”

“Our king?” I snorted. “This is America, buddy. Our whole thing is about not having a king.”

“Your whole thing?”

“Our reason for being here. For making America. We're a land of immigrants, all coming together to be free of kings and dictators. We elect our rulers.” And why the hell was I explaining this to Kaspian as if it were perfectly natural for him to be there and not know he was in America or what America was all about?

“So, you elect your king?”

“We call him a president.”

“What the fuck is going on?” Gromit pushed through the group of gaping firefighters to confront Kaspian. “How did you do that, dude? What are you—a fucking magician? Is this a publicity stunt?” He looked around. “Are we on camera?”

“Gromit, you're a fucking moron.” Tank, AKA Hernandez, shoved his shoulder. “Those magicians can't do real magic. It's all tricks. Real magic doesn't exist.”

Kaspian started to laugh, but then he saw the way everyone was staring at him and stopped. “Where am I exactly ?”

“You're in Oregon,” I said. “It's a state in America.”

“America again. It must be like a kingdom.” Kaspian rubbed at his head. “What continent are we on?”

“The continent of America ,” Tank said slowly. “North America, to be exact. What the hell is wrong with him, Met?”

“I'm not sure if anything is wrong with him,” I murmured as I stared at Kaspian. “Kaspian, where are you from?”

“I am King of Aravult.”

“Aravult,” I repeated.

“Yes. It is a dragon kingdom on the continent of Lenvahar in the central region of Serai. Have you not heard of it?”

“Oh, this motherfucker is cray-cray,” Tank whispered.

The other men took a step back, as if crazy were catching.

“I'm not sure that he is,” I said.

“What's with this 'not sure' shit?” Gromit asked. “The guy thinks he's a king of a make-believe kingdom. Did he say 'dragon?'”

“Make believe?” Kaspian growled. “If that means what I think that means, you will pay for the offense, human.”

And that's when Kaspian's eyes—the ones that already looked as if they were glowing—started to actually glow. As in light shone out of them like he was one of the X-Men.

“What the fuck?!” Gromit jerked back.

“All right!” I jumped between them. “Hey, Kas? Can I call you Kas?” I leaned into Kaspian's line of sight. “Hi, there. Can you do me a favor and dim the lights? They're kind of terrifying.” I waved at his eyes. “You see, we don't know Aravult because there is no such place on Earth. And we don't know dragons, because here, they're mythical creatures. But I've got a feeling you're not from Earth, are you?”

“What—like he's a fucking alien?” Gromit asked. “Are you serious? You're seriously playing along with this bullshit?”

“Look at his fucking eyes!” Tank shouted. “Yo! Call the cops! Call the damn government! Call someone who can deal with crazy guys whose eyes glow!”

Kaspian snarled at them.

“Hey!” I shouted. “He just saved lives! He put out a fire that we've been battling forever. I don't care if he's an alien or a real fucking dragon, I'm not handing him over to a bunch of spooks to dissect and study!”

Everyone went still and silent.

On the line, certain things were sacred. If you did a good turn for someone, it was all part of the job. No big deal. But if a civilian were to somehow help us, as rare as that might be, they became family. We took care of the people who took care of us. This one time, we were fighting a bad one, and a local sandwich shop sent a van out to feed us. That was great and all, but then the wind shifted. The fire jumped for us. A whole chain went down. And damn if those sandwich guys didn't save our asses. They drove their stupid food truck right into the fire, swung open the back door, and waved us in as if they did that shit every day. A food truck saved the lives of five firefighters that day. A fucking food truck that could have blown up, what with the fucking propane tank they had hooked on the back. But those guys didn't think about that shit. They didn't think at all. They just reacted, and God looks after the morons. The brave morons especially.

We only eat sandwiches from their shop now. We brought them so much business—not just from our station, but every station in the area and all the family of those firefighters—that they expanded to open sandwich shops all over Oregon. That's how we treat family.

And it doesn't matter what that family is—animal, human, or insane dragon.

“Get him out of here,” Captain Palmer said.

The men drew back, so I had a line of sight with the Captain.

He met my stare. Steady. Commanding. “You hear me, Met? Unless you want me to do it?”

“No, I'll look after him, Cap.” I took Kaspian's hand. “Come on, Kas. We've got to get you out of here.”

“Met, take the transport truck.” The Captain tossed me a set of keys.

“Yes, sir.” I rushed away from the black forest, men and women backing up to form an aisle of honor and let us through.

“Why are we fleeing?” Kaspian demanded.

“Because humans do bad things to people we don't understand.” I kept my stare forward. “And you are a very confusing person, Kas.”

“Ah.” His blanket crinkled as he walked. “I am in an uncivilized land where humans have been allowed to run wild. They will come for me because I represent the civilization they oppose.”

I snorted. “Yeah. Something like that.”