Nonetheless, Dai didn't release her. He couldn't bear her to think for even one second that he didn't want her, or that she was just some casual one-night stand to him.
"I hope you're hungry," he said into her ear.
"Ravenous," said Victoria. She leaned round him to peer into the pan. "Okay. Let me clarify that 'ravenous' doesn't mean I can eat six eggs. I hope you're hungry."
"Actually, yes," Dai said apologetically, releasing her.
Turning back to his cooking, he slid two eggs onto Victoria's plate, and the rest onto his own. Shifting burned a lot of energy. He added the bacon to the plates, having some difficulty finding space for it next to the eggs, fried bread, sausage, and grilled tomatoes. "It was a busy night."
Virginia raised her eyebrows, a teasing smile tugging at her lips. "Due to the fire or the dragon?"
Dai put a finger under her chip, tilting her face up for a long, deep kiss. "Neither," he breathed.
Releasing her again, he picked up the plates. He tilted his head in the direction of the dining table, which was still piled with papers and archaeology tools. "I didn't want to move anything you were working on, so I didn't set the table. Where do you want to eat?"
"Oh, don't worry, there's nothing important out here." Virginia cleared a space by the simple expedient of sweeping an arm across the table, jumbling papers into haphazard drifts. They sat down, and for a few moments were both fully occupied shoveling food.
"Dai," Virginia said, when they'd both taken some of the edge off their hunger. She kept her eyes on her plate. "I have to tell you something. I haven't been entirely honest with you."
Dai, who'd finally worked up his nerve and opened his mouth to say the exact same thing, found himself totally nonplussed. He blinked at her across the table. "Oh?" he managed to say.
Virginia toyed with her fork. "You know last night, when I told you I hadn't taken anything from Bertram?"
It took Dai a moment to cast his mind back to their earlier conversation, what with the much more significant events that had occurred later. "The dragon? Yes. Though he thinks that you did." Virginia looked at him quizzically, and Dai clarified, "I talked to him last night, at the scene. He was, ah, angry." He reached over the table to put his hand on hers in reassurance. "Don't worry, I'll sort it out with him. I'm sure he'll be back in control of his dragon by now, and able to realize he made a terrible mistake."
Virginia bit her lip. "The problem is, I kind of did take something."
Dai sucked in his breath. "Something valuable?"
She nodded. "Not directly from his hoard, mind. But...I found a valuable historic artifact on land that his family owns. Under British law, they'd be entitled to half the value of the find." She paused, then added, reluctantly, "Actually, in this case, probably the total value. I didn't have their permission to be metal-detecting there. Anyway, I was thinking about what you said, that if I'd taken something it would cause 'complications with draconic law.'" She made air quotes with her fingers. "Is this a complication?"
Dai leaned his chair back on two legs, frowning as he thought. The situation wasn't clear-cut. If Virginia had directly stolen from Bertram's hoard, technically Dai would have had to return the treasure or risk being declared a rogue and hunted down by other dragons.
But since the treasure had just been on Bertram's land...it could be argued that the other dragon hadn't actually claimed the treasure itself, leaving it fair game for anyone else, human or dragon. Of course, it could also be argued that the land included any artifacts hidden within it.
Dai had a nasty feeling he knew which way Bertram would argue.
He sighed. "Unfortunately, yes. Possibly." Catching sight of Virginia's frightened eyes, he thumped the chair back down again, leaning across the table to catch her hand. "No. No, it's not a complication, in that I am not going to let any dragon lay so much as a single claw on you. I am going to keep you safe, Virginia. I swear to you, I will keep you safe."
Virginia squeezed his fingers. "I know you want to. But safety isn't everything." Her jaw set in determination, though her eyes still betrayed her apprehension. "I'm not giving Bertram my find, even if it means he's going to come after me. But I don't want to put you in danger too."
"Danger is just a standard day at the office, as far as I'm concerned," Dai said with a wry smile. "Don't worry about me. You take care of your job, and I'll take care of mine." Letting go of her hand, he picked up his fork again. "Which is to protect you from dragons."
Virginia pushed bacon around on her plate, frowning a little in thought. "About that. Is Bertram going to keep trying to steal the artifact back, even after I've handed it in to the proper authorities? A find like this is legally classed as Treasure, so it belongs to the nation. Would he try to break into a museum collection?"
"No, I doubt he'd be that foolish. This Bertram might be willing to risk snatching something from you in a deserted field at midnight, but he'd be in serious trouble if he tried to steal from a museum."
Virginia looked relieved. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that. I was starting to wonder how good the British Museum's anti-dragon defenses are."
"Oh, anything in there belongs to the Queen," Dai said around a mouthful of breakfast. "No one is going to interfere with her hoard."
Virginia's fork froze halfway to her mouth. "The Queen is a dragon?"
"Um. Probably best if you forget I said that," Dai said. He waved a hand. "Anyway, the point is, dragons aren't allowed to go around smashing their way into museums—or banks or shops, for that matter. The Parliament of Shifters—a sort of government—comes down very hard on that sort of thing. Dragons are too powerful and dangerous to be allowed to run riot."
"So once I've reported my find and had the site properly declared an area of historic interest, Bertram will have to give up?" Virginia asked.
"Unless he wants to find himself branded a rogue. And trust me, he won't want that. My team would have free license to hunt him down, as would all the other dragon-hunters nationwide. He'd have to flee the British Isles entirely."