"I'm fine," Dai replied, reflexively holding the woman closer as his inner dragon snarled at the thought of someone taking her away from him. "I'll look after her. Where's Hugh?"
"Setting up on the other side," said Fire Commander Ash, jumping lithely down from the fire engine. "He's not geared up, so I want him to stay back."
The Fire Commander's dark, calm eyes swept the scene, taking in every detail at a glance. "Daifydd, get the casualty to Hugh. Chase, stay on the radio, warn us when the police are about to arrive. John, let's take advantage of our lack of mundane onlookers. I'll contain the fire. Can you call the rain?"
The other shifter nodded, the charms woven into his long blue braids clinking. "The clouds are melancholy tonight. I shall sing their tears down."
"Good. Let's get to it, then, gentlemen." Turning to face the burning ruins of the barn, Ash flung his arms wide as if to embrace the fire. It leaped unnaturally in response, stretching out to the Fire Commander as if straining to reach a long-lost lover.
Ash slowly brought his hands together, and the fire grudgingly concentrated itself into a white-hot circle. John tilted his head back, beginning a droning hum in his own language as Ash chivvied stray flames back into the herd.
Dai was happy to leave them to it. His own talents lent themselves more to the "Rescue" side of the work, and it always made him feel inappropriately morose to have to put out a perfectly good fire.
"Hugh!" he called, striding round the truck. "I have a casualty for you!"
"Put her down here." Hugh's distinctive silver hair gleamed in contrast to the red fire engine behind him. He'd already unrolled a blanket and opened up a first aid kit.
Dai carefully lowered her down to the ground and stepped back to give Hugh access to the patient, though his inner dragon growled at having to move even an inch from his mate. He forced down the dragon's possessive instinct as Hugh crouched next to the woman, his intense blue eyes narrowed in assessment.
"Hello," Hugh said to the woman. "I'm a paramedic. Can I help you?" His clipped, upper-class English accent made it sound like he was merely making polite conversation, but Dai knew he was assessing the woman's ability to respond.
"Throat," rasped the woman. "Hurts."
A tiny crease appeared in Hugh's forehead at her tone, and Dai's heart missed a beat. His dragon rose up, desperate to fight whatever threatened his mate.
She's in good hands, he told his inner dragon as Hugh tugged off one of his disposable plastic gloves with a smooth, practiced motion.
Hugh touched the woman's neck lightly. As his bare skin brushed hers, she winced—and so did Hugh. His mouth twisted in a distinct grimace of pain as he slowly slid his hand down from jaw to collarbone. After a moment, he drew back his hand, flexing his fingers as if shaking out pins and needles.
"Can you tell me your name?" he asked the woman.
"Virginia." She looked startled at her own voice, which was much clearer than before. She drew in a deep breath. "Virginia Jones. Wow, that feels better." She rubbed her own throat, staring at the paramedic in wonder. "How on earth did you do that?"
"Mild irritation from smoke often clears up quickly," Hugh said, his curt tone dissuading any further inquiry. He snapped his glove back on before taking her pulse, expression back to his customary reserve. "Can you tell me what happened, Virginia?"
"Uh." Virginia's brown eyes went from Hugh to Dai and back again. "It's all a bit...confused."
"He knows about dragons too," Dai said. "He won't think that you're crazy."
Virginia let out a brief bark of half-hysterical laughter. "I think I'm crazy." She wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging them to her chest. "That monster...it can't have been real. Dragons aren't real!"
"Alas, if only that were true." Hugh murmured as he checked her for any further injuries. Catching Dai's dirty look, he added, "You can't deny we'd all be a lot less busy." He sat back on his heels. "Virginia, you don't have any burns, and you don't have a concussion. However, you've gone through a lot of trauma tonight. For safety, I would like to call an ambulance to take you into hospital for observation and any further treatment."
Virginia's hand suddenly flew to her coat pocket, gripping something through the fabric. "No. I want to go home. I feel fine. Can I just go home?"
Hugh sighed. "One day, one of my patients will actually want to go to the marvelous temple of modern medicine. Yes, you can go home, if," he raised one long finger forbiddingly, "you can call someone to both take you there and take care of you tonight."
Virginia's face fell. "Oh." She rubbed her forehead. "I'll...think of someone."
*Can you give us a minute?* Dai sent to Hugh.
The paramedic's pale eyebrows rose, but he got to his feet. "I'll go report to Commander Ash. Let me know when you decide what to do." Flashing Dai a curious glance, he left.
"Please, allow me to watch over you tonight," Dai said to Virginia, as casually as he could with his inner dragon roaring in eagerness. "It's not safe for you to be alone, and not just for medical reasons. The dragon threatened to return."
That bothered him. If she'd never seen a dragon before—and clearly she hadn't—how could she have taken something from one's hoard? Had the other dragon been lying? He pushed the thought away; there were much more important matters to deal with now.
Virginia's eyes widened. "It—what?"