“We’re firefighters. Alpha Team. And Griff’s still one of us.” Chase opened the front door. “He’ll always be one of us. And we look out for our own.”
Hayley’s breath froze in her throat.
There was a dragon in the road.
It looked exactly like an illustration from a fairytale book—horned, winged, with a long, sinuous tail and glittering crimson scales. There was a man astride its broad neck, and he could have stepped straight out of a fantasy novel too. His long, braided blue hair and fierce, rough-hewn features made him look like some barbarian warrior.
“They’re in plain sight!” Hayley exclaimed. British people might be good at politely ignoring each other, but surely none of her neighbors were going to overlook a huge red dragon in the street. She looked wildly around at the surrounding houses, but no one’s curtains had so much as twitched. “Why isn’t anyone noticing?”
“It’s a mythic shifter thing,” Chase said. He waved at the dragon and its rider. “We have a kind of mind-trick we can do, which stops ordinary people from seeing us in our animal forms. Comes in handy.”
The man jumped down from the dragon’s back. The instant he was clear, the dragon’s bulk shimmered, condensing into a red-headed man. Even though the dragon had been the size of a bus, in human form he barely came up to the long-haired man’s shoulder. The two men strode toward the house.
That’s weird, Hayley thought inanely, still half-numb with shock. Who’d have thought a dragon shifter would be…so…little…
Oh.
The dragon shifter wasn’t little. In fact, he was even taller than Griff.
It was just that the man next to him was motherfudging enormous.
“Where is he?” the giant rumbled as he squeezed himself through her front door. He couldn’t even stand up straight inside. Despite his bulk, there was an intelligent, noble look to his chiseled face that meant Hayley couldn’t feel afraid of him.
“With Hugh and Ash. We’re to stay out of the way,” Chase said, shutting the door. Turning to Hayley, he pointed at the red-headed dragon shifter. “This is Daifydd Drake—but you can call him Dai, he accepts that the rest of us find Welsh names unpronounceable.” His finger swung to the giant. “And this is John Doe, whose real name is literally unpronounceable if you’re breathing air, so don’t worry about that. Dai, John, this is…” Chase hesitated, looking down at Hayley. “Actually, I haven’t the foggiest idea who you are. Sorry.”
“I do,” said John Doe. His voice had an odd, musical quality, and she couldn’t place his accent at all. He sank gracefully to one knee in front of her, bowing his head. “My lady. I am the Walker-Above-Wave, Knight-Poet of the Order of the First Water, Guardian of the Pearl Throne, Seeker of the Emperor-in-Absence, Firefighter of the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, and Griffin’s sworn oath-brother. If by my life or my death I can serve you, I will.”
Hayley blinked at him, completely lost for words. From the startled looks on both Chase and Dai’s faces, she wasn’t the only one.
“Uh, John?” The red-headed dragon shifter—Dai—tapped John’s massive shoulder. “Care to explain what’s going on?”
John got to his feet again, keeping his head tilted to avoid hitting it on the light fitting. “She is my oath-brother’s mate, kin-cousin. As he would defend me, so will I defend her.”
“She’s Griff’s what now?” Chase exclaimed, staring at Hayley in astonishment.
“Mommy?” To Hayley’s horror, Danny stood at the top of the stairs, rubbing sleepy eyes. “I heard noises.”
“Holy sh-” Chase started. Dai elbowed him hard in the ribs, silencing him.
Danny flinched back, hiding behind the banister. “Who’re they? Mommy, where’s Mr. Griff?”
“It’s okay, baby.” Hayley twisted out of Chase’s suddenly slack grip. She hurried up the stairs. “These are—these are some of Griff’s friends.”
Danny peeked round her at the three huge men. “Mr. Griff’s dragon friends?”
“That’s right.” Hayley tried to block his view of the hallway, terrified that at any moment the kitchen door might open. “Mr. Griff’s dragon friends. We’re just talking. You go back to bed now.”
“Hey,” Chase protested. “I’m not a dr-”
This time both Dai and John elbowed him. He wheezed, shutting up.
“Why’re they here?” Danny dragged his feet, resisting as she tried to hustle him back toward his bedroom. “Why’re you all funny-looking, Mommy? Are you crying?”
“No, of course not.” It was the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life, but she managed to paste a convincing smile onto her face. “Everything’s fine. Come on, you’ve got school tomorrow and you need your sleep.”
By the time she’d gotten Danny resettled in bed—which involved a trip to the bathroom, a glass of water, two lullabies and finally making him pinky-promise to really, really go back to sleep now—and returned downstairs, the firefighters had moved Griff from the kitchen to the couch. Her small front room seemed completely filled with broad shoulders and beefy arms, barely able to hold so many big men.
Hayley only had eyes for Griff’s limp body. Although he was still deeply unconscious, he’d finally relaxed from that tormented, curled position. His chest rose and fell with his shallow breathing. All the breath rushed out of Hayley’s own lungs with relief.