After talking to a pair of lifeguards, and explaining that yes, I did see a shark out in the water, and no, I wasn’t causing a panic just for fun, I found Lexi and Kristen farther up the shore, at the edge of the parking lot. They were standing next to a yellow jeep and talking to a trio of shirtless guys in swim trunks, none of whom I’d seen before. As I approached, that strange prickle teased the back of my neck, and I gazed around, searching for dark hair and a motorcycle.

Nothing. I must be getting paranoid.

“There you are!” Lexi grabbed my arm like she was afraid I would fly away. “We were just about to go look for you. People are saying there’s a shark in the water!”

“Oh,” I said. “Um. Yeah, there is. I mean, that’s why I came out.

It’s probably nothing, though.” I glanced at the three strange guys.

They were a little older than us, college age, maybe, and not from around here. Except for their tanned arms, their skin was pale and pasty, as if this was the first time they’d taken off their shirts. One of them caught me looking at him and winked. I bristled, but decided not to comment.

“Lexi,” I said, turning away from winky guy. “Your new friends.

Are you going to introduce me or what?”

“Oh, yeah. This is Ember, the one I was telling you about.” Lexi waved at me like a game show attendant showing off the day’s prize.

“Ember, this is Drew, Travis, and Colin. They just got here from Colorado State, so Kristin and I were going to show them around the beach.”

“Ah.” I glanced at Kristin, sitting casually against the hood of the jeep, one long tan leg resting on the bumper. Two of the three guys couldn’t stop staring; you could almost see the drool hanging down their chins. “Well, I don’t think you’ll want to go anywhere near the water today,” I said. “You know, with Jaws hanging around out there.”

She pouted, but I was relieved. I didn’t like the way these three were staring at us, or the way that one of them casually put an arm around Lexi’s shoulders. My dragon growled uneasily, recognizing another predator as Colin’s gaze lingered on me.

“That’s okay,” he said, as Lexi blushed. “There are other places we can go. I heard there was this super secret spot you locals go to hang out, am I right? Pirate’s Cove, Dead Man’s Cove…something like that?”

“You mean Lone Rock Cove?” Lexi asked, smiling up at him. I wanted to kick her. Lone Rock was a little known inlet several miles down the beach. You had to take a dirt path from the road to get there, so it was pretty isolated. It was also where “questionable things”

happened, according to Liam. Dante and I had been cautioned not to go there alone, and never after dusk.

The boy’s grins widened. “Yeah, that’s the one. Would you ladies care to show us where it is? We have beer and Doritos. It could be a picnic.”

No, I thought. We wouldn’t. “Let’s go to the Smoothie Hut instead,” I offered . Where there will be lots of other people around. “I’m starving, and I’ve been craving curly fries since lunch.”

“Oh, Ember, where’s your spirit of adventure?” Kristin sighed, sliding lazily off the hood, making sure to rub her smooth thigh muscles down the metal. If the jeep were a boy, it would’ve spontaneously combusted. Flipping her hair back, she gave the guys a sultry smile.

“We can take you there,” she purred, as Lexi bobbed her head in agreement, “if you agree to buy us something later tonight.”

The boys grinned at each other like they’d won the lottery. “Well, you drive a hard bargain, gorgeous,” one of them said, the one who’d winked at me. “But I think we can accept those terms.”

I stifled a groan. I didn’t want to go; I didn’t like these three for some reason. I’d seen how males acted around girls; they often got very stupid and possessive. I still wasn’t an expert on the nuances of human behavior, especially when it came to their mating rituals.

Maybe this was normal?

I really should’ve listened to my dragon.

Garret

I wasn’t terribly fond of these clothes.

When fighting creatures with fangs that could sever ligaments, claws that could rip you open like a paper sack, and breath that could melt the skin from your bones, armor was essential. A good flak jacket could take a lot of heat and damage, and was surprisingly better then a Kevlar vest when dealing with a dragon’s natural weapons. Over the years, however, our enemies started to realize that firearms were just as efficient, and now were just as likely to shoot us as blast us with flame. Still, when forced into their natural forms, dragons always fell back to their deadliest weapons. Our black and gray combat uniforms were made of flame retardant fabric and lined with steel plates; they couldn’t protect us from everything, especially a direct blast of dragonfire, but it was better than going into battle with nothing.

The point was, I was comfortable in armor. The more padding and steel between me and my enemy, the better. I’d been through missions where my armor had been ripped to shreds, burned and cut to pieces, and if I hadn’t had it on, I would have been dead. I didn’t like feeling vulnerable or exposed. And there were few things flimsier than shorts and the loose black tank top I was wearing at the moment. I might as well have walked around this beach stark naked.

“You’re sulking again,” Tristan remarked from the driver’s seat, not looking up from the window. Like me, he wore shorts and a tank top, the picture of a fist with the thumb and pinkie held out gracing the front. Unlike me, it didn’t seem to bother him.

“I’m not sulking.”

“Right. Brooding, then.” He fell silent as a young couple walked by the jeep, close enough to touch his arm dangling out the window, but he didn’t even glance their way. His gaze hadn’t left the group at the edge of the parking lot. “We’ve been here over three weeks, partner,” he informed me, as if I’d lost track. “You’re going to have to get used to it sometime. This is where that whole adapting and blending in thing applies. Can’t walk around the beach in full combat armor, even if there is a dragon nearby.”

I knew that. I also knew the Order required us to finish this mission, regardless of my personal feelings. Guns and dragons and fighting and death: that was what I was good at. Long stakeouts in a cheerful town surrounded by normal civilians, less so. “Do you still have the targets in sight?” I asked, already knowing the answer.