LUKE

Pressing his hands to his face, Luke attempted to keep from combusting. He thought he already figured out Iris's secret life. Everyone made it sound like she found lost items and returned them home, like she provided needs for people... no one else had mentioned thievery, except for Cassian... but Cassian didn't seem like he was lying.

But why him?

Out of everyone, he's the only one with something bad to tell.

And Zipper was apparently rich.

Shaking his head, Luke peeked between his fingers for a millisecond and regretted meeting Astrid's look of pity. He covered his face again. Luke always knew she was well off. Not just because of his parent's life insurance policy, but he just figured, her job that she always told him involved international business paid really great. She sent him to a really nice boarding school. Paid for his college education. Bought him his first car.

But there was well off.

And then, there was owning multiple houses and cars. There were the clothes, the jewelry, and you can always tell the status of a person based on the power of their enemies and Cassian Alwyn was at least wealthy in that regard.

"That damn ring is somewhere in this house I just know it," Cassian declared, slamming his fist with more fervor than a judge with their gavel. He mustered himself up and the door swung open in a burst of wind and heat as he stormed out. A thunder of gasps rippled through the house. Someone called his name in worry.

Luke sighed, his shoulders slumping as he looked to the lawyer. "Where does he get all that energy?" He muttered under his breath. "I'm too depressed for this shit."

Pushing himself up, Luke stormed after Cassian as the dragon threw the double doors open without touching them. Either his presence or the push of hot air parted the crowd again and they were rattling with fear. Cassian marched deeper into the house and everyone backed away quickly without taking their eyes off him.

Cassian was steaming. Smoking from all his edges. The palms of his hands glowed and Luke wanted to asked Kostas if being a merman involved magical water-powers to dose that dragon. "I guess as a dragon you've never had to deal with disappointment before—" The way Luke approached Cassian made the whole room collectively hold their breath. "But I don't know what you want from me!"

Whipping around, Cassian held his hand out, nearly swiping Luke. He was a man of heat, but the fire and conviction burned the brightest in his eyes. "This is going to go one of two ways," Cassian announced to the entire reception with that smug look on his face telling Luke he didn't have a choice. It pinched and twisted at Luke's usually even temperament.

"Either you find me that ring or..." Cassian backed away, keeping his eyes trained on Luke. His glowing hand pressed against one of the bright white columns separating the entrance and one of the sitting rooms. "I will burn this place to the ground. That way we'll be even. One home for another."

One of the shivering pixies groaned. "Uh, Luke, I think he means it!" 

All the blood in Luke's face rushed to his toes as his eyes widened. Luke gawked, yelling at Cassian across the room because he lost the feeling in his legs. "You expect me to find this magical ring for you, when I've only known that magic exists for a few weeks? How do you expect me to do that?"

Cassian tilted his head, smoke starting to seep through his fingers. "Is this you asking to work together?"

Jaw clenched, Luke bellowed, "Absolutely not. I won't work with you. I don't even want to be in the same room with you another second."

"So..." Cassian didn't flinch. The fire in his palms brightened, flickered and burst. The flames licked up the length of the column and a third of the crowd decided this was the time to run. Cassian asked, "You're choosing option two?"

"This isn't fair—" Luke cursed and found the will to run right up to this dragon. This close, the heat nipped at Luke's face, but he scowled at Cassian, summing up all his courage to snap at him. "I don't know what you want from me. What do you want me to say? That you can stay here? And look for your ring? I don't want anything to do with you and I doubt you want to be here either so just go and give it up."

As Cassian drew near, Luke slightly leaned back to regain personal space. Cassian's presence coveted more heat that the fire crawling up the pillar. Cassian whispered, his deep voice all rasp and mystery. "Then you concede that your grandmother is a liar and a thief. If you don't think it's here then she must have sold it to someone else, which means she also breaks her promises."

"You're not going to trick me by riling me up."

"Sure, but unlike your grandmother, I keep my word."

The fire shot up, threatening the ceiling and Luke gasped. He grabbed Cassian's arm to pry him away. "Okay! Okay! Fine! Stay here and look for the ring! I'll help. She must have kept a record of everything she found."

"Stole."

Luke's eyes narrowed. "We'll figure it out but as soon as you have your ring back, you're out of here. I never wanna see you again."

"Fine by me. The feeling is mutual. I don't need you to like me because I'll never like you. Humans are nothing but a bunch of greedy thieves and I'll only stay as long as it takes to find my ring. Then, I'm going to hibernate for the next thousand years and I'll never be force to deal with another Whitlock descendant ever again."

Luke didn't have the strength to tell Cassian he wouldn't have to wait that long if that was what he was really worried about. The curse would take Luke much sooner than that. Cassian ran his hand through the fire the way normal people would run their hands through velvet, but where his hand touched, the fire was snuffed out and the rest slowly died in a last gasp of smoke.

Keeping the last word, Cassian breezed past Luke and he finally let out a tortured sigh. On his own, Cassian made his way to the staircase and glanced back at the crowd. "The party's over. Everyone go home. Now."

Amazingly, the crowd dispersed. A few walked by Luke, thanking him for the reception along with whispers of goodbyes. Luke glared at Cassian as he made himself at home, walking up the stairs as if he owned the place. Luke had never wanted to sock someone in the mouth so badly before.

Kostas appeared with a small paper with his phone number. "It might be a strange way to meet people, but if you need a friend, give me a call."

"Thanks, I will," Luke said and admired Kostas' nice handwriting. Kostas nodded and patted Luke's shoulder on the way out. Molly said her goodbyes as well, promising to send him all the information he needed with the vow not to overwhelm him, which was already a failure.

Astrid ran over to him, throwing her arms around his legs. "Oh, Luke! I'm so sorry! I should've helped, but he scares the dickens out of me!"

"It's okay," Luke whispered. He lowered onto his knees and pulled her into a hug. He rubbed her back, letting her cry it out. "It's okay. He won't be here forever." Pulling back, Luke rested his hand on her shoulder, encapsulating her entire left shoulder and some of her arm. "If you need to go, I'll understand."

"No!" Astrid almost jumped. "I won't leave you here all alone with that beast!" She touched his face with her small hands. "I'll be brave for you, Luke. I won't leave you."

Luke blinked the misery away and just pulled her into another hug.

What a strange house this would be. Luke, a human with pixies in his garden, a sasquatch in his woods, and a gnomish woman as a roommate. Strange of all, Cassian Alwyn would be the dragon holding him hostage. Living with the enemy.

What's the worse that could happen? 

Yeahhhh what's the worse that could POSSIBLY happen? Lol. 

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and now, the game's afoot! We have a ring to find and mystery to solve. What did Iris do with the Fortress Ring? And will Luke and Cassian ever get along? Will Kostas become our bestie? 

As a side note, I'm really enjoying this book. It's like low pressure and I'm just updating whenever. All my planning has been so fun. This might end up becoming my most romantic book. Maybe even my favorite of all time! We'll just have to wait and see, haha.