August 16 | Night

At the cottage, Fitz lay in bed, talking to his girlfriend with a dreamy smile. His low voice added to the hushed stillness of the room. I stood in the doorway, unnoticed. He looked so happy to be alone on the phone with Julissa that I didn't want to interrupt. Yet, Dex's words reverberated in my head. I had roped my best friend into a suicide mission. I had to get Fitz out of here.

He raised on an elbow when he saw me. "Hey, you made it."

"Yeah. When you get a second, we need to talk." I pasted on a smile.

"What's eating you?" He sat up with a perplexed scan of my face. Patting the bedside, he mumbled into the phone, "Let me call you back, Julissa."

"Argh! I told you, 'when you get a second,' not right this second. I didn't come to disturb you." I sighed as I padded into the room and sat next to him.

"Julissa and I can talk anytime. What's going on? Is it that guy, Legend?"

Legend. I had watched him become the storm—lightning bolts in his hair, thunder in his wake, the wind for his skin. His great red scales had shimmered in the sunlight until his swirling dragon had blurred our view of the sky. If not for the concrete walls surrounding us and the amulet's mystical protection, he would have blown Dex and me to pieces.

And I would've gladly submitted to the obliteration.

My vivid imagination had finally been eclipsed by reality. Where I had dreamed of celebrity crushes, book boyfriends, and two-dimensional lovers, fate had delivered up a dragon shifter with diamond eyes to tempt me. A dragon shifter who might not survive our mission.

"No, it's not about Legend." I tried to laugh.

Fitz gave me a look. "Be careful with him. There's something... I dont know. I feel like he's hiding things."

We all are, I thought. "When are you going back to Arizona?" I asked casually.

My friend leaned backward to study me. "I thought we were going back to Arizona. Then on to LA. What about opening the lounge, you being my nightly act?"

"Well, I, uh, kind of figured that it went without saying that this FBI stuff might not be wrapped up in time for our return flight." I stared at my hands in my lap.

"That's fine," Fitz responded. My eyes speared his. "Look, I'm not stupid, Nixie. I know there are things that you can't tell me about this case, but it's obvious you're in deep shit if they've carted you to witness protection in the middle of settling your mother's affairs. I'm not going anywhere until we get that evidence to the authorities.

"I have some money in my savings to live off of until I can resume work," he assured me, "and I've already talked to my parents. In the event I lose my job, they promised to hold down the basement apartment without charging me rent for a few months. I didn't tell them anything, but they intuitively picked up that something's wrong. Truth be told, we're all more concerned about your well-being than mine."

I didn't know how to convince him that I wasn't the one at a disadvantage. "Fitz, you need to return home. Get back to planning your move to Los Angeles. Get back to your happy relationship." Live without the fear of vampires and curses, I'm begging you.

He chuckled as he stroked my locs back from my face. "Don't be silly, Nixie. How could you think I would abandon you with a murderer after you? You stuck by my side throughout my gender transition. When everyone else thought I was crazy, you stood up for me."

"Yeah, but our situations are different, Fitz. I was never in any physical danger—"

"See, that's what I'm talking about. You very well were in physical danger," he cut in. "People get hurt all the time for standing up for what they believe in. It worries me that you don't think about that, and that's why I'm staying. Dex and Legend don't know you like I do. You've lived such a sheltered life that you don't understand how the real world works."

"I–What's that supposed to mean?" My eyebrows stitched together in a frown.

Fitz clutched my shoulders. "Babes, I know it seems like I'm coming down hard on you and being condescending, but I have to tell you this because I love you. You're the ultimate soft girl. I don't blame Edwina for how she parented. I mean, considering what we've learned about someone being after you, I completely understand why she kept you close. But that kept you in a fantasy world for far too long. I've been trying to integrate you into the real world, hence the planned move to LA with me.

"Unfortunately," he sighed, "you're now stuck in a safehouse with a group of people unlike anyone you've ever met, one of whom is unprofessional enough to make his interest in you obvious. It might seem like a dream come true to be hit on by the hero, but you don't have the experience to see Legend accurately, or you would have noticed that he's into Dex as well. He's a player, Nixie."

I hopped up from the bed, smarting from the verbal take-down. "Why are you making this about Legend? This is about what you think of me, Fitz, and you're basically calling me gullible and naive."

"That's not what I'm saying, Nixie. I'm saying you already have enough on your plate without getting involved in a situationship." He rose with his arms spread as I backed away. "Hun, I can't let you get your heart broken by a guy who sees you as another notch in his belt. You've gotta see the benefit of having me around to show you the red flags that you miss."

"What I see is that my best friend doesn't believe in me." I jabbed a finger at him. "You think I can't take care of myself, that I need you to vet who I hang out with and hold my hand through adulthood. Newsflash, Fitz Palantro: You don't know me as well as you think you do. I'm going for a swim."

"Since when do you swim?" He crossed his arms.

"Exactly!" I yelled as I stormed from the guest room.

"Nixie! Nixie, get back here. It's the middle of night, and we're not from this place. You don't know what's in those waters. There could be all kinds of wildlife out there." Fitz trailed me out the door.

I spun around sharply. "I want you to go." I channeled every bit of siren into my voice, hoping to dislodge him from his stubborn, overprotective stance.

Fitz laughed in annoyance and held his ground. "I'm not about to let a temper tantrum get in the way of me being here for you. I've protected you the whole time we've known each other. You're like a sister to me. You want to swim with the alligators, be my guest, but I'm not going anywhere. And you forgot your swimsuit."

"Don't need one," I snarled back.

Abuela Maya chuckled as I crossed the kitchen. "La familia, eh?" she said. She sat at the table bundling fragrant herbs to be dried. I knew she had heard where I was going, and she would keep Dex informed. Neither of them had to worry, though. I no longer had a reason to run.

I stepped through the backdoor and white flowers fluttered across my path like snowflakes. I stood on the step and peered into the night. The warm, humid sky curved above the glassy pond, the moon's reflection rippling on its gentle waves.

Myrtle trees followed a meandering path to the water's edge. On its banks, I removed my clothes, draping them across the overhanging branches of a willow tree. Dex's cottage was shielded in such a way that the neighbors would never see me. The breeze that tugged at me carried the smell of sweet grass and lilies.

Through the cool, satiny mud, the water kissed the soles of my feet. I walked farther in, and the water climbed to my calves. I thought about what Fitz had said about wildlife, but I wasn't afraid. A heightened awareness thrummed through me. I listened to the croak of frogs and the call of cicadas. I waded through tall stands of cattails, allowing my locs to float on top of the water as it reached my torso. At length, I felt the tingling of transformation, and I dove underwater as my legs became a mermaid's tail.

Fitz was wrong in his assessment of me. I swam deeper to wash away frustrated tears. He had struck a nerve with what he had said, drudging up insecurities. I couldn't escape the fact that I had lived most of my life in a bubble, but that didn't make me an idiot.

I was not developing romantic feelings for Legend. We had only just met. I liked him, I found him attractive, but I wasn't falling for him. And, yes, there were things I didn't know about the dragon shifter, probably things I could never know. He was a longtime secret agent, after all, which meant he played his cards close to his chest. That didn't inherently make him untrustworthy or a liar.

I hated that my best friend thought I was such a terrible judge of character. Yet, what he had said about Legend flitting between Dex and me had stung because it was true. I knew Legend was into Dex. I thought about the way that Dex had looked at the dragon shifter in the rideshare back—how her critical eyes had assessed his face and found him desirable.

I thought of how well put together she was in comparison to me. Would I always feel awkward and inexperienced around her? Fitz had been right about that, too. I wasn't worldly. Before the trip to New Orleans, I hadn't traveled far from my hometown or met tons of people. I didn't even know if I should be jealous of the budding threeway love affair.

But it was all the more reason for me to embrace the quest. I had been under the overprotective wings of my mother and my best friend for years. Not only did I want Fitz to leave in order to keep him safe, but I also wanted to prove myself.

My body cut through the murky water as I determinedly released my concerns. I would find a way to usher Fitz off. For the time being, I was done with the stress. My gossamer tail fin wavered in the moonlight that penetrated the dark waters, and I chased it around in a graceful arc, giggling to myself.

I had almost forgotten Fitz's warning about the wildlife in Louisiana until I broke the surface of the water and saw a wolf drinking from the pond. I froze.

It was gray, black, and white, and its massive body usurped the size of a dog by several degrees. It had dagger-like canines that I could see from meters away. I rummaged my brain for National Geographic documentaries I had watched, trying to recall if wolves could swim. I backed away in the pond, submerging myself until only my eyes showed.

The animal paid no attention to me as it dipped its majestic nose for another sip. Then a haze surrounded the animal, almost like a heat wave above pavement on a hot summer day. With a shiver of its frame, the wolf was replaced by a stunning naked woman. My hitched breath shot through the night loud enough to wake the dead.

Dex stared at me with a wry smile.

"What? You're not the only Supernatural with more than one form around here," she replied.

She strode toward the house, and I swam after her, rising out of the water on shaky legs. She started getting dressed in a bundle of clothes I hadn't noticed hidden by the backdoor. Her hair tumbled over her shoulders as she shrugged into her shirt. She smelled like wildflowers, sweet grass, and fresh air. I inhaled deeply as I got dressed, too.

"I tried to get Fitz to leave," I broke the silence.

"Good for you," she murmured. "I take it you failed."

"He doesn't think I can make it without him." I scowled.

"It's an unfortunate malady that afflicts men. They can't imagine women surviving without them." She smiled as she laced her boots.

I glanced over my shoulder at her as I fastened my pants. "Maybe you could talk to him?"

"Nope. Your friend, your mess. You clean it up."

Irritated by her tone, I blew out a breath. "He won't listen to me, Dex. He thinks I'm an empty-headed manic pixie dream girl."

Dex straightened to her full height and placed an elegant hand at her waist. We studied each other. She was fully clothed in khaki pants and a button-down shirt, open at the collar to reveal a generous amount of cleavage. I wondered how she managed to make college professor chic look so femme fatale.

"Princess, you alone can change his impression of you," she stated.

I dragged my gaze from her breasts. "I don't know how he got that impression in the first place," I grumbled as I turned away again. "But what if he's right? What if I'm too much of a soft girl to be what you need me to be on this mission? Let's face it. I'm not secret agent material. The more I learn about what we have to do, the more afraid I am."

"Fear." She laid a hand on my shoulder and made me face her. "Now, that's an appropriate emotion. However, it's just an emotion. Fearful or not, you'll do your part. I won't have it any other way."

"Naturally," I blew out a breath.

She laughed softly. "Being an effective leader requires blunt facts, hard truths, and an unrelenting willingness to muscle through uncomfortable realities. You'll be crowned the minute this mission is over. I'd be doing you a disservice if I coddled a future queen."

"You're correct. So, I want you to teach me how to be more like you." I lifted my chin.

Her eyes dipped to my mouth, and she smiled as she glanced aside. "Why would you want to be more like me? Who doesn't want to be a royal? You're otherworldly beautiful, and you have a whimsical personality that captures the imagination of everyone you meet. I think you're doing you perfectly."

"You channel so much power," I murmured as I stepped closer, a hint of the siren in my voice.

It came to me on a whim. Investigating what Legend had told me about my mesmerizing capabilities had thus far proven futile. Fitz hadn't listened to a word I'd said. This time, however, I envisioned what I desired, infusing my words with it. My mother had always told me that my imagination was my greatest weapon. I used it to influence Dex to not say no.

"You're always in control of your emotions," I spoke in a soft, soothing voice. "You're intelligent, sophisticated, self-possessed. No one would accuse you of being too soft. You turn heads everywhere you go, even though you look like you might kick a man's ass or charm his socks off, whichever the situation requires." I giggled at the mental image. "Come on. Teach me your ways, Dex."

"D'ah, princess. Is it that you want to be like me, or is it that you want me?" She boldly clasped my chin. I arched my neck, leaning into her grasp, as I stared at her from beneath thick lashes. She had a full face and plush lips with hungry eyes that devoured my features. We were inches apart. I didn't know what came over me, but I wanted some of her dauntlessness.

"What if it's both?" I asked.

"Por qué no los dos?" She laughed. She eased her fingers away from my dewy skin and exhaled slowly as she shook her head. "Why not both? I'll teach you, princess, but put that allure away before you reel in something you can't handle."

"Something like what?" I chortled. She recaptured my face—a flash of movement—stealing my breath in a heated kiss that muted my gasp of shock.

"Something like una loba," said the werewolf as she seductively nibbled my lips.