Page 27 of Dragon Chaos Around

“A PowerPoint,” he repeated.

“Twelve slides. Giselle did the data visualization.”

“You prepared a twelve-slide presentation to confront me about courtship behavior.”

“I prepare presentations for everything. It’s how I process. You hoard stories; I build decks.” She crossed her arms. His eyes hadn’t shifted back to silver. A new equilibrium. “You’re still doing it, by the way.”

“Doing what.”

“The temperature thing. The whole room is three degrees warmer than it was when I walked in, and your eyes look like someone poured honey into a bowl of mercury.” She tilted her head. “Is that a dragon thing or a you thing?”

“Both.” The word arrived unfiltered. No strategic consideration. No centuries of verbal discipline editing for optimal impact. Both. The simplest truth, spoken in the simplest voice he’d used in her presence.

Alani looked at him. He looked at her. The Manhattan skyline blazed through the windows behind him, turning his silver hair to white gold and casting his shadow long across the penthouse floor toward her feet.

“I’m keeping the film reel,” she said.

“of course.”

“And the manga.”

“That was always the intention.”

“And if a third gift appears on my desk, I’m going to stop confronting you about it and start expecting it, and that’s a much more dangerous situation for both of us.”

His hands—the still ones, the controlled ones, the ones holding themselves motionless through visible effort—twitched at his sides. A single involuntary movement. The dragon beneath the skin, straining toward the woman standing in his living room issuing terms.

“Noted,” he said.

“Noted.” She picked up the transport case. Held it against her hip. Walked toward the door with a steadiness that her heartbeat didn’t match—a rhythm she would deal with later, privately, in the hotel suite, probably facedown on the bed while Crystal and Giselle offered commentary she didn’t ask for and desperately needed.

“Ms. Nores?”

She turned.

He stood where she’d left him. The penthouse light gilded his silhouette. His eyes hadn’t changed back.

“The presentation,” he said. “The twelve-slide PowerPoint on dragon courtship behavior.”

“What about it?”

“Send it to me. I’d like to review your methodology.”

She grinned. The full version—the one that lit her whole face, unguarded and incandescent. “You want to peer review my dragon courtship deck?”

“I want to ensure accuracy. If you’re going to document my behavior, the data should be sound.”

She was still grinning when the elevator doors closed.

The elevator opened to the lobby. Manhattan morning light streamed through the glass doors—autumn gold, the city burning at the edges as the season tipped forward. The transport case in hand, the Silverscale crest catching the light.

Worthy.

The word sat in her chest.

She pressed the transport case against her side and walked into the morning.

Her phone buzzed one final time.