Page 64 of Red Dragon’s Heart

Colt’s twin got up on his knees, checking out the effect of the black polish. “You should do us all, Kitty. We’ll be badass.”

“Badass Bad Bloods.” Brandon fist-bumped the other boy with his free hand.

Zakerek led Maddie behind the bar, shaking his head.

“Aren’t you going to tell their parents?” she murmured. “They shouldn’t be drinking.”

“Their parents would be thrilled they’re down here watching TV, stealing beer and painting each other’s nails, and not wreaking havoc in some other part of the castle. Those kids are a menace. I’m surprised nobody’s killed them yet, out of sheer aggravation.”

“Are they all dragons?” she asked curiously.

“No, none of them are. They’re from the Bad Blood Crew and the Silverlake wolf pack, on earth. Allies of the Al-Maddeiri. The Bad Bloods are all different kinds of shifters—wolf, panther, bear, snow leopard, even a snowy owl.”

“There are owl shifters?”

“Sure. I’ll introduce you later. We’re busy now.”

Behind the bar, an alcove led to a hallway. On one side was a bathroom, and on the other a blank wall with a painting of dragons playing poker. Zakerek lifted up the painting and put his palm flat on the wall behind it.

The handprint glowed for a few seconds, and then a portion of the wall disappeared, revealing a short hall and then a stairway leading down. After making sure the secret panel closed behind them, he took her hand and led her down the stairs into an underground tunnel.

Light globes on the walls came on as they went past, and then turned themselves off again, so they were walking in a bubble of light.

Finally they came to a pair of doors carved with flying dragons. Zakerek laid his palms where the doorknobs would normally be, and they swung open, light globes coming on inside.

Maddie gasped. The room was huge—big enough for a dragon—and the floor was covered with legit treasure. Gold, mostly—a huge heaping pile of coins on the floor with jewels winking in between them, stacks of gold bars, chests with necklaces and statuettes spilling out. There were also carvings and sculptures and coins made out of an iridescent purplish metal, that she’d seen elsewhere in the castle.

She turned to him, totally blown away. “You have a real dragon’s hoard? This is amazing!”

“Yeah.” He shrugged, looking almost embarrassed. “Most of it is pretty new—the last ten years or so. Caz and Mikah and I got a late start—we couldn’t really have hoards when we were slaves. It sucked. A dragon without a hoard is like…” He shrugged again, but she seemed to hear words in her mind.

Half alive. Barely a dragon at all.

Zak let her wander around and play with the gold and jewels. Maddie had never cared much for fairy tales—at least, not after her parents died. But now she felt like she was in the middle of one.

“What’s this purple metal?” she asked, picking up a polished nugget.

“Atherias,” Zakerek said. “It’s rare. There isn’t any on earth, although it’s found in a few other worlds, and there’s a large vein of it in this little dimensional bubble. It responds well to magic, so it’s prized by dragons. It also turns out to be useful in electronics manufacturing, which is how Emon supports this place. And also ended up a billionaire in earth dollars.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yepper. That’s how I paid for the lab.”

And it explained why Emon hadn’t complained about the bills.

As she’d been wandering around the hoard, she’d become aware of a low, harmonic humming sound. Now it was getting louder—so loud that Zak’s necklace was vibrating against her chest. “What’s that noise?” she asked Zak.

“The hoard,” he said, gathering up a handful of gold and letting it trickle through his fingers. “It missed me, and it’s happy I’m back. When a dragon’s hoard is happy, it sings.” He was smiling, looking more relaxed than she’d ever seen him.

He suddenly turned to Maddie. “Have you ever made a snow angel in a pile of gold pieces?”

She giggled. “I’m not sure any human ever has. Can we?”

“Come on.” They lay down in the huge pile of gold and swished their arms and legs, making gold snow angels. The song of the gold rose around them, pulsing through them. Maddie felt its joy rising through her. Home. Dragon. Love.

Zak sat up and began to hum along, his deep voice harmonizing with the song of the gold. It was breathtaking—the most incredible, magical sound she’d ever heard. It filled her with a joy so intense it brought tears to her eyes.

Without even meaning to, she joined in the song. Her voice twined with Zakerek’s in instinctive harmony—she could sense where the song was going, and somehow knew the perfect notes to sing.