A Dragon's Treasure

13. Luke Should Bring a Coat

CASSIAN

Hunkered behind the couch, Cassian sighed and glanced at Luke next to him, his nose was crushed against the top edge of the sofa. For someone so obsessed with not dying young, Luke sure loved to throw himself into reckless danger. This goes against Cassian's natural instincts to protect treasured objects. Cassian's horde back home crossed his mind, the way he kept his fortune secure and safe. There'd be benefits to adding Luke to his collection.

With his golden blonde hair and sapphire eyes, Luke looked up at him with all the expectations in the world. The fire in Cassian belly flicker and he could tase the heat on his tongue.

Yes.

He'd fit right in with Cassian's horde.

"Cass, are you ready?" Luke asked.

Sighing again to remind Luke how much this displeased him, Cassian still nodded and looked out at the large iron safe in the middle of the living room. The rest of the furniture was shoved into other rooms to protect it. There was a credenza in the bathroom. They spent the first day in Paris searching the apartment, using an enchanted compass to uncover anything and everything that magical.

"This feels foolish," the Magic Mirror piped up from the peanut gallery, despite no one asking his opinion.

"Do you have a better idea?" Luke argued, shooting the mirror a glare. Inside his reflection, The Magic Mirror was sitting on the ground as if he was joining in the plan. He didn't say a single thing. Luke shook his head, turning forward again. "That's what I thought. Cassian?"

"Alright, let me get ready. I've never been arrested for arson, and I don't plan to start today. Pretty sure this building is so old its haunted and they wouldn't appreciate it," Cassian mumbled and started undoing the buttons of his shirt, pulling it off behind him.

Doing a double take, Luke's eyes covered the landscape of Cassian's chest in a millisecond. A shock of red popped and crackled across Luke's face as his eyes widened. He was buffered, stuttering, and keeping his eyes trained on Cassian's eyes. "Wh-what are you doing?!"

Cassian smirked with one brow raised. He watched in delight as Luke's pure aura darkened back into that naughty red color. This human obviously liked what he saw, and Cassian liked to provoke Luke (as much as the human enjoyed provoking him). Cassian tossed his shirt and leaned in a little closer just to see how far Luke's blush could spill. Turns out, it could go farther into his clothes than Cassian could see. He wished he could take a peek.

Cassian's internal fire warmed his skin better than the sun, better than if he walked directly into a bonfire. Feigning ignorance, Cassian explained, "I didn't want to ruin my shirt."

He winked, before rolling his shoulders back and he finally let his wings out. Not the full wings. That would take the rest of this apartment floor out, but he had another form. Like any creature, Dragons had survival tactics. If he needed a quick getaway, he could fly in his mortal form with a pair of wings fitting to his size.

The heat from his body caused his black like ash scales to rise to the top of his skin and covered the edges of his body, along his jaw, his cheekbones, and freckled down his arms and chest. Hot white pain ripped across Cassian's back and he flinched only a moment as the wound cauterized itself and from there, two wing as large as him flapped opened and stretched. It was like massaging a tight, cramped up muscle and Cassian relaxed in a way he hadn't in a long time.

Luke gaped, staring at him in wide-eyed wonder.

Cassian sparked and he tried to play it off as cool. Bringing his blackened hand to his lips, he let the fire rumble up his throat and crumble into his hand as he balled it up. The veins underneath glowed, cracking through the scales and char like rolling molten lava. He chucked the fire at the safe and it smacked the top... then rolled off. The Magic Mirror laughed.