“Are you suggesting we hire them out as handymen?” Aegis said, the idea taking root in spite of his reservations.
Citrine nodded. “They can work locally, hire out for odd jobs. It will keep them busy, and if we’re lucky, they’ll run into their mates out there.”
As much as Aegis hated to agree with it, the idea was sound. If he’d learned anything during his crazy escapades with the gem dragons, it was that fate came to you, not the other way around. Trying to force it didn’t help anything.
“How do you suppose we do this?” Aegis said, annoyed that Citrine had clearly already been thinking about this but only now brought it up.
“Don’t worry. I’ve already registered an LLC and an online domain name. I can have a website up by the end of the week, and I’ll just set myself up as the primary contact for the company so you don’t get interrupted when you’re busy.”
Aegis felt a muscle tick in his jaw. “Do I dare ask what name you settled on?”
“Rent-A-Dragon,” Citrine replied, looking smug.
Aegis sighed. “Heaven help us.”
“It’ll be okay,” Opal said, reassuring him.
He hoped she was right, for all of their sakes.
2
“Come on, come on,” Kate Hinton muttered impatiently as the light in front of her refused to turn green, almost as if it was personally trying to spite her.
She only had an hour break for lunch and she needed to use it to check out the company she was hoping to hire for help with repairs and landscaping around the house.
When the light finally turned, Kate hit the gas hard and squealed forward, speeding up as fast as she could in an attempt to make the next light.
She barely squeezed through the yellow and sighed in relief as she got onto the freeway.
There was only one company online that purported to do everything she needed, a sort of jack-of-all-trades service that was essentially hired muscle, but they’d started up pretty recently and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.
Rent-A-Dragon, Inc.
She snorted. Okay, so the name was odd, but she’d had a good feeling about them and the website was very professional. The man who’d answered the phone sounded normal enough, if oddly polite.
Polite was always a good thing. As someone who worked in high-pressure sales management, she was used to being in a hurry and talking to other people who were in a hurry and sometimes rude as a result.
She glanced at the map on her phone where it was mounted on the dash and took the correct exit, wondering why she’d never gotten off on this exit before.
She drove up through the lush trees and greenery that were common to the suburbs around Seattle and enjoyed getting lost under a canopy of lush vegetation before she broke out under the cloudy sky as the road wound up toward a private drive off to the left.
But she made her way up the drive, and as trees parted, she saw a large, lush lawn with a circular drive and overgrown foliage on either side leading to a thick forest. And rising at the back of the lawn was a huge, old-fashioned mansion, one she was shocked even existed without anyone knowing about it.
She parked in the circular drive in front of the house and got out so she could look up at it. A shudder of apprehension moved over her as she took in the huge, austere brick building that almost looked like a castle with its turrets, multiple floors, and aged stone details along with angled roofs.
For its age, it seemed to be in good condition, though if there had been repairs, they were done well enough she couldn’t see them.
And the lawn was nicely cut and watered, not that it was a problem in Seattle. The overgrown foliage on both sides of the wide, round lawn looked like an intentional choice.
Overall, the company appeared at least capable enough of keeping their own property in good condition. That was a good sign.
The fact that their place of business looked more like a castle… that was a little more concerning.
She walked up and grabbed the large, circular knocker that looked made from iron that was mounted in an elaborate dragon’s head, hanging from the mouth.
She knocked three times, loud, and waited, heart starting to race at the thought of meeting whoever lived here.
She had to remind herself this was just a contractor interview, because her natural curiosity was beginning to take over.
The door, a huge thing made of thick, rough wood, slowly began to open, and when it did, she looked at maybe the most beautiful man she’d ever seen in her life.
He gave her a pleasant smile as he swept a hand out to invite her into the house. “Kate Hinton, I presume?” His warm eyes were the color of sunflower petals in sunshine and just as inviting. His dark-brown hair was silky and brushed his shoulders. He was wearing a professional-looking outfit of a tailored polo paired with linen pants and a sharp black belt.
He reached out a hand and held it there for a moment, a patient smile on a lightly tanned face with exquisite features. So tall…
He cleared his throat, and she remembered she was standing there gawking when she had a limited lunch break. She shook his hand quickly and stepped forward.
“Yes, Kate Hinton. I believe we spoke on the phone.”
“No, I believe that would have been Aegis,” the man said. “My name is Citrine.”
“Like the stone?”
“The very same,” he said with a grin. “Now let’s go into the office, and you can meet my partners.”
As they crossed a huge, marble foyer, she heard a slight scuffle and saw someone in a side room dart out of sight, a long braid whipping out behind them. Then the door shut.
That was odd.
A door on the other side of the foyer opened, and a blond man with stunningly handsome features and a sharp look to his eyes poked his head out, gesturing for them to hurry. As they crossed over to him, she saw movement out of the side of her eye and saw a giant man with bulging muscles and red hair with a towel around his waist give her a smile before disappearing behind a staircase.
Just what was going on here, and why was everyone so tall?
The blond man opened the door wide, and she walked in, followed by Citrine. It was an office with a semicircle of chairs in front of a big desk. A woman was seated behind it.
Finally, someone normal.
Except she wasn’t. She was a woman, not a human tree like the rest of these giants, but she had pale, almost translucent skin, a beautiful heart-shaped face, and eyes that could almost be called… opalescent. Or maybe a light purplish-blue. Like on certain butterfly wings.
The woman smiled with perfect, pink lips and stood, walking around the desk. She took Kate’s hand in hers, and Kate couldn’t help feeling a sense of warmth at her touch and her presence.
“So glad you found us,” the woman said. “I’m Opal, and this is my mate—I mean husband, Aegis.” She smiled as the blond man sat rigidly in a chair next to the one behind the desk and stared at her intently.
Kate sat down in a chair Citrine pulled out for her, and he sat next to her.