been a… red panda? Was that even a thing? Probably not. It must have been his cute red hair and how he’d clung to Orsen. Or something.
Maybe?
His brain felt like it was back online after the shock of the morning, but he wasn’t sure he was actually awake. Because this couldn’t be real, right?
Bailey turned to Gideon first. Logan’s entire team stood in the apartment, and they all seemed extremely nervous. “Okay, one more time. You’re a vampire who isn’t affected by daylight and garlic, and stakes through the heart aren’t a thing?” Bailey asked, just to confirm, because it was a lot and very confusing.
“I’ll die if I get staked through the heart,” Gideon said. “Just like anyone would.”
“But you don’t poof.”
Scout snickered. “He doesn’t turn to dust.”
Bailey looked at Scout next, since he’d drawn his attention. “And you’re a wolf like Logan, but from a different pack. Logan isn’t your alpha, but you still treat him like an alpha because you can do that, apparently?”
“Yeah, it’s a thing. My dad is my alpha, but since Logan needed me on his team, we’re making it work. I’m not an alpha, so my wolf is pretty laid-back. The only problem would be if Logan tried to get me to do something my dad said I couldn’t do. It’s a gray area, but I doubt it’ll be a problem.”
Bailey huffed and turned to Aleron. “And you’re a griffin, which I didn’t even know was a real thing, kinda like dragons.” He looked both Aleron and Coal over, still not quite believing them. Werewolves and vampires, okay. Not entirely unbelievable, considering everything. Griffins and dragons, though? That seemed like a stretch.
“I can shift, if you want. I’m even prettier when I’m shifted.” Aleron did his little smirky half-grin thing.
Bailey rolled his eyes. “You’re not as pretty as you think you are.”
“You take that back or no more limitless credit card for you.”
“And you.” Bailey turned to Dasan last, completely ignoring Aleron’s pout. “You’re a what again?”
“Martial eagle.” Dasan’s deep voice rumbled, and he didn’t seem happy about the interrogation in progress. Then again, Dasan never seemed overly happy. Grumpy was his norm.
“Would you smile if I made you dessert?”
“Doubtful.” But Dasan’s lips twitched, and Bailey made a note to find out his favorite at his next opportunity.
“And you all work for the oracle, who tells you when things are going to happen, and you show up and try to stop it. Except this is new because it’s supposed to be the hellhounds’ job, but they’re busy right now because of magic.” Bailey rubbed his eyes. He was getting a major headache.
“You’ve got it.” Gideon smiled, but it looked pitiful, and he seemed tempted to pat Bailey on the head.
If he tried, Bailey planned on biting him. Take that, vampire.
“Should we get soup? You like soup. It’ll make you feel better?” Scout offered.
“Hold on. I’m not done yet.”
Coal made a weird noise, and then suddenly, he turned into a dragon. Full-on, big giant black dragon that took up the majority of the room, and holy crap, he was a dragon. Did Bailey mention dragon? Because dragon.
Logan groaned and sank down further on the couch. “That was a good idea why?”
Bailey didn’t know if it was a good idea or a bad one, but Coal sure was pretty in this form. He kinda wanted to touch him to see what dragon scales felt like. He’d always thought snakes were slimy, but then he touched one at a zoo thing, and they weren’t slimy at all.
“What?” Logan asked.
“I wanna touch him. Is that weird?”
Logan growled. Pouted really, but there was still a growl.
Bailey shook his head and stood, ignoring the little sound of displeasure Logan made. “Don’t light me on fire or anything. I would not taste good barbecued.”
Coal huffed out a little puff of smoke.
Bailey eyed it curiously before he carefully poked one of Coal’s scales. “Huh. They’re super hard.”
“Dragon scales are formidable,” Gideon explained. “Few are lucky enough to be gifted with dragon-scale armor, but it is nearly impenetrable.”
“Nearly?”
“There are certain weapons forged in other realms that could damage them. And certain creatures have talons or telsons which are capable of it.”
“What’s a telson?” Bailey asked. He’d never heard the word before in his life.
“A stinger,” Scout said. “Like on a scorpion.”
“Wait, a scorpion could defeat a dragon?”
Dasan made a very weird noise, and Bailey turned to stare at him. “Did you just snort at me?”
“No.”
“You did too.”
Dasan moved closer, and something in