soggy leaf on Zav’s broad shoulder. I snorted and stepped forward, reaching for it. He caught my wrist, his movement too swift for me to jerk away in time.
“What are you doing?” He squinted at me, eyes flaring with violet light. Had he thought I was reaching for his neck? If so, there was something amusing about him being as wary about me getting close as I was about him getting close. Though he was probably more worried about me kissing his ass than strangling him.
“Keeping you from a fashion faux pas.” I looked pointedly at the leaf.
He eyed it, then eyed me, then released me. I brushed off the leaf and stepped back. He was still eyeing me. I couldn’t imagine what was going on in his mind.
“I’m not going to make a pass at you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“A what?”
“A pass. Romantic moves. You’re not my type.”
That was a lie. He was exactly my type, at least going on looks and that hard chest I remembered feeling, but I couldn’t forget that he was an obnoxious, haughty dragon who thought nothing of mentally compelling people to do his bidding. Besides, he’d made it clear I wasn’t his type from the day we met. Maybe he thought I would be so overcome by his virile masculinity that I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands to myself.
“I see.” Zav clasped his hands behind his back and nodded toward the woods. “Let us walk. One of the caves is near, but I believe the forest canopy would make it difficult to find from above; nor could your conveyance fit between the trees.”
“I guess that means we’re using Chopper as a machete.” I didn’t point out that a cave that was hard for him to see from above would have been equally hard for another dragon to find. I’d planned to check all of Greemaw’s locations regardless.
Zav glanced at the hilt over my shoulder. “That is not a fitting use for that blade. I am capable of clearing brush if necessary.”
“Can you breathe fire when you’re in human form?”
“I can make fire in this form.”
I imagined him crouching with flint and steel and dried pine needles. A snort escaped my lips. It was almost a giggle, but I am a mature woman and do not giggle.
I hadn’t meant for it to sound sarcastic or dubious, but Zav’s eyes narrowed, then glowed violet. I’d been walking at his side, but I paused warily, expecting something of mine to burst into flame. A long beard of moss dangling from a nearby branch caught fire and burned within a second. The rest of the tree was not damaged.
“No flint and steel required, eh?”
“No.”
Zav veered off the muddy road, and I made a mental note of the Jeep’s location and nearby landmarks in case he disappeared again. There wasn’t any cell reception out here, so the GPS map was useless.
Zav took the lead. Along the way, not much burst into flames, but the ferns and bushes leaned away from him to make our passage easier. It was still slow-going. The roar of the river drifted to my ears, but I didn’t know if we were five minutes from it or thirty.
“What made you help those goblins?” Zav asked without looking back.
Surprised he was bringing it up again, I shrugged. “I don’t like big guys picking on little guys.”
He kept walking, still not looking back, and I wondered if he thought I was insinuating that dragons did that.
“Given your reputation, I wouldn’t have expected you to help the magical, size regardless.” He sounded like he was trying to work through a puzzle.
“Reputation is what other people believe about you. It isn’t always an accurate reflection of who you really are, but it’s damn hard to alter the perceptions of others.”
“That is true among all the races.” Zav stopped, framed by two towering cedars, and faced me. “You will probably not believe that I also do not like big guys picking on little guys.” His emphasis on guys was careful, as if the word wasn’t familiar to him. It probably wasn’t. What dragon freshly arrived from another world could have fully mastered English in a few weeks?
“Actually, I do believe that. Ever since you told me you were a cop.”
“A what?”
“Police officer. Or your world’s equivalent.”
“Hm, that is not precisely my position, but I do help my clan uphold the law. I have not made it a secret that I find this assignment—” he waved