Virginia turned, and took an involuntary step backward as she was confronted by a solid wall of muscle. Dai might have made Chase look slender, but the man who'd just stood up made Dai look small.
"John Doe?" she said inanely, the man's sheer size temporarily stunning her brain. "Really?"
"I am told it is traditional use-name amongst your people." The giant's voice was so deep, it practically vibrated Virginia's bones. He had to keep his head bent to even fit in the room. Despite his size, he had a handsome, intelligent face, with deep blue eyes that perfectly matched the shade of his long, braided hair. "I fear you would find my true name unpronounceable."
Virginia couldn't help rising to the bait. "I speak seven languages, four of them extinct. Try me."
"Actually, even John can't pronounce his own name," Dai said. "Not above water, anyway." Before Virginia could ask what he meant by that, Dai gestured at the final man, who had been sitting quietly observing all the other introductions. "And last but no means least, this is Commander Ash."
Now I know what they mean when they talk about people being "old souls."
A shiver ran down Virginia's s
pine as she met the Commander's calm, assessing gaze. Ash couldn't have been more than ten years older than she was, but she had the sense of something ancient behind those dark eyes. He made her feel oddly small, even more than John had.
"Sir," she said respectfully. She looked around at the five men—all different, yet all powerful in their own way. "So...are you all dragon hunters too?"
All five men stared at her for a moment. Then, in perfect unison, they looked at Dai.
Chapter Ten
"Dragon...hunters?" said John.
*Just go with it?* Dai sent to them all. Normally he couldn't make five mental connections simultaneously, but panic gave him the strength. *I know it's an oversimplification, but—*
Chase snorted. "Oversimplification is kind of the understatement of the century."
"You mean it's more complicated?" Virginia said, understandably under the impression that he was responding to her. "Do you hunt other shifters as well, then? Dai did mention something about that a moment ago."
Griff was shaking his head. "I don't know what Dai's said, but—"
*PLEASE!* Dai's psychic shout made the other five men wince. *Don't scare her off. She's my mate!*
There was a momentary pause.
Then Chase let out a whoop. "Uh, sorry," he said, as Virginia stared at him. "I just thought of something funny."
"O...kay," Virginia said, edging away from him a little. She turned back to Griff. "What were you saying?"
"I, uh." Griff flashed Dai a glance that said he had a lot of explaining to do later. "I...wouldn't exactly call us hunters." He cleared his throat, recovering some of his usual aplomb. "But we do specialize in handling incidents relating to shifters."
"I am curious," Hugh said to Virginia. His pale blue eyes were narrowed. "What exactly has Dai told you about shifters?"
"Not that much," Virginia said. "We've mainly talked about dragons, for obvious reasons. About how they're vicious and greedy, driven by animal instincts."
"Yes," Chase said solemnly, clearly fighting a grin. "Yes, they definitely are. Utter bastards, the lot of them." John made a noise somewhere between a cough and a growl, and Chase quickly added, "Just fire dragons, though, of course. Sea dragons are majestic and noble and incidentally would never ever even think about punching someone smaller."
"Um, right." Virginia had clearly given up on making sense of anything Chase said, which Dai felt showed her to be an excellent judge of character. "Unfortunately, my problem is definitely with a fire dragon. The one who started the fire that you rescued me from." Her mouth twisted. "I've come to really dislike dragons."
Five fascinated stares fell on Dai again. He fidgeted uncomfortably in his chair.
*She doesn't know I'm a shifter,* he sent, in a very small mental voice.
"What?!" Griff exclaimed out loud. John said something in his own language which was probably the equivalent.
"As I thought," Hugh murmured into his drink.
*My friend, you are totally fucked,* Chase sent. *And not in the good way. What were you thinking?*