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His words cooled er as quickly as water thrown onto a fire The fury dissipated, replaced quickly with hurt I put my hands on o"

"Before the dragon kissed you"

"Why don&039;t you go sit down by Ralph?" asked Patsy "And we&039;ll start the "

By which she meant witch trial, I was sure I walked to the chair that Ralph pulled out for me and sat He didn&039;t look at me, but his hand found mine under the table I appreciated the comfort I wasn&039;t really mad at him anymore; because of him I had some freedom He&039;d invited me into his house, into his life, and I hadn&039;t exactly been grateful

"We&039;re all here now, so let&039;s start with Stanley&039;s enthusiastic if unauthorized research results," said Patsy I appreciated the censure in her voice At least she hadn&039;t agreed with Stan&039;s experimentation on my unconscious self

"Since my lab is destroyed," said Stan, "I don&039;t have the data However, based on the initial blood work, which I hoped to confir, it appears Libby is not hu turned into a blood-sucker, or , had scrambled Stan&039;s brains How could I not be all hu like the loup de sang ? A hybrid?"

"Yes, a hybrid," said Stan He cleared his throat, looking nervous "Again, I need further testing to gain proof, but I believe she&039;spart dragon"

Reactions were varied Sohed, others consulted those nearest to them, and still others peered at me as if I would sprout scales and breathe fire

"What about Ralph?" asked one reen eyes His German accent was pronounced Oh, yes The mean man who&039;d come to the jail the day before On either side of hireat Like one wasn&039;t scary enough

"I ran blood tests on Ralph and they both have the samequirks"

"And yet, he didn&039;t strap you to a table and poke you with sharp instruments," I said in a low voice

"Would it ons? Really?" Patsy&039;s voice echoed with shock Nearly everyone at the table looked as discoons are rare We have to assuave her powers to Libby"

"Dragons Terrific Not, " said Zerina, rolling her pink eyes Linda snorted "Who&039;s the one who licks trees &039;round here?"

"That was a tree nyer at Linda&039;s head and her red hair turned purple

"Zee!" yelled Patsy "Change it back Now"

Zerina flicked her finger again, and in a second Linda&039;s hair had been returned to norh, children The adults would like to talk now," said Patsy Her tone brooked no argument At this table sat proof of bloodsuckers, shape-shifters, fairies, and heaven knehat else All the same, it seemed silly to think that me - a plain ol&039; huon

"Other than the blood work, I have reason to believeto out my and Ralph&039;s little fire dance I wanted to stall hi to say

"Libby and Ralph both show a proclivity for fire manipulation"

It wasn&039;t quite the bo The others didn&039;t seem all that iht be inherited?" asked Patsy "Maybe she already had soon blood and, when the other woman died, she activated it somehow?"

"It wouldn&039;t explain Ralph&039;s sudden powers," said Stan, sounding a little defensive

"He&039;s from Hu Mua Lan&039;s line," said Gabriel "Fire is his power"

"Well," said Stan He shrugged, his lips curving into a grin "Libby&039;s mother always said she was half alien"

"Look, Moht," I said before Stan could launch into Mom&039;s well-known account of her abduction "Dad woke up in a tree After he cli in the New Mexico desert, naked and delirious"

"You don&039;t believe your mother&039;s story?" asked Patsy

All eyes turned to me I hesitated Mom was the definition of eccentric, but she wasn&039;t stupid or insane I refused to let these people believe she was a crackpot

"Of course I believe her She said vahosts, and fairies were real Why not aliens?"

Patsy&039;s steady blue gazedefensive "I was born the same as all human babies" Not in a hospital, mind you, but by a midwife in a shaman&039;s hut in New Mexico Still, I came out from my mother&039;s womb

"Relax, hon Nobody believes you&039;re an alien," said Patsy "Is there any way to prove our dragon theory?"

"More tests, specifically with Libby&039;s DNA It would also be helpful to have actual dragon DNA for comparison"

"I know so next to Lorcan They looked a lot alike, but he seemed a little older than Lorcan and his eyes weren&039;t as shadowed by suspicion

"Whatto join our circus now, Ruadan?" Patsy rubbed her belly

"Her name is Ash"

"The soul shifter?" said Zerina "Are you insane?"

"Like Stan said, dragons are rare, and those who hunt them rarer still If anyone can help us, it&039;s her"

"Okay," said Patsy "Let&039;s get her here What about the tests, Stan?"