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the door and him and darted back into the rooms. There was no other exit except the windows and a five-story drop. He pivoted and leaned back against the wood. “Fina.” His voice came out higher pitched than normal.
    She didn’t answer.
    “Fina!” he bellowed.
    She strode back to the archway that separated the sleeping room from the parlor and stared at him with eyes that flashed with blue heat. Her body trembled, and she held her arms out with her wrists up.
    Black burn marks smoked on her sleeves. “What did you do to me? Reverse this spell. Reverse it now!” Her lower lip wobbled, and fire stormed in her eyes.
    “Bloody hell.” She breathed fire on herself. Stay calm . Jordan had begun breathing scalding smoky mist when he found his mate. Though his mate, Celeste, never did, it appeared Fina now had that ability. He could not explain this to her rationally. “If you will sit, I will tell you all I can.”
     
    Fina stared at her arms and then at the large man blocking the door. Oh, she hated him. Pain rippled up her arms. What had she just done to herself? Please don’t let me do it again. She fought back tears, wanting to leave. What had actually happened? She swallowed hard.
    A pressure had built in her mouth, and she thought her stomach would spill. But when her throat constricted and she leaned over, fire, not bile, spilled from her mouth.
    She could not control her shaking. What had he done to her? She wanted to hit him again, to slash his throat, to beat her fists against his chest. But if she didn’t find out what had happened to her and make him reverse it, she would be stuck. The memory of his fangs in the garden and the cut to his throat healing before her flowed into her mind. Had he turned her into a monster? That…that was not an option. Breathe deep. You cannot have a fit of vapors right now. Who was she fooling? Now was the exact right time for a fit of vapors.
    She walked to the small round table with three chairs beside it and sat in one. She stared at the man who had ruined her pa’s life and now perpetrated this horrific act on her.
    She wanted him dead.
    The sensation of Madoc kissing her out in the garden and the scandalous nightmares she’d had about him since she’d met him came unbidden into her consciousness.
    Heat seeped down her body as if his hands had dragged over her. She wanted his caress on her body. She closed her eyes. No. She would not allow her nightmares to come to life. When she opened her eyes, the smell of sweet, sticky, delicious red peppers and sugar enveloped her.
    He pulled out the chair closest to her and sat. His fingers wrapped her hand as he examined the singed material about her wrists. “Does the burn hurt?” He grazed his fingertips along her inner wrist, a tender gesture that coiled up her arm and raised the hair on her nape.
    No. She could not allow her body to respond this way. She clenched her teeth. “At first. Not now.” He touched her again without asking. She frowned and stared up at him.
    “It healed.”
    “How is that possible?”
    His fingers slipped around hers, and he squeezed. “Where to start?” He inhaled deeply and blew out a breath, then smiled at her as if delighted to be sitting here with her.
    To the stars. Another smitten male. But one she had no interest in being pursued by.
    “We are actually not certain how we came to be. We’ve traced our origins back to the eleventh century, when magic, dragons and otherworldly things were common and accepted. I have three brothers. There may have been more. Now we are the only ones of our kind. We are all the same, but different. We call ourselves Zir, or dragon. The dragon part is what we do know. Though we now think blood drinker may be in us too.”
    Every word that came from his mouth—pig slop. “You are mad. You expect me to accept that as an answer to what just happened? You bit me, and now I am part dragon too?”
    “I am not certain how this all works. All I know is that you