Speaker 1: Dragon called a slow burned, sexy paranormal romance written by
Carl Lockhart and Cassie Alexander, read for you by Victoria
may Hi. This is Cassie Alexander, and welcome to chapter six.
The city scenery outside her window thinned, and Andy realized they
were going to a newly gentrifying part of town, Crystal Cove.
For a long time, no one had wanted to be
anywhere near the water. The nearby port's business was too
noxious and loud. But then rich people remembered they liked
ocean views again, and they were slowly knocking down all
the multi unit housing that blocked them until the beaches
could be rebuilt. It made sense that her uncle was
renting here. It fit him. Her uncle Lee was, to
the best of her knowledge, a kind of dilettante. He
was always out in adventures doing business, missing milestones and birthdays,
including her mother's funeral, But he'd paid for the whole thing,
sight unseen in the intervening three years. Since then, they
had occasionally texted, both making plans when he was in town,
only to take turns breaking them. It was as if
without the weight of her mother's good intentions, there was
nothing left to draw them near. Andy would rather get
overtime on all the major holidays. She wasn't half as
good a cook, and Uncle Lee mostly had his own
life besides, which made last weekend's surprise dinner invitation completely unexpected.
She'd known he was in town again. It was why
she'd asked him for help with Danny, but she'd have
never guessed he'd send some Nordic goddess secretary over to
collect her without so much as a warning. The driver
pulled down a residential street where the houses got grander
and farther apart, until there was just one left. Before
you hit the water side. There stood a giant, white
stucco monstrosity with heavy black wooden doors and palm trees
that had clearly just been planted out front. And she
was fairly sure they'd freeze to death this winter. Oh,
Uncle Andy, sighed, No one could ever accuse Uncle Lee
of having taste. She got out of the car before
the driver could get to her door, and at the
end of a colonadd entryway, the house's door opened and
her Uncle Lee burst out Andrea. He shouted at her
the second he saw her. Her first thought was that
He looked the same dark skin, dark hair, well trimmed
short beard that met his equally well trimmed mustache. She
realized that for her entire life, he'd seemed practically ageless.
Uncle lee Andy shouted back, grinning at him helplessly, just
like she had when she was a little girl. Three
years had been too long. Why had she been so stubborn?
Maybe because she knew seeing him would remind her of
her mother. The absence of her mother hit her like
a knife in the heart and twisted hard. It's so
good to see you, she said, and meant it, even
though it hurt you too, child, he said, returning the
same bittersweet smile she was likely giving him, before clapping
her shoulders and shaking her gently. He still smelled like
the same tobacco smoke he always did, and all the
time she'd known him, he'd never once changed his brand.
My favorite niece in the flesh, only niece, and he teased,
slipping off her shoes and placing them on the special
shelf by the door. Even if I had twenty nieces,
you would still be my favorite, her uncle said, then
looped his arm in hers to pull her inside his house.
I made Elsa get you a very nice dress. To
apologize about that, Andy began slowly as they walked into
a dark wood hallway. Her uncle snorted, don't worry, I
know how you law twins are stubborn to the nth degree. Stubborn.
She protested, lightly, I prefer opinionated, Uncle Lee laughed, Well,
my opinion is that your opinion is wrong. But regardless,
we've managed to rebook, and here you are, at very
long last. He kept her face in his hands, and
look at you, the very image of brains and beauty
in the flesh. Andy felt herself flushing. Uncle she began,
and then took in the strange room behind him, where
several small creatures were taxidermied into exciting dioramas. Are you
still hunting, she asked, with concern. God. The one time
Danny and she had gotten to stay at uncle's unsupervised
when they were kids was the day after Halloween. She'd
seen creepy glass eyes in her nightmares. For weeks, she'd
assumed he'd just rented Adam's family style had houses. It
wasn't until she was a grown up that she realized
all of these things. The lynxes chasing after rabbits, who
were in turn being chased by small bears, were all his,
and he moved them around with him. Of course, what
else is a true man of leisure supposed to do
in his spare time? Her uncle huffed, looking a little
offended like she'd just insulted his manhood, because in a
way she had. Her mother's way of fitting into the
US had been to fall for the fairy tale of Cinderella, stuff,
true love and all that, whereas her uncle's way of
fitting in had been to become a macho every man,
a man's man, but classy, which was why he was
wearing a red silk smoking jacket now and had a
pipe just like he'd walked out of the nineteen fifties. Hell,
he still had elephant feet waste baskets like that wasn't
the most horrific thing what he pressed her, She inhaled,
ready to try to explain things, then just gave up.
She only saw him once in a blue moon. She
definitely wasn't going to change him, and Danny still needed
his help. Besides nothing, she said, brightly Wedn's dinner soon.
He smiled at her indulgently. I can't wait for you
to taste it. My chef has two Michelin stars, he bragged.
Andy made sure to seem appropriately odd for her uncle's sake. Wow,
does he yell a lot like that one guy on TV?
Her uncle laughed, not at me, he doesn't. Two rooms later,
one of which had a shoal of piranha on display
across one wall. Just how many people did he pay
to dust here? She tried to broach the subject of
Danny's disappearance. You got my text right. He hadn't responded
to it, but that wasn't unusual for him. Her uncle
nodded deeply. Yes, your brother has always been a troubled boy,
hasn't he Don't worry. I have some people looking into
things he'll turn up. Did you maybe talk to a
private investigator. I have many people helping who have a
variety of resources to tap into, he replied, which she
knew meant no. Come and eat dinner with my friend,
and afterwards we will discuss my favorite nephew, Daniel. Your friend.
Andy had to resist digging in her heels, even more
so as Uncle Lee paused to look at her, embodying
the very image of innocence himself. Yes, I'm very friendly.
In fact, this one time in Africa, he began and
launched into a story specifically to distract her. Andy shook
her head and gave in to the Uncle Lee experience.
If he just listened to me, Uncle Lee was intoning.
He was discussing some business deal gone momentarily awry, but
only in the broadest strokes, so she had no real
idea what it was about, because the important part of
the story wasn't the facts, only that uncles should be
listened to. He swung them into the dining room, where
his goddamned polar bear was on display, looming over a
seemingly much smaller man, David. Her uncle said, waving at
the man grandly, you're here. The interloper stood politely as
they entered the room. He was at least as tall
as Damien. It was just that the polar bear was giant.
The bear was the thing. Andy remembered her uncle having
the longest, and she knew there was a secret spot
on the back of its base where she'd spent an
idle afternoon carving her name on it with a fork.
When she was eight. She'd showed Danny, who'd totally ratted
her out, to uncle, and after that Andy Bear was born.
If only it would come to life now and eat
the undeniably handsome man who stood in front of it.
What game was her uncle playing in,