A Beast of Beauty

#2

Recap:

"You have one minute before I throw you out." Nova was still perplexed how she hadn't heard them within the house. The house alarms hadn't sounded either, so how had they gotten in?

Hank leaned forward, rested his elbows on the table and peered at her over his clasped hands. Smiling slightly, he spoke.

"Now, I need you to kill me."

Chapter 2:

"Right now?" Nova raised a brow as she eyed the knives closest to her.

"No!" Rob interjected. "You will do no such thing!" He snarled at her as he moved the knives away from her reach.

"Forgive my nephew," Sighed Hank. "He has yet to learn mastery of his emotions."

"Why are you wasting my time?" Nova didn't have the patience to deal with an indecisive male. She needed her silence, and she needed it now.

"As a member of our kind; you more than others should be acquainted with our ways." Hank smiled, "You possess an extraordinary lack of patience; no doubt a result of the intermingling of multiple shifter genetics."

"What are you?" Nova couldn't help but ask. "You smell like no shifter I know."

"We are dragons." Rob snorted. "One would think a hybrid would know what genetics they carry."

"Prove it." Nova was nothing if not cautious.

She suspiciously watched as Hank raised his palm into the air. Nova's eyes nearly expanded to the size of saucers as a small orb of fire came to life in Hank's palm. None but the dragons were impervious to fire and could manipulate it any way they chose. Although of course the love for fire depended on the type of dragon; lava dragons lived for the heat of the flames whereas the rest were impervious to it, but didn't actively seek it out.

"I don't have much more patience." Nova tried to keep the irritation from showing; she couldn't allow them any advantage over her. She didn't know what sort of power they were capable of, and she didn't intend to end up at the short end of the stick in a fight.

Rising from his chair, Hank forcibly pushed Rob into a corner and a strange conversation ensued. The two never uttered a word, but it was evident an argument was taking place. These men had come out of nowhere and they had aroused her curiosity with their strange ways.

"I am sorry you had to wait, but this is a difficult decision for me and I do not take this lightly." Hank spoke. "Now, what I need for you to do is make it seem like you've killed me."

"That's gonna cost you double." Nova shrugged, "I'm putting my reputation on the line for that trick."

"Understood." Hank inclined his head.

"When and where?"

"You aren't concerned with why?" Rob eyed her suspiciously.

"No I'm not. The less I know the better."

"There's a traditional festival in almost a weeks' time, and that is where I need for you to do this. It must be as public as possible, so there is no doubt left."

"Wouldn't it be better if it were me," Rob scratched his jaw as he peered about the room as though lost in thought, "There would be an uproar over my death, but nothing too big that we might have trouble containing."

"No, I can't put your family through this." Hank sighed, wearily rubbing his eyes. "You are young, it will devastate them."

Hearing the beep from the oven, Nova rose out of her chair and grabbed her meal. Might as well eat while she waited for these men to finally reach a decision, a more indecisive pair of males she had never met. She entirely tuned out the males and their conversation as she dug into her meal with the enthusiasm of one starved, which she almost always was. The odd combination of shifter genetics had gifted her with an appetite that could rival a male's, which was a feat in itself.