Read Online For the Heart of Dragons by Julie Wetzel - Free Book Online

kitchen.” This room was also stacked with boxes. “I’m a pretty good cook, but we’ll have to order out until I get my dishes unpacked.” She pointed to an area stacked with more boxes. “The table will be over here eventually.” She smiled back at Byrd. “I haven’t picked it out yet.”
    The dragon nodded again.
    “This place is bigger than my last apartment,” she explained as she led the way out of the kitchen to a narrow set of stairs. “I was so excited to find it at such an amazing steal.” Kara rambled on as she led the way up to the second floor. “There’s a half bath downstairs, but the bedrooms are up here.” Pushing open the first door, she showed off a room stuffed with boxes. “Here’s the library—or will be, when I get it sorted.” Continuing down the hall, she led him to another door. “This is my office and the guest room.” Holding the door open, she let him go in.
    After a few steps into the room, Byrd stopped and glanced around.
    The way he sat back on his haunches and wrapped his tail around his feet irritated Kara. She looked around the modest room. On one wall were her desk and the filing cabinets holding her work. On the other wall was a perfectly nice daybed. The mattress, however, was leaned against the wall, and the pillows were still in plastic. Kara let out a sigh. At least the white iron frame had been put together. Forcing a smile on her face, she turned to the little dragon. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting company so soon. If you give me five minutes to get cleaned up, I’ll get this made up for you.”
    Biting back the anger riding her, she turned and left the little dragon alone. Pushing into her room, she ripped the ruined shirt off and threw it on the floor. This whole day was getting to her. Stopping in front of her closet, she closed her eyes and drew in a deep, calming breath. She had to get a handle on herself before she snapped and said something she would regret. It wasn’t Byrd’s fault he was here. She needed him to trust her so she could help him. Snapping at him would only put space between them and delay her ability to sort him out.
    Opening her eyes, she looked into the closet to find something suitable to wear. Pulling out jeans and a T-shirt, she grabbed some clean underwear from a box and took them into her bathroom to change. A quick glance in the mirror made her change her mind about her course of action. She had planned on just washing her face and changing clothes, but she was more of a mess than she’d realized. Dropping her clothing on the counter, she turned and cranked on the water. It would have to be a fast shower, but there was no way she was going to deal with clean linens when she was covered in mud and soot. Stripping the rest of the way out of her clothing, she stepped into the water. Being clean would go a long way towards settling her world down so she could work.
     
    ***
     
    Noah looked around the room Kara had left him in.
    “Looks nice ,” he told Byrd. He could feel the dragon’s reluctance to agree. “ Now don’t be snobby,” he warned, “ she wasn’t expecting guests. There’s a lot of potential here.”
    Byrd shrugged and got up to investigate the room. Together, they poked through some of the boxes. A few held pillows and linens that Noah thought would look nice on the iron daybed. Others held books or knickknacks. A well-executed picture of some English countryside leaned against the wall opposite the undressed window.
    Noah nodded his approval. “ This place will look splendid once she gets it put together.”
    Byrd shrugged again.
    Noah would have let out a deep sigh if he could have.
    Heading for the door, Byrd stuck his head out into the hall. He could hear water running from the end of the hall Kara hadn’t shown them. Following the sound, he stuck his head into an open door. There was a large bed against one wall and more boxes piled around.
    “I think this is her room,” Noah warned. He could