Dirty Lying Dragons

7. And Then Gavin Showed Up

"I guess he's a special case." She sighed and sank a little farther into the water, hissing as her shoulder went under and propping it back out of the water. "Fuck, that better not get infected."

"The way you treat it that might be exactly what happens," I said.

"Eh, I've had worse." She shrugged, then eyed me with suspicion. "I'd bet you've had your fair share of bumps and bruises too. Any stories to share?"

She was prodding for information. I grinned. Maybe we could both get a little something from the other. After all, it didn't hurt me one bit if she found out what I was. I had only valuable information to gain from her.

"I suppose when you've lived as long as I have you accumulate a scar or two," I offered. "I suppose I could tell you a story behind a scar or two, if you answer a question in return."

"Hm." She looked me over as much as she could through the steamy water. Enough of my chest was exposed that I knew she could see a few of them already. "Do I get to pick the scar?"

"Sure." I smirked. "You pick a scar, I'll ask a question, and if you answer my question I'll tell you how and when I got the scar."

"Alright, that sounds good to me." She bit her lower lip with a wicked grin and studded my right arm. I knew exactly which one she was going to ask about before she even opened her mouth.

"That one." She pointed to a small cluster of raised marks near my elbow.

"Are you sure that's the one you want?" I grinned and she scowled at me.

"No head games, asshole. I pick that one," she insisted.

"Alright, then tell me about this troublesome warlock," I said.

"Who, Jerod?" She grinned. "An asshole with a liver of steel and a penchant for breaking rules that annoy him. He's a pretty strong warlock but he's very low in their ranks because he keeps pissing off his coven leader with cheap pranks and stirring up territory disputes."

"Trespassing to skinny dip?" I asked.

Dani snorted. "Yeah, among other things. And he knows freaking everybody in the city, I swear. A night out with Jerod is a guaranteed regret the next morning. You'd think he'd have no friends left, but he's too charming for his own good."

"Sounds like more trouble than he's worth," I grunted, annoyed by the very idea of someone like him.

"Nope. Barely, but nope. Now come on, I answered your question. How'd you get that scar?" she asked.

"Shotgun, maybe eighty years ago. I was chasing a vamp through some countryside but when we started fighting on some farmland the farmer shot at us both." I chuckled. "Wouldn't have done enough to scar if I weren't already so spent from chasing that leach for two days."

"So you're like a hundred or so?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Sure, why not."

"That's not even close, is it?" She frowned.

"I don't know, why don't you pick another scar and see what you find out?" I smiled.

She rolled her eyes and went back to inspecting my skin. She pointed to a jagged cut near my collar bone. I was surprised she even saw it, it had faded over the years.

"That one," Dani said.

"Well you found one of the old-ish ones," I said. "Then tell me, witches can only be born of witches, right? Who is your mother, is she still alive?"

"Her name is Calendula, and she's not alive," Dani answered, with no emotion either way about the fate of her mother. She could have been telling me the time for all the concern she showed. The alarming part of it was that I smelled a slight lie on her, but it smelled a bit like the truth too.