Always Say Yes To A Dragon – Kari Byrd

It’s going to blow up soon, and you should get in on the ground floor.” Tiffany rolled her eyes and pulled away enough to address me quietly. “Sorry about Jack. He loves techy stuff like that. Your necklace is beautiful, by the way. Is it from Az’zael’s collection? Niemrin told me dragons keep extensive jewelry collections.”

“Yes, it is,” I said, not sure whether to say anything else. Az’zael’s head turned sharply to us. “Niemrin told you about his jewelry collection?” Az’zael was so particular about jewelry. Did Niemrin talking about his collection to Tiffany mean more than idle chatter? “Um.” She shot a glance at Jack. “Not really.” Jack looked like he’d swallowed a lemon. “That’s lovely that y’all know each other,” I said, trying to extricate all of us from the sudden tension. “Jack, are you involved in partnering with Kilinis for the new housing developments?”

Az’zael had been pretty light on details when he’d talked about this party. I hoped I hadn’t gotten anything wrong, and that my clumsy question would keep the evening running smoothly. Jack smirked, seeming pleased that the attention was back on him. “I wasn’t directly involved in the deal, but my work means the bank is always flush enough to help the community.” “Hello, Tiffany. I didn’t know you’d be here,” a male voice called out from behind me. I let out a sigh of relief at the interruption.

When I turned my head, I was greeted by green scales and a toothy grin, the twin of Az’zael’s. Niemrin, dressed in an orange suit with black embroidery. Fuck. Tiffany froze. “Hello, Jack. Haven’t seen you around the public library recently.” Niemrin clapped Jack on the shoulder. Jack wobbled. Tiffany sighed. “Hello, Niemrin.” “Perhaps I’m only there when you’re off bothering some other librarian,” Jack snapped.

Niemrin flashed his teeth. “Oh, I wouldn’t say I ‘bother’ anyone. Tiffany, do you find me bothersome?” I edged closer to Az’zael. He glanced down at me, then at the three people in front of us. “We can leave them to it.” Jack stood with his legs braced and his chest bowed. Niemrin’s wings flared out behind him, unmistakably aggressive. “I don’t know if that’s a great idea,” I said. “Niemrin doesn’t bother me, just does his job.”

Tiffany’s eyes were tight, her attention focused on Jack.

This is a work of fiction. All the names, characters, places, events, products, and incidents in this book are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Copyright © 2025 by Kari Byrd Cover design by: Miblart All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. 1kitap1.com/en T Content Notes his book contains material that may be difficult for some readers. For a full list of of CWs, please see www.karibyrd.com 1kitap1.com/en T 1 Elle he red dragon, Az’zael, was back, and he’d brought a friend—Niemrin, I assumed, based on the bright green scales.

They wore the most ornate suits I’d ever seen, embroidered at cuffs and collars, as if to disguise the fact that they were both apex predators. They were seated in my section. I forced myself to walk at a sedate pace to the hostess stand. Jen, a short, curvy Asian woman, was the hostess that day.

“Jen, what the hell?” I hissed. She gave me an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Elle. Maya waited on the red one last week and dropped almost every plate and cup she touched. Cal served him the week before, and I thought he was going to have a panic attack right on the floor.” Maya and Cal were our two most experienced servers. “I’ve never seen you lose your cool with a customer, so…” “So it’s my turn on dragon duty.” I tucked a stray hair back into my messy bun.

“Okay. Fine, but ask the kitchen to put all their tickets through first.” I didn’t want to spend any more time than necessary with two dragons focused on me. Just the idea made my breath hitch and my pulse kick up. Worse, I didn’t just have the same healthy fear my coworkers had.

I kept finding my eyes inexplicably drawn to the fitted suits and glittering scales. After several deep breaths in which I pretended I wasn’t about to talk to two beings who looked like holdovers from the Middle Ages (and topped seven feet), I approached the table, customer service smile fixed in place. The first time Az’zael ate at Norma’s Kitchen, Jen and I had to scour the restaurant before finding a beat-up, uncomfortable-looking chair with slots cut out between the back and the seat to accommodate winged species.

Someone else must have looked for the chairs today, because although Az’zael sat in that same chair, Niemrin perched on a barstool.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 3cc4f7b2ec06031d
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 1,495,193 bytes (1.426 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 238
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 394.5 minutes
• Total Words: 78,899
• Total Characters: 431,719
• Average Words per Page: 331.51
• Average Characters per Page: 1813.95

Most Frequent Words

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