That wasn't the reaction Shannon had been expecting. He was taken back by the vehemence of it, though warmed by it at the same time. All he knew about Nate and the rest of their merry band of dragons was pure hearsay. Most of the time, he didn't even think about it: he was Shannon Vaughn now, Nate Silverman already had his chance and blew it so spectacularly that he had no sympathy for the man he used to be. On the other hand, it was always interesting to see how knowledge of their originals effected the rest of them in a way Shannon would hopefully never know.

He followed Matheus out by the sounds he was making, half-listening to whatever excuses he came up with along the way. When Michelle found her way back into his hair, he held her closer and placed his jaw to her temple. "And what exactly will we be doing later, Ms. Lautner? I'm going to guess it doesn't have anything to do with this barbeque."