For the Heart of Dragons by Julie Wetzel Page A

He really wanted a cup of coffee, but he wasn’t sure how it would affect Byrd’s already-hyper mentality. “Some juice,” he finished before crawling out of Kara’s lap and curling onto the seat.
    A hint of fear brushed against his mind. He drew in a deep breath and soothed the scared dragon. “ I’m sorry.”
    The fear in Byrd uncurled a little, but he was still wary of Noah.
    Noah sighed again. “ I know you’re happy and excited about getting food, but we can’t jump around like that in the car.”
    Byrd cocked his head in question.
    “We can cause Kara to wreck, or hurt her.”
    “No hurt Kara!” Byrd growled at him.
    “I know you wouldn’t intentionally hurt her, but you could do it accidently.”
    Byrd thought about it for a moment. “ Be calm in car.”
    “Yes,” Noah agreed. “ Be calm in the car.”
    Byrd nodded his head. He tilted it and paused in thought. “ You mad?”
    Noah chuckled. “ No, Byrd. I’m a little frustrated, but I’m not mad.”
    “I sorry.” Byrd wiggled in despair.
    Noah drew in another calming breath. “ It’s all right, Byrd. We’ll get through this. Together.”
    “Together!” Byrd’s thought echoed through Noah as if the little dragon had screamed it in this head.
    The smell of impending breakfast drew Byrd’s attention away from Noah. Uncurling from the seat, he wiggled in anticipation.
    “Byrd!” Noah called, grabbing the dragon’s attention.
    Byrd froze. “ Yes?”
    “Remember what we talked about?”
    The dragon thought about it for a second. “ Be calm in car?”
    “Yes,” Noah said, pleased that he remembered. “ It’s time to be calm and wait.”
    Byrd eyed the bags coming into the car and whined, sniffing at the savory smells filling the car. “ Hungry.”
    “I know you’re hungry, but we have to wait for Kara to give us the food,” Noah explained. “ Not all of that is ours.”
    Byrd watched the bags as Kara set them down on the floorboard in front of him. She said something to him in a warning tone, but he was too busy contemplating Noah’s words to hear them. “ Not ours?” he asked, confused.
    “No ,” Noah continued. “ Part of that food is Kara’s.”
    At the mention of her name, Byrd looked up to the woman next to him. Her attention was focused on the traffic around them. “ Kara’s?”
    “Yes, and if we eat it all, she won’t get any.”
    A range of emotion rolled through Byrd.
    Noah tried to track them, but it was hard to understand what the dragon was thinking. It knew what it wanted, but the fact that Noah had pointed out the needs of another set things in motion that Noah didn’t understand.
    “Come on, Byrd.”
    Kara’s voice broke into whatever was running through the dragon’s mind. He looked up at her.
    “Let’s go eat.” Reaching down, she pulled the bags of food into her lap and balanced them as she got out of the car.
    Byrd sat and stared at her.
    “Go on,” Noah urged.
    Byrd followed her out of the car. He paused to look around. The small parking lot bordered a grassy area with a few picnic tables. He glanced up to find Kara already on her way to one of the tables with her load. A few loping strides had him up and on the bench of the table she’d chosen.
    Noah was surprised as Byrd watched Kara separate out the food. The dragon wiggled in anticipation but made no move to take anything until Kara had everything unwrapped.
    “There you go, sweetheart,” Kara said as she tucked the paper under the sandwich Noah had ordered. “All yours.”
    Byrd stared at her as she sat down and started eating.
    The steam rising from the eggs made Noah’s mouth water. He waited for the hungry dragon to attack the meal with the same gusto he’d had with the pizza last night, but Byrd held his ground, watching Kara eat her food. “ Byrd?” Noah prompted. “ We can eat now.”
    Byrd’s eyes remained on Kara. “ Kara eat.”
    “Kara is eating,” Noah pointed out.
    “Kara’s food,” Byrd argued.
    “No,”