My stomach dipped to my toes.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
He stepped back and shifted to his feathers without answering. When I didn’t immediately move, he swung his head toward me and snapped his beak.
With his words still ringing in my ears, I hustled to climb aboard the Oanen Express. Loose snow from the sidewalks swirled around us as he started to beat his wings. Steadily, he rose into the air. I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around his neck, snuggling into his heat. Even with my jacket on, I felt the sting of the occasional snow flake drifting in the air.
Looking below, I watched the expanse of the river pass by. Awe filled me when I lifted my eyes from the water to the skyline. Lights stretched as far as I could see.
“It’s so pretty,” I said, smoothing my hand over the feathers at his neck.
We passed over buildings, climbing higher and higher. I shivered slightly, and my fingers grew stiff. Not that I really noticed. I was staring at everything. The tiny cars moving far below. Our reflection in the glass of buildings so tall, I’d get bored trying to count the floors. When we hit the park, I knew we were getting close to the condo he’d mentioned.
Again, his words came back to me. How had he been playing nice, and what was going to change? Ugh. Did that mean I was in for lectures now?
I was still debating what he’d meant and how I might avoid any form of conflict that would tick me off when he started to descend toward a rooftop with a lit-up, glass sunroom. The balcony had been cleared of snow, so nothing swirled around us as he landed.
Sliding off his back, I looked at the cute table and chairs just inside the glass.
“Come on.”
Oanen grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door.
“Are you mad?” I asked, scrambling to follow him. “Because, if you are, I don’t think we should go inside.”
“You’re freezing. We’re going inside.”
I let out a long, heavy exhale and said nothing as he dragged me through the sunroom into a modern kitchen. He didn’t stop there. When I saw he was pulling me toward a living room with pale grey stained hardwood floors, I balked.
“At least, let me take off my shoes,” I said, trying to tug my hand free.
Instead of letting go, he turned and scooped me into his arms.
“Shoes aren’t a problem now.”
With my eyes wide, I stared at his determined expression. The look on his face worried me. I set my hand on his chest and felt him flinch. My chest tightened with apprehension.
“I don’t want to fight,” I said quietly. “I don’t want to lose my temper again. Not with you.”
His gaze dipped to me before returning to the hall he walked.
“We’re not going to fight because you’re going to listen.”
I struggled with the initial urge to bristle at those words by chanting, “I will not fry my boyfriend,” in my head.
When he turned into a bedroom, my pulse spiked, and butterflies launched for flight in my stomach.
“Um, what are you doing?” I asked.
He set me on my feet and stared down at me, his eyes still amber.
“You can warm up two ways. Shower or me.”
My mouth dropped open for a moment.
“Is that an invitation?” he asked.
I snapped my mouth shut and crossed my arms. He was right. He wasn’t playing nice anymore. And I wasn’t amused.
“Where’s the bathroom?” I asked.
He pointed to the right.
Narrowing my eyes at him, I started to turn that direction. I didn’t make it a step before he grabbed my arms and pulled me to his chest. My heart skipped a beat. Gazes locked, we stared at each other for a moment. Oh-so-slowly, he lowered his head. My breath caught, and the frantic beat of my heart echoed in my ears.
“I think you’re choosing the wrong door,” he whispered just before his lips settled onto mine.
He held me close, his mouth claiming me in a way that sent a buzz of need rushing through every limb. Desperate for an anchor, I gripped his arms and groaned at the onslaught. His hands moved from my arms to encircle my waist, the move pressing his hips to mine and making his need for me impossible to ignore.
The angle of the kiss changed, becoming all consuming. His hand slid under my shirt and up my side, his fingers skimming the sensitive skin over my ribs. All my focus was on that hand until his other hand touched the damaged spot on my back.
I pulled back with a gasp and blinked up at him, disoriented, and panting for air.
“Oanen, wait.”
“I am. But, I don’t need to do it patiently.”
He grabbed the back of my head and kissed me hard. My lips tingled when he finally eased away.
“Get in the shower and start talking. I want to know what the hell happened tonight.”
His bossy attitude cut through the haze of passion he’d created.
“I want ‘playing nice’ Oanen back.”
“I want you in that bed. One of us might get what they want tonight.”
I retreated a step toward the bathroom, and Oanen shadowed the move.
“Cut it out, Oanen,” I warned, taking another step.
“You’re mad,” he said as he matched my movement. “And you’re afraid.”
“I am not.”
He shook his head slowly, not closing the distance between us, not giving me any more space, either.
“You’re not afraid of me but yourself. Of what you want.”
Stepping into the bathroom, I gripped the door then slammed it shut.
“Talk, Megan,” he said from just outside. “Or I come in.”
“There’s not much to say. I was sitting at the bar one minute, and the next, I was waking up and finding out I was tied to a chair. All I remember from the bar is a dragon who got upset when he heard there was a fury in town—not me, my mom—and left.”
I turned on the water to warm.
“I was starving, so I stole the burger he didn’t even touch. There was this powder on the bacon. It didn’t taste funny, and I didn’t notice it until I was four bites in.”
As I spoke, I stripped out of my clothes, taking care with my shirt. As much as I twisted in the mirror, I couldn’t quite see the spot that hurt.
“When I came to, I realized I was inside that warehouse with a goblin who couldn’t tell me anything about why I was there or how I’d arrived. He was spelled too, you know? Like the library prevented me from talking about anything.”
I stepped into the shower.
“I called you as soon as I saw the messages. You hung up on me. The goblin knocked out the guy on the street for talking to me. Then Eliana called and said I should send the goblin and the brownie to Uttira and that she’d call when the spell wore off the goblin.”
I spun under the water, wincing at the sting on my back. I must have scraped it when I fell in the parking lot.
“That’s everything?” he asked, not sounding as muffled as he should.
Knowing that he was in the bathroom with me while I was completely naked had me flushing from head to toe.
“Everything I can remember. What about you? What happened with the troll?” I asked, hoping to distract him from hearing my racing pulse.
“I’ll tell you when you’re done.” The door clicked shut.
I rolled my eyes and quickly washed. When I finished, I opened the curtain and found a tank top with matching character shorts and a clean pair of underwear waiting. My old clothes were gone.
I dried off, not sure how I felt about that. A guy who’s willing to pick up? Not a bad thing. A guy who’s laying out what I should wear next? Possibly more controlling than I could accept. Yet, those were the only pajamas I’d packed, so was it really controlling or just common sense that those would be the clothes I’d want?
With my hair wrapped in the towel, I dressed and opened the door. Oanen was waiting just outside. His steady gaze swept over me, and I was relieved to see blue instead of gold.
“The troll?” I said, taking the towel from my head and hanging it on the back of the door.
“The troll in the bar knew the one who’d died but had no idea who would have killed him or why.”
“So, no leads?”
“No. The dead troll was old, his family already gone. Typical of his age, he had few friends and kept to himself. His only socialization was going to the Gizzard once a week for a beer and a burger.”
I made a face when he said burger.
“We need to figure out what was on that bacon,” I said.
“Agreed. But in the morning. You’re pale, and you look tired.”
He held out his hand. I looked at it, then the bed in the only bedroom in this place. My pulse picked up again.
“You know I won’t force anything,” he said softly.
“I know.” But I wasn’t sure I’d want to stop if he kissed me again like he had before.
Instead of taking his hand, I turned away and took a step toward the bed without him.
“Megan.”
The anger in that word surprised me, and I looked back at him. His gaze wasn’t on my face but on my back. He took two steps forward and pulled the back of my shirt up.
“Hey!”
“Is this what happened?” he demanded.
“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
His finger traced around the area that hurt.
“Is it bruised?” I asked.
“No. It’s a raw sore. Like a burn.”
“I wasn’t near anything hot, so I doubt it’s a burn. And it hurt before I was drugged, so I don’t think anything happened when I was sleeping. Maybe I scraped myself when I fell,” I said, repeating my earlier theory.
“Hold your shirt. Let me get something for it.”
I held my shirt up while he dabbed a cooling ointment on the wound and bandaged it to keep my shirt from scabbing to it. I could feel his anger and agitation; I felt pretty certain it wasn’t directed at me, though.
When he finished doctoring me, he led me to the bed and pulled back the covers.
“Go to sleep, Megan.”
Once again, gold was filling his stoic gaze. I quickly got into bed.
Sunlight bathed my face and seared through my eyelids.
I groaned and pulled the covers over my head. Behind me, Oanen chuckled. The arm around my waist tightened, bringing my back flush with his warm, bare chest. His fingers moved under my shirt, stroking my belly, which growled.
“It’s too early,” I mumbled as if he’d just told me to get out of bed.
“It’s almost noon.” His lips brushed the back of my neck.
I shivered, and my eyes popped open when his fingers stroked my skin more firmly.
“All right, I’m up.” I scrambled out of bed and raced for the bathroom.
He left me alone while I slowly went through my morning routine. When I reemerged minty fresh, my bag waited on the made bed. The bedroom door was closed, and I was alone.
I quickly got dressed and found him waiting in the kitchen, talking on the phone. His serious expression and the way he tracked my progress made me nervous.
“That confirms the first death was part of something. We’ll check it out.”
He hung up and pocketed the phone.
“Another troll,” he said without me asking. “He was found not far from where you were last night. Dead with a smile on his face, just like the first one. We need to identify him and ask around again.”
“Does the Council have any ideas about what’s happening?”
“No. That’s why we’re here.”
“So, look at a dead troll then back to the Gizzard?”
“Yeah. Want to risk something to eat, first? I don’t want another burger to tempt you.”
I made a face.
“I doubt anything from the Gizzard will tempt me ever again.”
I followed him to the double doors and stepped into a hallway where he pushed the button to call the elevator.
“No flying today?” I asked.
“No. You were too cold last night. We’ll drive.”
The trip down was quiet. When we stepped out into a modern, plush lobby area, I spotted Oanen’s car through the glass doors.
I shivered when I stepped outside, and it had nothing to do with the temperature. In the daylight, I could feel wisps of mild wickedness around me.
“That’s weird,” I said as Oanen opened the passenger door for me.
“What is?”
“I feel more wickedness during the day than at night. I thought it would have been the other way around.”
He frowned and looked around.
“Me too.”
I shrugged and got in then started buckling my seatbelt while he closed the door and walked around the car.
“I asked Adira if she knew where we could find your mom,” he said as he slid behind the wheel.
“Oh? How’d that work out for you?”
“As well as you’re imagining. She said for your safety, we should not seek her out.” Oanen didn’t sound pleased with that answer.
“Yeah, I got the same reaction from the old dragon last night when I asked if he’d heard about a fury.”
“Do you want to try calling her again?” he asked, merging into traffic.
“No. I’ll find her. It just might take a while.” My stomach growled again. “Think we can still find breakfast somewhere?”
“There’s a diner not far from here that my dad recommended. They serve breakfast all day.”
The diner, only a few blocks away, was tucked in the lower level of a large building, just like every other business in the area. The light scent of breakfast foods teased my nose as soon as I got out of the car. My mouth watered.
Within minutes, we were seated at a table, sipping juice and waiting for our food.
“While I was talking to the dragon last night, he called you an enforcer. What does that mean?”
“When you work for any of the councils, your role is technically to enforce the Mantirum laws.”
“He also said you’re suppressing their rights. Apparently, he wants to be able to toast some humans if it strikes his fancy.”
“Some of the old-timers are still having a hard time adapting to the laws created over five hundred years ago.”
“Holy crap. He was that old?”
“Probably a little older,” Oanen said.
“Wow. How old is your dad?”
“In his sixties. Mom’s a lot older.”
His dad didn’t look nearly that old. Late thirties, maybe. Just like his mom. I itched to ask more but didn’t want to be overheard.
“I don’t really know how old my mom is,” I said.
He reached out and placed his hand over mine.
“It’s nothing you need to worry about now. I talked to Eliana last night after you fell asleep. I let her know how important it is to find out what happened once your visitors arrive.”
“Oh no. What did you tell her? I didn’t go into detail because I didn’t want her to worry.”
“I told her the truth. Someone tried taking you from me.”
I tugged my hand from his and scowled at him.
“Eliana’s probably freaking out now, thinking I’m in danger.”
“No. She’s going to try to figure out if there’s a way to get your friend to talk sooner.”
The waitress came with our food, distracting me from my annoyance. The stack of pancakes on my “side” plate made my mouth water just as much as the over-easy eggs, hash browns, and sausage.
It wasn’t until I stuffed the last bite of syrup-soaked pancakes into my mouth that my thoughts circled back to our conversation. No matter what Oanen said, Eliana would worry. That’s just who she was. I needed to prove to her and Oanen that I was fine, and the only way to do that was to prove no one intentionally drugged me.
“The burger wasn’t even meant for me.”
Oanen studied me from across the table, an amused light in his eyes.
“Do you want more?” he asked.
I looked down at my empty plates.
“I don’t think I could eat another bite.”
“Then why are you talking about burgers?”
I leaned forward and lowered my voice.
“Last night. I took the burger the dragon ordered because he’d left without touching it. I don’t think anyone was trying to drug me. I think someone was trying to drug the dragon. Whoever the—Elbner’s friend was, he told Elbner to let me go. Why drug me and let me go if I was the intended target?”
“Why drug a dragon?” Oanen said with a thoughtful frown. He reached for his wallet. “We need to get back to the Gizzard.”
“I thought we were going to check out the warehouse first.”
“You sure your stomach’s up for it?”
“Please. I never get sick.”
He frowned at me.
“We agreed to pretend that never happened,” I said.
He exhaled heavily, placed some money on the table, stood, then held out his hand. I slipped my fingers through his and followed him out the door. A new tingle of annoyance traced down my spine and pulled my attention to a man in a business suit, crossing the street.
I took a step in that direction, and Oanen’s hold on my hand tightened. I turned back to him with a scowl, ready to tell him to let go.
The sight of his hard, golden gaze killed the words.
“You don’t leave my side today,” he said, leaning close. “Got it?”
“Yeah. Got it.”
Oanen narrowed his eyes as if he didn’t believe me then started toward the car. When he reached the door, he released me.
“I know you’re strong. But I also know you can be hurt. Your safety matters more than Eliana’s feelings. More than dead trolls. More than anything else. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Oanen. I get it. I’m glued to you from now until the end of time.”
Something flashed in his eyes before he shut them, and he took a slow, deep breath.
“Get in, Megan.”
Annoyed and confused, I did as he asked only because arguing would just waste time. He shut the door and walked around toward his side.
“No one likes a bully, Oanen,” I said, crossing my arms.
His gaze swung to me through the windshield.
“Stupid bird hearing,” I mumbled.
He opened the door, slid behind the wheel, and turned to look at me.
“No,” I said, firmly. “No lecture. I’m right next to you, so there’s nothing you need to say except let’s go look at a dead troll.”
“I think there is something I need to say.” He reached out and gently trailed his fingers along my hairline.
“I love you, Megan Smith. And, ‘from now until the end of time’ is exactly how long I want to be with you.”
