Page 38 of Dragon Daddy's Second Chance

“Gross, I’m not that desperate,” Susan said. “I’ll never be that desperate.”

Wren had been lying in the shade fighting sleep for a while before she realized that she hadn’t checked on Theo ina while and picked up her head to make sure he was still playing in the sand. When she didn’t spot him right away, she sat all the way up and began to scan the beach, which had become crowded since they’d gotten there, not terribly concerned at first. That quickly changed when she didn’t see Theo anywhere, and she jumped up, jamming her feet into her sandals, unsure if she should be mad or scared.

“Susan, I don’t see Theo, I think he might have wandered off,” she said, trying to stay calm. “Will you help me look for him?”

Susan was instantly on her feet. “What do you mean?” she asked. “Theo would never wander off. He knows better than that.”

“Well, he’s not here,” she said, gesturing around them. “We have to go look for him. You go one way, and I’ll go the other.”

Susan took off down the beach, calling Theo’s name, and she went the opposite direction, doing the same, but only made it a few yards before a young man came running up to her. “An old lady dragging a kid behind her gave me five bucks to give you this,” he said, shoving a note at her. “She said you’d give me another five when I delivered it.”

Hands shaking, ignoring the young man, she opened the note, then felt her legs beginning to tremble as she read the short message. “How long ago did she give you this?” Wren asked, grabbing his arm. “Which way did they go?”

The young man shook his head, “I’m not telling you anything until I get my five bucks,” he said, pulling out of her grip and crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m not saying a word until I get my money.”

She could only stare at him for a second. “That woman kidnapped my child,” she finally said. “Tell me what I want to know.”

“Not until I get my money,” the kid said. “No money, no information.”

Just then, Susan came running up. “I couldn’t find him anywhere,” she said, then saw the young man. “What’s going on?”

“I need some cash,” she said. “Please tell me you have five bucks.”

Susan dug in her shorts pocket. “Sorry, all I have is a ten,” she said, a confused look on her face. “What about Theo?”

She grabbed the money and shoved it at the kid. “Here, take this,” she said. “Now tell me where they went.”

“She said they were going up there,” the young man said, pointing to the mountain that dominated the center of the island. “Devil’s Drop is the only thing up there. You can see the whole island from the cliff, but it’s like a mile drop down to the jungle, and it sure would mess someone up if they fell.”

“Oh my God,” she said. “She’s going to throw Theo off the cliff.”

Susan grabbed her and turned her around. “Wren, what are you talking about?” she asked. “What’s going on?”

She shoved the note at Susan, then looked around, feeling helpless. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down, panicking now wouldn’t help anyone. “Go find Blake. I thought he was going to talk to his parents this afternoon,” she said. Tell him what’s happened; he’ll know what to do. Make sure he knows where his mother is taking Theo. He might be the only one who can save him.”

“What are you going to do?” Susan asked. “We should find Max.”

“There’s not time. I’m going after them. It’s what she wanted anyway,” she said, then looked over at the young man. “And you’re going to show me where the trail is.”

CHAPTER 22

***BLAKE***

Blake and his father were almost to the village when Susan came rushing up to them out of breath, a frantic look on her face, and his breath caught in his throat. “Oh, Blake, I’m so glad I found you,” she said, fighting to take a deep breath. “Your mother has Theo, and she’s taken him up to Devil’s Drop. She sent Wren a note threatening to throw Theo off the cliff. I don’t know how big of a head start they got, but Wren went after them. She said you’d know what to do.”

His protective instincts ramping up with the panic that shot through him, he forced himself to take a deep breath. He knew exactly what he had to do and began to let the creature inside come to life. Reassured when he felt the tingle of his magic beginning to spread through him, he forced the dread and fear to the back of his mind. Fate hadn’t brought Wren back to him only to take her away. This was just one more test they had to pass before they could live happily ever after, and he wasn’t going to let emotion get in the way.

“Mom is after Wren. She’s not going to push Theo off thatcliff. She’s walking into a trap,” he said, as sure as he’d ever been about anything in his life. “I want you two to go get Max, I’m going to shift and go after them.”

“Son, you can’t…” his father protested, looking over at Susan. “It’s broad daylight, someone will see you…we don’t shift…it’s not…”

“It’s okay, Dad; Susan knows about my dragon,” he said, patting him on the back. “You may not shift, but I do. Maybe if you hadn’t denied who you are all these years, things with Mom might have been different. I have to do this, Dad, and if someone sees me, I’ll deal with that later. I have to save Wren. I love her, and my life would be nothing without her.”

“Then go, we’ll be right behind you,” his father said, giving him a hug. “I’m sorry, Blake, sorry for everything, but I promise you things are going to be different now.”

“I hope you have the chance to prove that,” he said, then turned and headed for the jungle around the village, hoping for some cover to shift.

When he found a small clearing far enough away that he was sure he wouldn’t be spotted, he stopped, took a deep breath, and let his magic flow freely. In seconds, he’d shed his human form and was stretching his wings, power surging through him, the need to protect what belonged to him taking over. Giving the creature inside him full control, he took to the sky, skimming over the tops of the trees until the land began to climb beneath him.

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