Page 9 of To Match A Dragon's Fire

“They as in…” I waited for her to explain.

“The government,” she whispered as iftheyor Drew could hear us.

Riley used to be so loud.

Somehow, she’d gotten quieter over the past two years. Less sure of herself.

It was such a subtle change. I wondered how it’d happened without us noticing. I wanted to call Drew out for the way he treated her, but that hadn’t gone over so well before.

So, I treaded lightly, “He would know.”

The bastard had worked an IT gig with a group of jerks as lovely as him until they’d all been fired for some harassment issue.

I’d met them at a party last summer, and that’s when Willow and I started to suspect that Drew wasn’t telling the whole truth.

But Riley didn’t want to listen before, so now I wasn’t sure how to approach the topic.

“It’s good timing.” Riley wouldn’t look at me. “Not like we needed another excuse to leave. Is Willow ready?”

“She’s been ready.” Nausea burned its way up the back of my throat.Shouldn’t have eaten so many pepperoncinis.

“I know you don’t want to go,” Riley whispered when the trailer park entered the rearview mirror. I hated how scared she sounded.

Riley was too good. She was kind. A CNA who worked at the retirement home down the road. I never understood how she got mixed up with Drew in the first place.

“It’s not that.” I shook my head a little too forcefully. “I just…”

Headlights passed us by as I turned onto the main road. The streetlight was out, but the gas station was lit up beyond it.

“Let’s get some snacks,” I said.

“Snacks?” Riley’s eyebrows shot up past her sunglasses.

“It’s going to be a road trip, right?” My palms were sweaty on the wheel as I pulled the Bronco into the parking space. “We need snacks.”

“I’m sure Willow has snacks.” Riley slammed her door shut and followed me to the shop. The old-school doorbell chimed above our heads.

“But she doesn’t have cheap wine.” I snagged a bottle of red-blend off the bottom shelf in front of the cash register, waving it in Riley’s direction.

She grinned again. Bigger this time. “Maybe we should get a few bottles.”

“And we need chocolate,” I said, searching the barren aisles for something sweet.

Chocolate and cheap wine wouldn’t fix the apocalypse, but they could sure make it more palatable.

Riley was still smiling as we met back up near the cash register with arms loaded full of our haul.

I couldn’t imagine the night she’d had and, despite my petty problems, I’d do anything to make sure she never went through something like that again.

That meant I was going home and taking her with me. It was past time for us to get out of the city.

The lights flickered above and the clerk paused in ringing up my candy bars. I kept my eye on the handheld calculator, watching the total, as he returned to punching the numbers.

“And I’ll take a bottle of Tylenol,” I said, counting out the cash from the tips I was carrying tonight. The hangover from this was going to be brutal, but I was willing to risk it for a little liquid courage.

“The ATM is out,” Riley sighed as she yanked her card from the machine. “I should’ve gotten more money. Maybe I’ll go back and—”

“No,” I growled.

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