Page 5 of Must Love Dragons
He put his hand on the edge of the desk to push himself up when his thumb brushed against a small, uneven edge beneath the drawer.
He turned the flashlight toward the drawer and realized it was a hidden compartment.He pressed on the spot and there was a soft click.A thin panel popped loose and inside was a journal.
Zay pulled it out and opened it, finding Rorik’s messy handwriting covering the pages.The only thing he could make of it was that his uncle was headed south toward the coast.
He took the journal, grabbed a shirt from his uncle’s hamper, and hurried from the house to the bookstore.
“I’m going to look for him,” Zay said, handing the journal to Lyra.“See if you can figure anything out from this.”
“This is dangerous,” Ronan said.“Let me come with you.”
“No, I need you here to keep an eye on the others.I’ll use his shirt to try to pick up his scent.”
“But it’s still daylight,” Lyra said.
“It’s cloudy.I’ll go up the mountain a bit until I’m hidden and leave.I’ll keep my phone in my satchel, and I’ll reach out when I land somewhere.If I find him, I’ll bring him home.If you figure anything out, send me a text.”He hugged his sister and she whispered, “Be safe.”
“You, too.”
He strode from the bookstore and walked past the house, heading to the trees that separated their home from the mountains.
Determination filled him.He’d find Rorik and bring him home.There was no other choice.
* * *
The wind howled against Zay’s wings as he soared through the dense clouds, staying just above the treetops.He wheeled silently in the sky and headed south.After shifting, he’d inhaled his uncle’s scent from his shirt and then tucked it into a satchel with his own clothes and phone, then put it over his shoulder.After shifting, he’d taken to the sky and used his senses to recall the smell of his uncle.
He couldn’t pick up anything but the mountains and trees, but his uncle could have traveled a far distance at this point.The farther he flew, the more the landscape shifted from dense forests and mountains to the flatter terrain of the coast.The salt tang in the air signaled the ocean as he closed in on the coast.Through the clouds, he picked up a lighthouse, the beacon shining.
His stomach clenched suddenly.
What the hell?
Then he caught Rorik’s scent on the air and banked sharply, dropping lower toward the sparse trees.That’s when he saw males loading someone into a boat.He saw the red flannel of his uncle’s favorite shirt and knew it was him.
He let out a low growl and tucked his wings, diving toward the boat that was tied up to a dock.He was ready to burn the males who’d taken his uncle.
But he never got the chance.
The air crackled with magic a moment before something hit him.Pain exploded across his left side like poison and lava mixed up together.His body spasmed, and his wings locked up.The sky spun around him as he lost control, desperately trying to right himself and break his fall.His wings moved awkwardly like they were frozen, and he could get a little lift from them, but he couldn’t get control.He managed to get some distance from the males, but he couldn’t stop the freefall.
His vision blurred as the pain threatened to engulf him, and the ground rushed up to meet him.
The last thing he saw was trees and grass.
And then…darkness.
Note to self: If a naked man falls out of the sky, probably don’t lead with, “Hey there, hot stuff.”
The following afternoon, as the day waned and the clouds made everything gray and drab, Kinsley found herself restless and filled with energy.Even Nysa was acting up, meowing at the back door frequently and trying to untie Kinsley’s shoelaces.
She turned to watch the remaining two cat familiars as they lounged in the back room, one on the desk and one on the custom windowsill lounges that Brody had made for them.
Briefly, she wondered when they’d get another familiar through their doors.She always felt bad for them if they lost their master, especially if it was suddenly.The problem was that familiars weren’t a dime a dozen, they were rare and precious.And could happen anywhere at any time.
A mundane cat, without any magical compulsion at all, could have a litter of kittens and one of them would be a familiar.There was no rhyme or reason, it was just how the universe doled out magical beings.Delaney could sense if an animal was a familiar and had a special bond with each one that came through the doors of the adoption agency.
She knew their coven was blessed that each of them had a familiar.And Hadlee was fortunate enough to have two familiars: a cat and a swan.
