Page 43 of Hungry Like A Dragon
“Gabe is your reeve,” the gargoyle said. How the hell did he know that?
“Yes.”
“I will wait here. I will tell him what I can. And I will protect the human woman.”
The guy knew Rebecca was in the house? “He’s not going to trust you.”And neither should we…
The gargoyle inclined his head. “I would expect no less, if he is truly a competent leader.”
Petra picked up the suitcases and barreled her way through the two men. Noah swore under his breath and chased after her, snagging the bags from her grip. He heard the click of the door closing and glanced over his shoulder. The gargoyle was gone. He had no idea whether the guy had gone into the house or disappeared into the shadows. He needed to text Gabe, tell him to be on the lookout.
Petra led him to an older model, burgundy sedan. He popped the trunk and tossed the bags inside, and noted there was a car seat in the back—and a female dragon in the driver’s seat. Instead of pointlessly arguing with her over who should drive, he hurried around to the passenger side and hopped in.
She tossed her phone into his lap and shifted the gear into drive.
“Navigate,” she said. “Get us to our daughter as fast as possible.”
According to Google Maps, the journey would take one hour and seventeen minutes. Noah figured it would feel like a few lifetimes.
Here we go again.
As the lights of the city faded behind them and the dark and quiet stretched out endlessly before them, Noah swore he could feel his mother’s presence. All the scraped knees she’d kissed and made better. All the times she’d come to his defense when his older siblings picked on him. When she’d tutored him through seventh grade math. How she’d let him stand on a stool next to her while she prepared a meal. His grandfather had been the reeve’s personal chef before him, but his mother had been just as good a cook.
Shit, these thoughts were depressing, and frightening. His daughter might see the same fate as his mother. Not that Sadie was dying of cancer, but he had no idea how dangerous Delilah was, and at the moment, his biggest fear was that his child would see an untimely death—just like his mother had.
“I need a distraction,” he said out loud. “I need to quit thinking about it.”
“What?” Petra asked, quickly glancing his way before returning her focus to the road.
He cleared his throat. “Why did you want to be reeve?”
She squeezed the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white, as she clenched her jaw and stared straight ahead. She didn’t speak for so long, he assumed she didn’t intend to answer him.
And then she said, “My home life sucked. My parents fought all the time, and I was stuck in the middle, too young to get out, to make any decisions for myself. Everyone in my family was like that, miserable, snapping at each other all the time, never getting along—everyone except Uncle Blake, who was our reeve. And somewhere along the way, I connected being reeve with having control over your own life.”
“That’s funny, considering I’ve heard Gabe complain about how being reeve took away all his freedoms.”
She lifted one shoulder, her focus still on the road stretched out before them. “But at least I wouldn’t be in a loveless relationship. At least I wouldn’t be in my parents’ home.”
“You’re not reeve, and you’ve accomplished those objectives.”
“Sort of. I mean, now that we have Sadie, I’m halfway to maintaining the circle of miserable households that my family can’t seem to break free of.”
Noah shook his head. “No, you aren’t. First of all, we aren’t miserable together.” He lifted his hand when she opened her mouth. “ And remember, we aren’t going to mate just because we have Sadie, so you’re off the hook.”
While his reassurance seemed to ease some of the tension in her shoulders, Noah’s nerves only grew more taut.
Was that really what he wanted?
