Page 34 of The Goblin in the Sink Drain
“Fayne?”
The familiar Chinese crested trotted out from behind the dumpster to sit at Rían’s heels. “Yes?”
“I can hear you.” I ignored how fast my tail started thumping. “I didn’t realize it worked that way.”
“How else would we coordinate?” Her ears gave a twitch. “Besides, this way Rían can’t understand us. The magic is tooparticular. That means he won’t be complicit should we be required to take certain measures.”
Women in the Walsh family were fearless. I could see a future where Goldie was grown and following in her grandmother’s footsteps so clearly. She was a handful now, always chasing her goals, and she would only grow into a greater force of nature with age. That I could guarantee.
Huh. Now that I thought about it, Rían hadn’t told me Goldie’s breed. Maybe she hadn’t fully fledged yet? But he mentioned both his parents beinggigants, which was why his parents knew what to expect when they had children. Moregigants. Yet, despite having a sister, he called himself one of a kind. I didn’t know enough about dragons to guess, so I would ask later.
With an imperious bark I had come to know well duringMyrtle’sstay at GSG, Fayne waited for Rían.
“I’m on it.” He didn’t hesitate. “Give me a second, Ana.” He set me down, strapped her in, then tucked me into the crook of his arm. “There’s no reason for you to walk the whole way on that leg, so I’ll carry you if that’s okay.”
Rather than words, I barked once. Weird. Pretty cool. But strange. Guess this made me bilingual.
Once Fayne gave the signal, earning an indulgent smile Rían attempted to hide, he set out walking his dogs around a paved loop encircling a small duck pond. Just an ordinary guy with two ordinary dogs.
Similarities between this park and the one at Pampered Pooches made this missionreal, and I got woozy from the adrenaline pumping through my small body, but that might have been from the height.
“This is insane.” I peered over his arm to make eye contact with Fayne. “This feels like I’m riding the Ferris wheel and it gotstuck with my bucket at the top.” I sank back against him. “I’m sohigh.”
“You’re perfectly safe.” She trotted along on her best behavior. “He won’t drop you.”
“I’m more worried I’ll throw up on him.” I stuck my nose in the crook of his arm to hide my eyes. Our communication was magical, so it didn’t prevent us from talking. “That would be humiliating.”
“Only if you care what he thinks about you.”
“Of course I…” A low growl revved up my throat. “That was a dirty trick.”
“I’m his grandmother,” she reminded me. “I love him, and I only want the best for him.”
“How do you know that’s me?” I had fallen into the trap of discussing Rían and our relationship.Potentialrelationship. “We were chosen as a pair because he can protect me.”
Two sets of blue lines on pregnancy tests wouldn’t be able to look at one another and tell they were soulmates. Our betrothal was intended to keep me safe. Whether we liked each other, could build a life together, was a big gamble.
“That was a factor, yes.” She tugged on her leash until Rían gave her slack to veer into the grass. “This is where we part ways.” She gave a signal that had him setting me down and unfastening my leash. “He’ll rendezvous with us back here in two hours.”
After unclipping Fayne, he stroked a hand down each of our backs. “Please be careful.”
I nodded once, earning myself another scratch behind my ears, but Fayne was already locked in on her target.
Leaving Rían behind, which was harder than I thought it would be, we slipped off the winding path and into the surrounding woods.
“Keep your nose to the ground.” She did the same. “Let me know if you scent any pride members.”
“Will do.”
Faint tenderness radiated up my forearm, but it was less painful than it had been. Though even if I felt like it was going to fall off, I wouldn’t have complained. Nothing could have ruined my first experience tracking while on four legs. I was no wolf, but this body was still a fun ride.
“Humans.” Fayne hesitated near a tree. “They must be married into the pride.”
“How do you know they didn’t just wander up from the park?”
“They marked this tree. Multiple times.” She wrinkled her nose. “There are layers of scent, some of it quite old, all the same people and same trees. That’s strategy, not urgency.”
Embarrassment struck me as I came up even with her and got hit with the pungent odor.
