Page 9 of Dragon Thief of New York
Kat gives one jerky nod, then puts her key in the lock.
Chapter 6
Damian
Smokepoursoutintothe hall the moment Kat opens her apartment door.
“Lincoln!” she gasps, running into the billowing plumes. Even though she’s a dragon now, and it won’t harm her, my heart plummets. I chase after her, only a few steps behind.
“Lincoln!” She runs straight through a tiny, messy living room into an even smaller kitchen. A teenage boy stands on a stool waving a dish towel in front of the smoke alarm, which, surprisingly, isn’t going off. He must be giving it just enough air circulation to keep it quiet. Or it’s broken. I’ll need to look into that.
The source of the smoke is the oven. So, I go straight for it, grabbing the charred pizza in both hands.
Kat runs to the window and throws it open, letting fresh air in as I stand there, holding the burned food like an idiot, unsure what to do with it now that I’ve got it.
“Um, trash?” I ask.
The kid, who I presume is Lincoln, coughs as he hops down, looking sheepish. “Sorry, Mom. You weren’t back, so I thought I’d help with dinner, but I kind of…”
“Got distracted,” she finishes for him with a sigh, pulling him into an affectionate hug. “Are you okay? No burns or anything?” She looks him over from head to toe, but he pulls away, turning to look at me.
His eyes widen, and his mouth falls open. “How are you…?”
I forgot I was still holding the chard pizza in my bare hands.
Lincoln’s gaze swings from me to his mom, who’s still only wrapped in a thick blanket.
“Shit,” Kat curses at the same time as Otto and I do. She shrugs and tries to laugh, but it comes out warbled. “Guess I have some explaining to do.”
I spot a trashcan that thankfully has a lid, so I dump the remains of their dinner. That at least takes care of one thing.
“Were you planning on keeping this from him?” Otto asks. He’s standing behind Kat in the doorway, looking about as awkward and hesitant as I feel.
“I don’t keep things from my kid,” Kat spits out before softening. “I just planned to do it differently. Maybe not right away.”
“Would someone please tell me what you’re talking about?” Lincoln stares at the scales peppering the palms of my unburned hands. I automatically did a partial shift when I grabbed their dinner. His eyes are as wide as the pizza I just tossed. “How the fuck did you do that?”
Kat gives her son a look that suggests she doesn’t love the language, but she doesn’t scold him for it, either. “Could the two of you give us a moment?”
I wince as my eyes meet Otto’s. We both know we can’t leave her alone.
“At least one of us needs to stay with you,” I say as gently as I can.
A small flame of fire shoots in my direction, but snuffs out immediately when she realizes what she did.
“W-what—Fuck!” Lincoln takes a giant step away from his mom.
She covers her mouth with her hand and mutters a curse. Her eyes close for a moment as she takes a calming breath. When sheopens them again, she points at Otto. “He goes.” She points at me. “You stay.”
Otto looks like a kicked puppy. I hate that look on his face. Forgetting my worries about the possessiveness of newly mated pairs, I cross the room and take his hand, offering what little comfort I can. He doesn’t pull away as I lead him to the front door, still within sight of Kat and Lincoln. Every other step has Otto looking back over his shoulder at his mate, but he respects her wishes and follows me.
“Is she ever gonna forgive me?” he whispers too quietly for Kat or Lincoln to hear.
“I hope so,” I sigh.
And I do. As much as it pains me to see them together, I want only the best for them both. Mates are always happier together. I should know. I’ve lived without mine for more than a decade.
“You’ll watch out for her?” He brings our clasped hands to his heart and squeezes.
