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“Are you ready to leave?” the cab driver asked.
Riddick nodded. “Yes, please.”
I was ready to get out of the city as well. The hair on my neck kept standing on end, making me feel like I was being watched, but in a city so large, it was hard to pinpoint it. The sooner I got home, the sooner I would feel safe.
Chapter
Ten
Against all my assurances that I was fine, Triston and Percival insisted on cooking dinner again. Unsure how to process everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, I went to check on the few animals still in the barn.
My heart hurt and soared simultaneously as I realized that only Winnie and Natalia were in the barn. It was a catch twenty-two to treat wounded animals and people. On one hand you had people who you helped heal, feel better, but on the other hand you had a rotating list of visitors and no permanent residents.
The older I got, the more I craved at least one permanent resident.
Even little Winnie would die before me, her lifespan only fifteen to twenty years, and from what I could ascertain, she was already around ten years old.
Winnie ran over, her little curled tail wiggling like crazy.
I dropped down and she immediately climbed into my lap. “I don’t know what’s going to happen around here, Winnie. Things are not turning out like I had planned at all.”
She snorted.
“Okay, I hadn’t planned anything, but I thought, no hoped, that Kieran and Branson would stay longer. I like that Triston, Percival, and Riddick have stayed, more than I really probably should, but I’m a little worried.”
Winnie huffed, tilting her head up to look at me.
“Why is Riddick staying? He’s a very well known, popular male. He could have any female he wanted, but he’s staying here with me. Why?” Sure, I was nice to look at and was powerful, but that hadn’t caught anyone’s attention before.
Sighing, I dropped my head down to my chest and said, “Maybe I just need to buy better toys. Things to keep myself occupied while I’m permanently single.”
Her head tilted as she looked at me, clearly unsure of what I was saying.
I tweaked her nose and smiled. “Sorry to dump my worries on you, Winnie. Here is a treat.” Setting the carrot down, she immediately hopped out of my lap to crunch on it with happy tail wiggles.
Standing and turning around, I gasped and almost used my powers to send Riddick flying until I realized it was him standing there. A hand to my chest, I asked, “How long have you been standing there?”
“Not long,” he said, though it felt like a lie.
My eyes narrowed. “Mm hm.”
He smiled. “Food is ready.”
“How’d you find me?” I asked as I closed up the barn.
We walked side by side towards the house and I felt a weird static between us, almost like a physical crackling of magic.
Tapping his nose he replied, “Your scent.”
“You can follow my scent even with all the other smells around here?” I didn’t realize his nose was so good.
“There aren’t that many scents around the house,” he said.
Right, with less animals and people the number of scents greatly diminished.
“Is everything okay between you and Prince Caleb?” I asked. He’d been on the phone with him several times and was almost always scowling.
“Yes, he was upset to hear what had happened with both the cursed shifter and the humans attacking that woman. He’s asked me to take a deeper look at this city and what’s happening to hybrids here.”
