They waited for a break in the traffic and then hurried across wide Boylston Street. At last they were able to take it a little slower, but they became quieter as well.
Finally Kristine broke the uncomfortable silence. “So, it’s after nine in the morning, and you have to be at work at six. What do you think you can accomplish in less than nine hours?”
“Not much. That’s why I have Gabe to call in sick for me. If anything happens and I’m not back in time, he’ll make up some excuse to buy me some time. If I fly my hardest, I can be back in an hour and a half. I’ll have Gabe leave his window open for me until five thirty when he has to leave for work. Fortunately we’re about the same size, and I can borrow some clothes from him and jog to work.”
“You told Gabe?”
“You can trust my brothers. Any of them. Completely.”
“How much did you tell him?”
“Only what I had to. He knows you plan to go back to New York, that it might not be safe yet, and that I’m going to make sure you’re not being reckless. Do you have somewhere else to stay? These scumbags do know where you live. You haven’t forgotten that, right?”
“Of course not. And as for where I can stay, I’ve been thinking about that. I had to crash at Donovan’s place once. He might let me stay on his couch again.”
“What are you going to tell him as far as a reason why you need to?”
“You know, the usual. The place is being fumigated.”
“So Donovan is a male friend?”
“Yeah. We work together. Don’t tell me you’re the jealous type, because that could be a real problem—considering the fact that I work with all men.”
“No. You don’t have to worry. I’m not an asshole—well, not usually. But I’m curious how you managed to stay single with so many guys knowing what a catch you are.”
She laughed as they ran across the next street during a break in traffic. Now they were in the middle of Commonwealth Avenue, where there was a green space with benches and a paved bicycle path. She had to admit this was a pretty part of the city. “Why don’t we stop for a minute and talk where we won’t be interrupted?”
“Good idea,” he said.
They found an empty bench and sat. She took another moment to admire the ring he had given her. It sparkled in the morning light. “It’s beautiful.”
Jayce put an arm around her and gently rubbed her shoulder. “So are you.”
I could get used to this. Kristine understood he was just concerned for her, but she wasn’t a hothead. He needed to know that. “I don’t want anything to happen to me either. I’m not planning to go off half-cocked,” she said.
“Okay, so you’re going off fully cocked?” He smirked at her.
She tried to tamp down her frustration. “Look, I don’t exactly know what I’m doing yet. But I want to reassure you I won’t do anything stupid.”
“What do you consider to be stupid?”
She just stared ahead. No matter what she said, it would sound monumentally foolish. Going after who knows how many goons in their own well-defended fortress—alone—would probably be the definition of stupid. But what option did she have? Amy said they had been at this business for years and had hurt or murdered countless innocent people. They had to be stopped, and Kristine was convinced she was the only one who could or would attempt to do so.
“Tomorrow night is a new moon. That means tonight I’ll have total darkness. I can shift into my dragon form if I need to get away quickly. In fact, I might show up in dragon form from the start. There’s not much they can do to me as a dragon.”
“Are you sure? Didn’t they live with a dragon for a few years?”
“Yeah. It sounds like they were all afraid of him. According to my mother, these guys are pretty dumb. I’d have to say from what little I know of them personally, I can certainly attest to that. Who actually writes out a contract for a contract killing? And then mails it to a legal office?”
Jayce’s eyes rounded. “They did that? Is that what you had to retrieve for them the first time?”
“Yeah. You see? Dumbdy-dumb-dumb.”
“You could also sing that to suspenseful background music in a horror movie.” To demonstrate, he did so…in an intense, low-pitched voice.
“If you’re trying to scare me, I’m terrified,” she said with deadpan sarcasm.
“So, they’re hit men?”
