“I don’t think you should shorten dragon like that. I don’t think the queens would like it,” Caster, scrunched up his nose, curling his upper lip until his tiny little front teeth showed. “Era doesn’t like it when I annoy the dragons. They’re really easy to annoy, though, but I try not to because I like it when he’s happy.”
I sprinted back to the bedroom to grab my phone.
“COME BACK! THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO HAVE THE ZOOMIES, YOU DUMB DOG!” Caster growled.
I plopped on my bed and searched the upcoming event pages on the Guardians of Glitter Bomb Territory website. Yep. There was an art school opening up there. It was funded by Blake Knight and chaired by one of his great grandsons. It was attracting a lot of attention because of its connections to Jonah Darnell and the Grim Howlers.
“That’s why Bobby and Liam didn’t let them build it in Heartville,”my wolf chuckled into my thoughts.
“It’s grand opening was delayed by a semester because of the murders,” I whispered back to him. “Era could still make it.”
“How do we tell a grieving wolf to go to the GGB because his dead cat said so?”my wolf sighed.
“Very carefully.”
Chapter 6
Beryl
The Guardians of Glitter Bomb Territory
Laying in bed that night, it hit me that I was the only one in the house who was neither mated nor a baby. Even Mum had met her true-mate. Bloody hell. I hoped I didn’t have to wait until I was as old as her to meet my omega. My longings for the person who I had chosen in the Other World between lives, ebbed and flowed throughout my life. Sometimes months would pass without me wondering where the hell he was and other times it was all I could think about. That usually meant I needed to get out and find an adventure. Only, I was stuck on Canton Valley Farm until Pras Lavender moved on. I needed to see him off.
“We might be like Pras. He never met his true-mate,”my dragon sighed into my thoughts.
I rubbed my palm around my forehead and tried not to think like that. Pras probably would’ve met his other half if he didn’t have to sacrifice himself to get rid of Ferrick Moonscale. Yep. I had to go for a walk and get out of the house for a while before my head exploded.
I left a note taped to the guestroom door before I left in case I didn’t make it back before someone woke up. I had been warned against wandering around the farm at night, but I’d takemy chances with whatever security the rabbit shifter cooked up over stewing in my own thoughts.
It was a cool night. Almost too cool for this time of year, but it was humid. It was as if the air wanted to crawl inside my lungs with each step I took. I headed to one of the ponds I spotted earlier. As I walked closer, I heard little splash sounds and smelled an otter.
“An otter this far inland?”my dragon lifted his massive head and shifted my eyes to his so that he could see better.
Yep. There was an otter pup splashing around in the pond. He ducked under the water when he saw me. I stood immobile, not wanting to spook the little guy. He peeked back up and sank back under. I almost left but a second later a head full of human hair emerged from the water, gasping and shouting.
“GUARDS! GUARDS! DADDY! UNCLE! VATTEN! GUARDS! FERRICK ESCAPED! HE ESCAPED AND HE’S AFTER ME! HELP! HELP! I DON’T WANT TO BE EATEN!” A little boy in sopping wet pajamas raced further away from the houses and out into the fields.
“What the fuck?” I blinked.
“GUARDS! FERRICK’S OUT! THE MURDERER IS OUT! HELP! HELP! HELP ME!” the little boy shouted again.
I followed him, not wanting a kid out on his own in the fields.
“I have a feeling we’re going to regret this!”my dragon tutted into my thoughts.
“GUARDS!”
“HEY! I CAN HELP YOU!” I shouted back to the kid who was probably an otter. “I’M NOT FERRICK!”
I didn’t even smell the lioness until she collided into my body, pinning me face down in the mud and growling in my ear.
“Who is it, Evie?” someone called, but I couldn’t see them either for all the mud in my eyes.
I tried to push myself up and explain what happened, but the lioness’s teeth found the back of my neck. I sighed at the indignity of it all. I couldn’t even go for a walk without rousing the whole damn farm.
Another lion ran by. Only this one smelled different. Fur and scales and warmth and ---- I shoved up with all my might and the cat’s teeth scraped down my back on her way to thud against the ground, but I was upright. My heart pounded in my ears as the pride of four lions circled me. One lunged and I dodged, landing straight against the teeth of another one. The lion chasing the otter was mine. I swung at the lion holding onto my mouth with his arm and shook him off, but the lioness was back on her feet.
“MINE!” I roared unable to find the rest of the words I knew in any language. All the bites, scratches, and bruises would hurt later, but at the moment none of it mattered. Nothing mattered except getting to him before something horrible did.
