Page 19 of Thrown into the Mob

“I’ve had a rough few days, Flint.”

There was another muffled exchange on his end. Grandpa was there. I hoped my brother Treyton wasn’t among them because I remembered when he’d tried to shoot someone and missed. I closed my eyes and the voices of my family washed over me, and I had to put my hand on the counter because the ground was tilting toward me.

Conrad put his hand under my elbow and a tingling shot along my arm. Damn, was that the mating instinct in physical form? He pressed a cereal bar into my other hand. “Eat.”

I hated that he had to steady me.

“Who's that?” Flint asked.

“A friend.”

“Since when do you escape from a dragon stronghold and make a friend either before, during, or after?”

“He helped me because he has a grudge against the patriarch.”

The gas-station guy gasped. Damn, I’d forgotten about him. Again, instinct told me not to explain myself and dig Conrad and me into an even deeper hole.

There was silence on the other end of the phone. Maybe Flint was wondering if I was speaking under duress and leading him into a trap. Ahhh, my brain wasn’t functioning properly.

“Tell Grandpa I’m missing his lasagna.”

Alpha exhaled because that was our code to let him know I didn’t have a gun to my head and everything was as I’d said.

“I’ll pass that on.”

“How far out are you?” I wanted to get the heck away from here.

“Not far. We tracked your last known location but lost the trail in the early evening. There were reports of significant damage at the dragon compound. That was you?”

“Not exactly.”

“Madd.”

“It’s complicated. Can you just come?”

“Yes. Please stay where you are and out of sight. Are you or your friend armed?”

I glanced at Conrad and then at the guy behind the counter who unlike earlier was hanging on every word. “Weapon?” I mouthed.

He mouthed back, “Knife.”

“Ummm, sort of. It’s the kind with a point at one end.”

“Who’s listening in? Someone working at the gas station?”

“Exactly.”

“A knife isn’t much use against a horde of angry dragons.”

“Thanks for that visual, cousin.”

“We'll be there soon.”

“Flint.” I gripped the phone. The room was spinning. Conrad's hand was still under my elbow, and I was leaning into it. “There's something you should know. When you get here, the friend is coming with us.”

Now it wasn’t just the room that was spinning. I sensed Flint’s mind was too.

“Why?”