by Leela Ash
When she finished, she glanced down and saw the small child at her feet, then glanced to where the child had been working.
“Wow!” Quinn exclaimed. Vera had finished her task quickly, and stood beaming at Quinn silently, waiting for her to notice. “You did that fast! Excellent job, sweetie. Which toys do you want to play with first?”
Quinn watched the gears in the little girl’s head begin to turn rapidly, and she finally pointed to a stuffed horse.
“That’s a really good choice,” Quinn said, nodding seriously. “I bet that horsy missed you.”
“I missed it too!” Vera said. “Just like I missed my daddy when I went away to Uncle Gavin’s!”
“Well, your daddy is with you now. He just has to work for a while and then he will be back and ready to play with you again! Sound good?”
“Yeah!”
“Good!”
It was still early afternoon, however, and Apollo wasn’t due back for a while. She imagined the little girl would be getting hungry, but from what she could tell, her father hadn’t quite gotten around to grocery shopping yet. He had left her his phone number, along with numbers for doctors and other obscure things she wasn’t even entirely sure about, so she decided to give him a quick call to see if he wanted her to take Vera to pick something up. They had brought the car seat inside, so there was no reason not to.
“Is Vera all right?”
Apollo’s frantic voice came over the line, and Quinn immediately felt horrible for calling about something so trivial.
“She’s fine, it’s all right, Apollo. Man, if you’re that tense, maybe you should come to class tonight.”
“Oh. She’s all right? I don’t know about a yoga class tonight, but maybe once Vera is more settled in.”
“About that… did you realize there aren’t any groceries here yet?”
Apollo was quiet for a moment.
“… yes. But I can pick up a few things on my way home.”
“I’m just a little concerned she might want to have some lunch. Do you mind if I give her some breakfast food from the kitchen here, or can I maybe take her out for a sandwich or do some shopping?”
Apollo was quiet for a moment, and again, Quinn could feel his tension. He was an incredibly stressed out man. Finally, he spoke.
“I’d rather the two of you stay at the hotel. It would be better that way. You can feed her anything you like, though I must warn you, she is a very picky eater. Bread is always something she enjoys though.”
Quinn smiled. “All right. I will get her a sandwich. Thanks, Apollo… sorry to have alarmed you by calling.”
“Oh, it’s all right. It was nice to hear your voice once my heart slowed down a little.”
Quinn hadn’t expected him to say that, and an unexpected warmth traveled through her body. “Oh… good.”
She couldn’t hide the happiness on her face, so she was glad he wasn’t in the room when he had the slip-up; otherwise, there would be no running from the strange feeling he gave her.
There was just something about him. Something that stirred her imagination and made her believe anything was possible. The dragon shaped Ouroboros, for example. She had always been drawn to dragons. And it always seemed like they crossed paths at exactly the right time. Somehow, she believed that he might be fated to be in her vicinity, even if that was a ridiculous belief.
More than that, she believed there was something else to him. Something strong and powerful and deeply wise, but something that he was working extremely hard to keep hidden. It was intriguing. But what in the world was it? The tattoo felt like a clue of some kind. The image of the dragon on his arm wouldn’t leave her mind.
It was like it was trying to tell her something. Like what? Could it be possible that Apollo knew things about dragons? Things that most people would never believe. Well, now she was just being silly.
Still, the question nagged at her mind. There was something so exotic about him. Like he wasn’t from the same planet…
“How is Vera doing?” Apollo asked, his serious tone sending a chill down Quinn’s spine. How odd that such a simple question could feel so heavy. He was extremely protective of his child. And it seemed as though he was convinced there was impending danger. How strange.
Maybe he really was in the military. Was that something she could ask? She had a feeling that he wouldn’t respond very well to the inquiry, judging by how disdainful he had seemed when she had asked him if he was from out of town. Some men were just private that way. She hadn’t dared to ask him anything more personal since that first question.
“Vera is doing really well. She has helped me unpack her clothes and put them away.”
“Did she?” Apollo’s voice betrayed surprise. “That’s good.”
Was he impressed? Quinn couldn’t help but feel a small inkling of pride. She had impressed Apollo with the way she and Vera were getting along so far. That was good news.
Truth be told, Quinn had always dreamed about the day when she would find a man and settle down. All the guys in Greenrock were a little less than appealing. She didn’t want anything to do with them. So, once again, her hopes of having a family lived in her fanciful daydream. She could imagine the day she would finally get out of the small town and find a place that was bigger and full of possibilities. Where she might meet other people who she could really connect with and feel comfortable expressing herself around. She just needed a place where she felt accepted and whole.
And, of course, there would be a man there who felt right for her. A man who was strong but kind, loyal and earnest, hard-working and handsome…
Quinn stopped her train of thought quickly. The man she was picturing was Apollo. But that couldn’t be right. There was nothing between them to indicate anything potentially serious happening. They’d had sex one time and were both working really hard to pretend it never happened. And that was the way it was going to stay. It was for the best.
“Yeah, we are having a wonderful time,” Quinn said, laughing nervously. “She’s doing a puzzle right now, but I think it’s probably about time for lunch. So, I guess we should get going.”
“Right,” Apollo said. He was silent for a few moments. “I’ll see you later. Tell Vera hi for me. And I love her.”
Quinn smiled. “Of course.”
They hung up, and Quinn let out a long, deep breath. What in the world was she thinking, fantasizing about that man this way? It was irresponsible and silly. She should leave those kind of thoughts for high school, where it belonged. She was a grown woman now, independent, and with goals and dreams. She couldn’t get hung up on some guy who barely knew she existed outside the realm of being his nanny.
Besides that, she couldn’t risk losing the money that Apollo had offered to help with the bed and breakfast. When she had phoned her parents earlier in the day to mention she would need someone there to cover her shift, at first, they were perplexed and a little bit annoyed. They had just made it back home and were starting to relax.
But when she had explained what had happened, how much money they stood to inherit in order to build the place up and really get it off the ground, they were both renewed with a new round of excitement for their labor of love, and they had sent out an employee from the town branch to take over while they began speaking with contractors.
It had been an easy choice for her to make once she had seen those sweet amber colored eyes. She had fallen in love instantly with the child. She was beautiful and full of life. Exactly the kind of child she had always envisioned herself raising. Maybe someday.
Quinn smiled at the child, still somewhat flustered by her conversation with Apollo. How was she so drawn to him, even over the phone? It made her feel a little embarrassed. But at least he wasn’t there to see how he affected her, or she would have a lot more to worry about. Things with the child seemed to be going well so far at least, so she figured food would only help her case.
“Vera, are you ready for lunch?” Quinn asked, in
terrupting an overly dramatic scene between the toy kingdom the child had begun to create. The imagination that kid had was advanced.
“Yeah, I want dragon food!”
Quinn got a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach when the child said, “dragon food,” and an image of Apollo's tattoo flashed in her mind.
“Dragon food?” Quinn asked, finally getting her bearings. “I don't know how to make dragon food.”
Vera frowned. “No, you can’t make it because you’re hooman. You can't go into dragons. Daddy can!”
Quinn smiled, amused. A hero and a dragon. Apollo's child sure had a high opinion of him.
“Ah, so he plays dragons with you?”
Quinn received an unamused look in return that almost made her feel utterly stupid. Since when did four-year-olds determine her intelligence though?
“Nooooo. I'm not playing! And I want dragon food."
The child was verging on anger at this point and Quinn quickly attempted to remedy whatever mistake she had managed to make during their brief conversation.
“Is spaghetti dragon food?”
“Only when Daddy makes it!”
“Then do you mind having dragon food for dinner and human food for lunch? I don’t know how to make dragon food.”
Quinn almost felt silly saying such a thing out loud, but to Vera it was deadly serious, and she was just going to have to play along. Dragon food. These people were wild. But interesting.
“I guess so,” Vera said, shrugging her shoulders lightly. “Do you want to play with me after lunch?”
“Yes,” Quinn said. “But remember, I’m human, so there are some things I am not going to know about dragons and dragon food.”
Vera nodded. “You’re not ‘sposed to know any of it.”
Quinn frowned. A secret game? Why wouldn’t she be allowed to know anything about it? Maybe it was just something personal between Vera and her father.
Still, she felt sort of uneasy now. And once again, Apollo’s tattoo came to mind. Dragons. Some part of her had always wondered if their existence was possible, but for a man like Apollo to also be a dragon? That seemed unlikely. More than unlikely, impossible. Shapeshifters were just myths. Some people were die-hard believers in them, and as a woman interested in all things that were strange, unusual, and spiritual, of course she had once or twice had her own curiosities about such phenomena. But to believe that Apollo might be a shapeshifter was out of the question. Wasn’t it?
“All right, sweetie. Time to head to the kitchen. Do you want to bring your backpack with you? Or leave your toys all here so they are safe until we get back.”
“Nothing is ever safe,” Vera said seriously.
Another chill crept across Quinn’s skin. Was there something going on here that she should be worried about? Why was Apollo’s daughter so cryptic? Why was he cryptic, for that matter?
Quinn sighed. What did it matter? She had the child and it was her job to look after her, nothing else. If there was more to the job description than that, Apollo would have warned her about it, right? Although the questions about self-defense and all that did seem rather strange. Maybe the two of them needed to have a talk about all of this. Alone though, out of earshot of the little girl or any of his crew.
“I’m just going to bring Bonkers,” Vera stated, grabbing a stuffed elephant from her small pile of toys and walking to the door. She waited there expectantly for Quinn to open the door, and soon they were headed to the kitchen together, hand in hand.
9.
The three Champions met in Mike’s room, where serious discussions immediately began about locating the Portal Room. Apollo hadn’t really expected Vera to fall so easily for Quinn’s charms, especially after she had just arrived back with him, but he couldn’t really blame her. Hadn’t he found himself under the woman’s spell himself?
“Gavin got a reading about this area,” Apollo explained to the two shifters. The tension was high amongst them all; each of them seemed to be silently battling to be the one in charge, even though for the time being everyone deferred to Apollo because he had the most information on the portals.
“So, the Portal Room should be around here somewhere, right?” Mike asked, crossing his arms tightly in front of his chest.
“We have to follow the readings to know for sure,” Apollo said. “I thought maybe Frank’s wolf shifter abilities would help us to sniff out the trail.”
“Very funny,” Frank mumbled. “But yeah, I can help with that.”
“You know, if there is anything that requires tunneling, that’s something that we specialized in at Oak Mountain. We’re a big mining community. I could have a couple of guys down here in no time at all.”
“That would be great,” Apollo said, his mind working quickly to put the pieces of the plan together. “Once we know exactly where this Portal Room is supposed to be, we can create a tunnel system that leads right to it. We don’t know if this place is underground or what. All we know is that it has something to do with this area.”
“The serpent mound?”
Apollo nodded. “Yes.”
Mike and Frank exchanged looks and then turned to Apollo, waiting for his direction.
“We are going to drive out there first. Once we have the place scouted out a bit, then Mike will know what exactly to tell the bear shifters on Oak Mountain. The kind of equipment they will need to bring and all that. We must get this done quickly, and we can’t be trailed. Everything has to remain secret. You know the cost of letting any of the details slip.”
“Sudden death,” Frank joked, though his face was serious.
“It would be worse than that,” Apollo muttered. “Sudden would probably be a mercy. You have no idea what these creatures are capable of.”
The reminder spurned Apollo forward. “Come on, let’s get going. There isn’t any time to lose.”
The trio piled into Apollo’s van and headed out.
“Mike, you take this and sit up front with me. We’re going to be looking for where the signal is the strongest. But don’t let anyone see what you have. Keep it in this bag, all right?”
Apollo handed Mike a bag and revved up the engine. “Is it supposed to be blinking like this?” Mike asked, peering into the bag, his face drawn in concern.
“It will blink occasionally, but you’ll know when it’s found what we’re looking for. There should also be a noise, but at a frequency only shifter species can hear.”
“Ugh, really not looking forward to that,” Frank mumbled.
“That’s why I had Mike do this part,” Apollo retorted.
“All right. So, we’re just going to drive around aimlessly with this thing until we get the signal?”
“We’re going to take a trip to the serpent mound and see how the device reacts. Then we’re going to take a walk around the mound and do the same. If we get the right reading, then it will be time for Mike to let his brethren know that they’re needed here to start tunneling.”
“Got it, boss.” Frank spat the words out with some bitterness, and Apollo had to decide whether to ignore them.
“I just want you both to know that I don’t consider myself the boss of fucking anything. I just want to make sure things don’t go all to shit. So, if you want to maybe try making this a little bit easier for me to do that, then it would be really appreciated. All right?”
Frank said nothing but gave a brooding nod. Mike sighed heavily in the passenger’s seat, then glanced at the device again.
“The numbers are moving. Fast.”
“Okay, good. That’s a good sign. We’re going in the right direction.”
Frank started to fidget uncomfortably in his seat. Apollo glanced back at him. “You all right back there?”
Frank shrugged. “It’s starting to make the noise.”
Apollo frowned. He hadn’t heard it himself yet. And they were still about a mile away from the serpent mound.
“You wolves are so sensitive,” Mike mumbled, though it wasn�
��t said in a cruel tone as much as observational. Frank mercifully decided to let that go.
“We should be in the right place. I can feel it. Something in the sound is resonating with a great power.”
Apollo nodded. “Good. That’s very good.”
By the time they reached the serpent mound, Frank was clearly in visible pain.
“Don’t worry, we’ll make this quick. You can wait in the car.”
Frank nodded with a slight whimper and Apollo and Mike got out of the van, then headed to the serpent mound with the device.
“This thing is going crazy,” Mike said, glancing into the bag.
“Don’t say anything about it,” Apollo said sternly. “Just walk with me.”
They walked in silence until suddenly Mike stopped near the center of the mound. From the look on his face, Apollo knew that they’d found the right spot. And it was going to be right underground.
“Okay, well, looks like there’s nothing here. Another false lead. Damn it!”
Apollo made a show of throwing a fit just in case they had been followed.
Mike quickly understood what he was doing.
“I didn’t come out to Greenrock to have my time wasted by you, Apollo. How long until we actually do something productive?”
“That depends on when you and that good for nothing wolf shifter decide to be useful,” Apollo spat. He cringed, knowing that Frank would be able to hear him. But truthfully, the man’s anguish was probably far more distracting than false and petty words on Apollo’s part.
When they got into the van, Frank didn’t even act like he had been paying attention to their words. All he said was, “Drive.”
***
Apollo was exhausted by the time he made it back to the bed and breakfast. He had nearly forgotten about the spaghetti, but of course, just as her needs had always come to the forefront of his mind, so too did the child’s desire for her favorite meal. He stopped by the store to pick up the ingredients but froze just outside the window when he saw the clerk standing at the register. It was one of the assholes who had been harassing Quinn at work.