by Kit Fawkes
She let out an ambiguous sound that was somewhere between a moan of desire and a whimper of anxiety. It took everything he had to get up and leave her, and he wouldn’t have done it if he wasn’t taking care of her in a different fashion.
After washing his hands, he evaluated the cupboard again, this time deciding on chili. The pickings were slim, but the meal would have enough protein for a pregnant woman. He hoped.
By the time the chili was warmed and waiting, she returned from the bathroom, this time wearing the clothes she’d worn earlier. They seemed to have warmed up and lost any dampness from the earlier evening flight. Her hair had dried into a tangled, frizzy mess, and he was certain she would have hated it, but he found it adorable. He wanted to reach over and run his fingers through it, but he held himself in check.
Their brief interlude in the living room hadn’t changed anything. She still wanted him to be sure, and she wanted to be sure of him, before she agreed to resume their relationship. He was certain, but he didn’t know how to convince her of that other than by being there for her and taking care of her however she needed.
They were halfway through their meal when his senses alerted him they were no longer alone. He stiffened and pulled her from her chair, pressing his finger to his lips to indicate she should be quiet. He strained his hearing, detecting some cursing and muttering from what sounded like an older male. When he picked up the words, he started tugging her toward the back door as the person at the front of the cabin muttered, “Damn vandals, and on Christmas.”
He wasn’t certain what had alerted the caretaker to their presence, or had made him check the cabin in the middle of the night. Perhaps it was his usual routine to discourage people from breaking in and squatting. Whatever the reason, their time there was up, and he had to get her out before they were caught. He didn’t want to have to hurt anyone to get away, and he definitely didn’t want anyone to be able to identify them and lead Peretti and Anderson to their location.
They quietly slipped out the back door and into the small yard. She shivered with her feet in the snow, and he cursed when he remembered she hadn’t had a chance to grab her shoes when they’d fled his house earlier. As quickly as possible, he removed his sweater, assisting her with sliding it on, before stepping back to unleash the dragon.
They were in a hurry, but he didn’t camouflage himself as quickly this time. He allowed Marlie to see the full transformation as he went from human to dragon. Her eyes were wide, but she didn’t seem to be afraid. When she reached out to touch his cheek hesitantly, running her fingers lightly over his scales, he purred and bumped against her very carefully in a show of affection.
She smiled. “You’re a bit like a cat.”
They were out of time, so he activated his camouflage before grasping her in his arms, careful not to puncture her with his talons, and lifted into the air. They’d cleared several feet above the cabin before the back door opened, and it was dark enough, with only a fingernail moon for illumination, that he was fairly confident the caretaker couldn’t make out the details of his camouflaged form flying away with Marlie visible. At most, the caretaker would think he’d seen a large bird or something equally improbable, but he wouldn’t be able to identify it, and he certainly couldn’t inadvertently reveal Marlie and Eben had been there.
With their temporary haven no longer accessible, he tried to think of a new location where he could take her to keep her safe. He had a nephew in the city, but he wasn’t close to the young man.
Technically, Gabe wasn’t really his nephew. His mother had been one of the orphans at Harper House as well, but she had been like a sister to Eben. For the first few years of Gabe’s life, Eben had been an honorary uncle, but they had drifted apart as his business took off.
He squirmed when he realized just how much he had lost when he had focused his goals on collecting treasure instead of appreciating the people in his life. Marlie had temporarily broken through that wall, but he’d managed to send even her away in the end. A keen sense of loneliness swept through him, and he regretted bitterly that he’d never had a chance to reconnect with Susan before she had died from breast cancer a few years before.
He wanted to get to know Gabe, but he couldn’t risk dumping the situation on the young man’s lap. After so many years of silence, the kid probably didn’t even remember him anyway, and he might not want to acknowledge a bond that wasn’t technically familial. Eben certainly didn’t want to risk his life, so he reluctantly pushed thoughts of Gabe aside. He’d have to try to reconnect with the young man after this was over and hope Gabe had a forgiving nature, just like Susan.
That left Robert Kane. The man was an employee, but he wasn’t terribly likely to turn them away, especially being an employee. There was a slight imbalance of power that Eben was loathe to take advantage of, but wouldn’t hesitate to do so if it kept Marlie and the baby safe.
With a destination in mind, he veered his course, since Robert lived on the other side of the city in a sketchy neighborhood. She was shivering in his arms, and he hated having to put her through another flight. He should have been better prepared for them to find her.
In her own way, Marlie was as isolated as he was now that her mother had died. He was the obvious choice for her to turn to, especially if they had figured out he was the father of her baby. He should have known they would have found his home outside the city, and he should have taken her somewhere else right from the start.
Recriminations did nothing to change the situation, so he tried to focus on the present and keeping her safe. He flew as fast as he could, but it still took almost two hours to reach Robert’s neighborhood. Dawn was just streaking the sky purple and orange when he scanned the area in search of an alleyway that was deserted. He found one about a block from Robert’s place. He had never been there before, but he had perfect recall when it came to numbers, and it hadn’t taken more than half a second to remember Robert’s address.
Once in the alley, he set her down carefully, and she grimaced at her lack of shoes. He couldn’t blame her, because the idea of standing in the filthy alley without shoes made him a little queasy. He quickly shifted back to his human form and took the sweater she’d slipped off. It was still immodest, but better than parading through this neighborhood stark naked.
As soon as he was dressed, he picked her up so she wouldn’t have to walk. He didn’t want her stepping on broken glass or something filthy. He was gratified when she didn’t protest and in fact curled closer, putting her arm around his shoulder and curving against his body to make it easier to carry her.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“Robert Kane lives near here.”
She nodded. “How’s Timmy?”
Eben blinked. “Who?”
She frowned up at him. “Timmy, his son? He needed a liver transplant.”
Eben blinked, shocked to learn such an important detail. “I didn’t know.”
She scowled at him. “Robert has worked for you for four years, and you didn’t know about his son?”
Eben shrugged a shoulder. “He never mentioned him to me.”
She looked like she wanted to argue for a moment, but then she sighed. “No, he probably didn’t. He probably thought you wouldn’t care.”
Eben flinched. “Of course I would care. I would have helped him if I could.”
She rolled her eyes. “Honey, you don’t exactly give off that vibe, especially to your employees.”
He was wounded by her words, but he couldn’t exactly refute them. She was right. He maintained cold distance between himself and Robert. The man still called him Mr. Meiser, for goodness sake. No wonder Robert hadn’t bothered to share his troubles. Eben added it to the list of things he needed to change when this situation was resolved.
He pressed the buzzer on the building labeled as the Kane residence. There was no answer the first time, so he pressed again, holding it longer this time. There was a crackle in the speaker a moment later, and Robert
’s tired voice answered. “Hello?”
“Robert, it’s me, Eben Meiser. Will you let us in?”
There was a brief hesitation, and then the door beeped. “You can come in.” Robert cleared his throat. “I’m in apartment 4B, and the elevator doesn’t work.”
Eben slipped inside, nudging the door closed with his foot, and it automatically locked behind them. He strode to the stairway, ignoring Marlie when she tried to pull away. “Be still, and it’ll be easier to carry you.”
“I can walk up the stairs, Eben.”
He just shook his head. “You aren’t wearing shoes.” And he didn’t want to let go of her. It wasn’t all strictly protective instincts kicking in. He simply enjoyed holding her in his arms again. She was a welcome weight as he traversed the four flights of stairs before arriving at Robert’s door.
His employee stood in the entry, the door already open and waiting. He seemed nervous, and his eyes grew even wider when he saw Marlie in his arms. He closed his eyes for a moment and murmured something that even Eben’s hearing couldn’t detect. Then he stepped back with a slump of his shoulders, opening the door wide to let them in.
Once they were inside, Eben set Marlie on her feet, nodding to Robert. “Thank you. It’s a long story, and the fewer details you know, the safer you’ll be, but we appreciate this.” He glanced down ruefully. “I don’t suppose you have some sweatpants or something I could borrow?” Robert was at least fifty pounds heavier and six inches shorter, so sweatpants seemed about the only option that might work for him.
Robert nodded and hurried down the hallway after waving them toward the living room. He returned less than a minute later and thrust a pair of black pants at Eben.
Eben quickly slid them on as Marlie took a seat on the couch. She smiled up at Robert as she put a hand on her stomach. “How’s Timmy?”
“He’s doing well. He’s handling his new liver without any sign of rejection.” The words should have caused Robert to be happy, but he just looked morose.
Morose changed to miserable when his gaze settled on Marlie’s stomach, and he shook his head. “You have to leave.”
Eben couldn’t help glaring at Robert as he inserted himself in front of Marlie, blocking his employee’s view. “It isn’t safe out there for her.”
Robert shook his head. “You don’t understand. It isn’t safe for her here, either. I had to call them. They told me that if I heard from you at all, I had to call and tell them. I didn’t have a choice.”
A sense of foreboding swept through Eben, but he wanted details before he jumped to the obvious conclusion. “Who?”
“Peretti. He knows Marlie went to you, and he knows I’m connected to you, so he reached out to me and made it clear that if you showed up, I was supposed to keep you here until they arrived.” He looked pained when he looked at Marlie, moving slightly so he could meet her gaze when Eben tried to block him from doing so. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were having a baby. If I didn’t owe them so much, I never would have done this.”
Marlie was clearly a lot more understanding than he was. “I understand, Robert. How much do you owe them?”
“A couple million.”
Eben shook his head. “How could you get into the mob for that much money?”
“Timmy’s transplant was expensive, and—”
“The firm provides excellent insurance, and I would have helped you pay for anything it didn’t cover. Why didn’t you come to me, Robert?”
Robert’s shoulders sagged. “I would have, Mr. Meiser. Believe me, I would have bargained with the devil himself, and I did, to save my son. The problem is, Timmy has an unusual blood type, and he also has an underlying health condition that doesn’t make him a candidate for a transplant the usual way.”
He looked up at Eben, his misery and shame clear. “Do you understand what I’m telling you, sir? Peretti had a way to make the surgery happen. I didn’t ask questions on how they got the donor. The only thing I know for sure is the person didn’t die, because you can lose half your liver and still survive. I don’t know if the gift from the donor was done willingly for money, or if they stole the liver. Frankly, I care more about my kid than I do some stranger, so I didn’t ask. But for a favor of that magnitude, Peretti owns the rest of my life. He’ll probably kill me for warning you, but I can’t see letting Miss Marlie and her baby be hurt. That’s why you need to leave right now.”
Cursing, Eben bent down and lifted Marlie into his arms again. “I’m going to help you get out of this if I can, Robert, but first I have to keep her safe.”
He froze when he heard feet on the stairs. Marlie and Robert clearly hadn’t detected their presence yet, but he had. “Robert, go into Timmy’s room and stay there. Don’t come out, no matter what you hear. They’ll follow us instead of bothering you, I’m sure.”
Without arguing, Robert went down the hallway and disappeared into Timmy’s room. Eben rushed to the balcony, setting her down by the sliding door. As quickly as possible, he stripped off his sweater and borrowed sweatpants, handing them to her. “Don’t drop these this time.”
Her cheeks bloomed at the gentle teasing, and he was pleased with the result. A moment later, he shifted after stepping out onto the fire escape. She stepped out the small doorway and joined him, settling against his scales without a hint of hesitation. She had clearly gotten over any fear she had of his shifting. “Now what?”
There was only one place else he could think of, and he flew in the direction of Gabe’s townhouse in Brooklyn. It was lighter than it had been when they’d reached Robert’s home, and he could only hope it being early Christmas morning would keep most people inside and unaware of him flying with Marlie in plain sight, since she couldn’t camouflage.
***
Forty minutes later, he knocked on the door after quickly donning the clothes Marlie held out to him. It was in a nicer neighborhood, but he was surprised to see no buzzer. Gabe came to the door a moment later, frowning at Eben for a moment before his expression cleared. “Uncle Eben?”
His heart skipped a beat. “Yes.” He shook his head. “I’m surprised you remember me. It’s been so long.”
Gabe shrugged. “Mom has pictures everywhere, and she still talked about you.” Gabe frowned at him, bringing a hint of maturity to his otherwise fairly young face. “She used to tell me she didn’t think you were a lost cause just yet. She used to say you’d eventually figure out what the real treasure was, and that I should treat you like family when you did.”
Eben swallowed the lump of moisture in his throat. “That sounds like something Susan would say.” She was one of the few people who knew about his dragon-shifter status, having walked in on him when he had lost control during a shift early on at the orphanage. She hadn’t freaked out, and after that, Susan had been his ally in helping him hide his new state. They’d already been friends, but they had been bonded and become family after that. He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here for her during the last of it. I didn’t hear about how sick she was until after she’d already passed.”
Gabe shrugged. “I’ll bet you were the anonymous donation that came after her funeral.”
Eben didn’t deny it, but he wasn’t going to take credit for it either. Sending a check after Susan’s death had seemed like the coward’s way out, but he hadn’t had it in him then to approach Gabe and try to make up for the past. Writing a check had assuaged his own guilt, though it had probably done nothing to help Gabe, aside from easing some of his financial worries.
Abruptly, he realized they were still standing on the doorstep, and he stepped across the doorway and entered the house. Gabe closed the door behind him, and he turned to the young man with regret. “I’m sorry I’m not here strictly to make amends. I need your help, and it isn’t fair to burden you with this after so many years of silence, but I don’t have a choice.” He tilted his head down to Marlie as he set her on her feet. “I need your help to take care of her and our baby.”
Gabe straightened his shoulders that were still somewhat thin. He clearly had a few more years of growth ahead of him, but he had to be at least nineteen or twenty by now. “How can I help, Uncle Eben?”
“I need you to keep her safe while I go deal with something.”
“Sure,” said Gabe.
At the same time, Marlie burst out with, “No. You aren’t facing them alone.”
Eben put a palm on her cheek. “If I don’t deal with this now, it will just get worse. I promise you, I’ll come back to you.”
She shook her head. “I’m not some damsel in distress. I can help you.”
He shook his head. “Not right now. If you weren’t expecting our baby, I’d be happy to have you beside me.” That was a lie, because he would have worried about her the whole time, but he wouldn’t have refused to take her with him if the baby hadn’t been part of the picture. “Your job right now is to take care of her, and my job is to take care of both of you. You know I can handle them. I have a certain unique ability that will assist me.” He tap-danced around the shifter issue, not certain if Susan had ever shared that information with Gabe.
She looked irritated, but finally nodded. “I still don’t like being rescued like this.”
He leaned forward and bent down to press a kiss to her nose. “You can rescue me next time. I’m sure to need it. Stay safe, and I’ll be back to you as soon as I can.”
She grasped handfuls of his sweater and dragged him closer. “You’d better come back. Promise me, Eben?”
He nodded. “I promise, and I’ll never leave you again. I’ll never drive you away either.” He pressed a hard kiss to her mouth, wishing he had time for more, before stepping back.
He slipped from the townhouse a moment later, shed his clothes, and shifted. He hooked a claw through his pants and sweater, clutching them tightly as he lifted into the air. He didn’t know how to find Peretti, but he knew how to get to the business owned by Anderson and formerly Wang, and he’d let the mobster come to him.