But will a visit to Fabian, if we can even find him, make things better? His dragon had a point. There was no telling if speaking to Fabian would make things better or worse. All he knew was that if they could not find Fabian, Kelos would tear the city down until they did.
“I wondered where you all were.” Joey stuck his head around the door and glanced around the room. “What did I miss?”
“A lot,” Mac replied.
“I know one thing I missed,” Joey said. “You found your mate.” He punched Kelos playfully on the arm. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” Kelos bowed his head.
“So now we’re one man down in our bachelor club. It’s just me and Shawn,” Joey joked but it was evident he’d like to find his own mate and leave the bachelor club for good.
“You’ll find your mate,” Kelos replied. “You deserve to find true happiness.”
“Is that what you’ve found?” Joey asked as he helped himself to a cup of coffee.
“With my mate, yes.” Kelos took a breath. “But my mate is in a situation and I need your help to get her out of it.”
“Then you have it,” Joey raised his coffee cup and took a slug of coffee. “Anything I can do to help, I’m there. After all, what have I got to lose?”
That had been Kelos’s mantra for so long. But now he had everything to lose.
I do not intend to lose anything, his dragon said.
Neither do I, Kelos agreed. But life was not always fair.
Chapter Eighteen – Amber
“Hi, Joey. It’s good to meet you.” Amber reached out her hand to Joey’s. Was that too formal?
Joey grinned and took her hand, shaking it briefly before pulling her into a hug. “I’m so happy Kelos met you. The old dragon has been waiting long enough for his mate.”
“Less of the old,” Kelos told him as he kept a wary eye on Joey and Amber. He was jealous, it was written all over his face as he watched his friend.
But then Amber probably would feel the same way if someone hugged Kelos. She might just have to beat them off with a stick.
“Joey, this is Margie.” Amber let go of Joey and stood back so he could meet the person he was here to protect.
“Margie. Never fear, I’m here to protect you.” Joey hugged her, too, much to Lauren’s and Elliot’s amusement. Lauren giggled behind her hand as she ate her spaghetti. “And you two must be Peter and Jenny.” Joey grinned as the children wrinkled their faces and shook their heads furiously. “No. I got it wrong. Derek and Penelope?”
“I’m Elliot and this is Lauren.” Elliot kicked his legs under the kitchen table with excitement.
“Oh, you guys are going to have so much fun.” Amber grinned at Margie’s disapproving expression.
“I think we might have to redefine fun,” Margie murmured as Joey pulled out a chair and sat down at the table with the children. After dinner, he was going to drive them all over to the sawmill where they would spend a couple of nights, before coming back to the house the day after tomorrow. Amber hoped to be back by then. Margie couldn’t wait and had repacked all their stuff within minutes of being told the news.
Luckily, Joey found her behavior amusing rather than insulting.
“I have shifter hearing…” Joey pointed to his ears, “I can hear everything you say.”
“Sorry.” Margie ran her fingers through her hair. For the first time since they’d arrived, she’d brushed her hair and applied makeup before picking out an outfit to wear. Amber suspected it wasn’t just the thought of a night in a home with a roof that didn’t threaten to leak. It was more of the prospect that they might bring Fabian back with them. If he agreed.
“That’s okay. You’ve been through a lot,” Joey reassured her. The guy certainly had an easy way about him and a healthy dose of boyish good looks and more than a smidgen of charm.
“I’m just worried…” She glanced down at the children. They had all agreed that they would keep the truth from the children. As far as Lauren and Elliot were concerned, Kelos and Amber were going on a date. An overnight date.
Joey got up abruptly from the table and went to Margie. “I’m here for you. As soon as you’re ready, we’ll head over to the sawmill and you can meet the Winter family,” he said.
“Thanks, Joey.” Amber truly appreciated Kelos’s friends helping them out.
“We’ll be just fine. You’ll be back before you know it. Hopefully with a surprise.” He arched his eyebrows and nodded.
“A surprise?” Elliot asked excitedly. His face was flushed pink after spending the day in the back yard and then helping Kelos finish laying the wood on the porch. Apparently, he had not used his inhaler once since he’d arrived. Shawn had examined him again briefly when he and Jane came over to help earlier, and he’d been hopeful that the inhaler might be a thing of the past. Or at least might only be necessary in an emergency.
“Yeah, a surprise,” Amber replied as she went to the children and kissed them both on the top of the head. “But if we tell you, it won’t be a surprise.”
“A secret surprise, even better.” Elliot thought for a moment. “Does the surprise contain chocolate?”
“You will have to wait and see.” Amber hugged Margie briefly and then took one last look at her family before she went outside with Kelos.
“Now we have to get a surprise,” Kelos grumbled as they walked across the back yard toward the gate which led to the trail where he would shift.
“I think Margie would like the surprise to be Fabian,” Amber told her mate as he grabbed her hand and led her through the darkness. “I don’t think, in this instance, that chocolate will make a good substitute.”
“Do you think he’ll come back here with us?” Kelos asked.
“I don’t know.” Amber had been asking herself the same question since they decided to go to Fabian. “I don’t even know if he’ll be pleased to see us.”
“He will.” Kelos stopped walking and turned to face her. “He’d do the same if it were the other way around, wouldn’t he?”
“Yeah, if he knew I might be in danger and hadn’t heard from me, he would leave no rock unturned until he found me.” She tilted her head back and looked up at Kelos. “I’m just scared. What if we don’t find him? What if he’s just disappeared?”
“No one just disappears.” He kissed her cheek and warmth flooded her veins. “We will find him. No matter what it takes.”
Amber nodded, keeping her greatest fear to herself. What if Fabian hadn’t just disappeared, what if he’d been murdered so that he couldn’t testify?
There was no use dwelling on what-ifs. She needed to concentrate on one step at a time. The first of those steps involved riding on the back of a dragon.
Excitement bubbled up inside her, but it was laced with fear. Flying over the mountains on his back was one thing but traveling all the way to the city was another. They would be exposed even though Kelos assured her they would avoid towns and villages on the way. And airplanes.
Amber looked up at the sky. Luckily, there was a good covering of cloud and the moon was mostly hidden, only peeking out for brief moments when the sky cleared.
“No one will see us,” Kelos assured her as he ducked under the tree branch and led her to the same clearing where he had shifted yesterday.
Was it only last night when they had swooped down deserted valleys and glided over the tops of the trees? It seemed like a different life. A carefree life.
“I know. You’ve done this before.” She smiled more for him than because she was happy.
“More than once.” He kissed her cheek once more and let go of her hand as he took a few steps away from her. Then he disappeared from the world, the air shimmered and crackled with static electricity as he faded away. She held her breath for a long moment, only letting it out when the big bulky outline of the dragon appeared in place of the human form of Kelos.
“Good evening.” Amber stepped forward and placed her hands on either side of the dr
agon’s face. He lowered his head and she kissed the small scales that covered his forehead. “Thank you for doing this.”
The dragon nodded and puffed tendrils of smoke from his nostrils. Not in the same happy teasing way he had last night but more to show his sympathy for her. The dragon might not be able to speak but his intuition was deep and profound.
“We should go.” She let go of him and he lowered himself down to the ground so that she could reach his leg. Placing her foot firmly on his foreleg, she boosted herself up, caught hold of his scales, and pulled herself onto his back in one fluid movement. “I think I’m getting the hang of this.”
The dragon swung his head around and studied her with his mesmerizing eyes. Only when he was content she was seated securely did he crouch down before springing into the air like a coiled spring.
She was ready for the rush of wind that swept her hair back from her face and tried to push her off the back of the dragon. Feeling like a professional dragon rider, she adjusted her seat and settled herself into a comfortable position. This was going to be a long flight. Maybe she should talk Kelos into getting a saddle made.
Perhaps asking the dragon to wear a saddle might be a little insulting and she scrapped the idea.
As Kelos’s dragon leveled his flight and skimmed the treetops, keeping low to the ground since there was still a glimmer of sunlight on the horizon, she relaxed. She might never get a chance to fly so far and for so long on the back of her dragon and she intended to make the most of it.
Her fear of heights faded when she rode on the back of her mate. He’d promised to keep her safe and she was certain that would include saving her if she fell from his back. Which she had no intention of doing, unless her hands cramped up. She flexed her fingers, realizing her deathlike grip might hurt him.
Tonight’s flight was slower, not exactly leisurely. More purposeful. As the miles rolled by beneath them and they left the safety of the mountains for the more urban areas that sprawled between them and their destination, their route became erratic. As the pinpricks of streetlights became bigger, the dragon would change direction, taking them off course to avoid the chance of being seen by people, before altering his course once more to head directly toward the city.
When the last rays of sun finally sank below the horizon, Kelos climbed higher in the sky, putting as much distance between them and the people below as he could. Which brought its own problems for Amber. The higher attitude meant cold air that chilled her skin even through her warm clothes. Her teeth chattered and she shivered as she clung onto Kelos. She would endure it if it kept him safe.
At last, in the distance, Amber could see a large glow of light. So many it was impossible to distinguish one from another. Their destination was in sight. Soon they would land and she’d grab a cup of coffee and warm her hands on it.
All she had to do was hang on while he found somewhere to land.
Her forehead creased. Where were they going to land and where they would not be seen? Would they have to land on the very edge of the city and get a ride to where they needed to go?
Kelos had done this before. He’d have a plan.
He did. It involved climbing higher where the air was thinner. Could the journey get any worse?
Amber closed her eyes and focused on breathing and not letting go of the horn between her hands. She trusted him. But had he ever carried anyone this high and this far?
Then they were falling. Amber opened her eyes. The dragon had tucked his wings in behind him and was dropping out of the sky fast, like an arrow shot from a bow. Before them was a dark area with few lights. A park. He was heading for a green space in the city that was likely deserted at this time of night.
Clever dragon. She smiled as the air became warmer and her lungs filled with much-needed oxygen. They were nearly there, and she tried not to dwell on the fact that she would likely have to make the same return journey. The steep drop would be a lot easier to handle than a steep climb. She might suggest that saddle after all.
He landed with his large talons outstretched, his claws dug into the dirt as he landed, tearing up large chunks of grass. With a backward sweep of his wings, he halted their forward momentum and brought them to a full stop.
Amber rolled her shoulders forward, her hands pressed against the horn to stop herself from flying over the dragon’s head. As he came to a stop, her momentum shifted and she grasped the horn tightly to stop herself from jarring her body as she was flung backward.
A safe landing. Amber glanced around, there was no one around as far as she could see, and she was certain Kelos would have used his senses to check that no one in the vicinity might see them. However, they needed to move fast just in case.
She swung her stiff legs over the side of the dragon and then slid down his shoulder, landing heavily on his foreleg before half jumping, half stumbling to the ground. Amber took a couple of steps away from the dragon, turning to face him as the air shimmered and he faded away. Almost instantly, Kelos’s human took the place of the huge winged creature.
Without pausing, he ran forward, hooked his hand under her elbow, and propelled her forward. “Let’s put some distance between us and here. If anyone did see anything, we need to be outside of the area.”
She nodded and ran after him, the feeling in her legs slowly returning as they hugged the edge of the tree line. They skirted a lake with a fountain spewing water up into the air and then slowed to a walk as they reached a wide, flat grassy area. If they were seen running here, they would look suspicious. Exactly how they did not want to appear.
“There’s a path.” Amber pointed to a wide stone pathway that wound through a shrubby border and then led to the entrance of the park.
Kelos slipped his arm around her shoulder and slowed his pace. If anyone took notice of them, they would only see two lovers taking an evening stroll. Amber leaned into him, her head resting on his shoulder and he tightened his hold on her, dropping a kiss on the top of her head.
“Are you okay?” Kelos asked as they reached the stone archway that framed the entrance to the park.
“Yes. I would kill for a coffee, though.” As they exited the park, she looked right and then left. “This way.”
“Can you smell the coffee, too?” he asked as they walked along the sidewalk toward a group of stores that had a steady flow of people going in and out.
“No, I just saw the people there and know people congregate around coffee shops.” She looked up at him. “Smelling coffee from a mile away is probably one of the greatest gifts a dragon could ever possess.”
“I have my uses.” He grinned and they hurried along the street toward the coffee house.
After grabbing two steaming cups of coffee, they stood in the street and took their bearings. Nothing looked familiar to Amber, but she’d only visited the part of the city where Fabian lived. Exploring a world filled with lots of people was not her thing. She preferred the wide-open space to wide-open streets.
“I have no idea where we are,” she admitted.
“It doesn’t matter,” Kelos assured her. “We don’t need to know where we are, we only need to know where we are going.”
“I need to call Fabian.” She nodded and pulled out her phone. Tapping the screen, she scrolled through until she found Fabian’s original phone number and pressed dial. “What happens if they trace the call?”
“Try to keep the call short. All you need to know is where he is and if we can go to him. But whatever happens, as soon as the call has ended, we move.” He looked up at the buildings surrounding them. “Cameras. This way.”
As Amber held the phone to her ear and listened to the ringing, he led her down a narrow alleyway. Kelos scanned the walls as they walked, only stopping when he was satisfied no cameras were watching them.
“There’s no answer.” She looked at her phone screen as the call went to voicemail and hit dial once more. “What if we’ve come all of this way for nothing?”
“We will have to w
ork smarter.” Kelos shrugged. “We can either give up and go home, or we can go to where you picked up Margie and the kids. From there we can try and figure out which direction they came from.”
“We don’t have a lot to go on. I met them at a café. I never went to the safe house. And Margie had no idea of the road name or anything. She only remembered a blue door,” Amber said as the phone went to voicemail once more. She was willing to go along with Kelos’s idea since it was better than nothing but if Fabian had been moved to another house, this would be a fruitless task.
“You’re forgetting my special talents.” He raised an eyebrow and grinned. “I’m confident I can sniff out the house.”
“What?” Her hand wavered and she had to focus on keeping the phone to her ear. “You think if we go to where I picked up Margie and the kids, you will be able to find where they came from?”
“Possibly.” Kelos chuckled. “I like your confidence in me.”
“It looks as if we might have to test that theory.” She put her phone in her purse and pulled out the piece of paper she’d written the address of the café on. “Let’s grab a cab and go to the café. We just better hope Fabian hasn’t been moved.”
“You trust me.” He sounded surprised.
“I do.” She wasn’t sure he’d be able to follow Margie’s scent back to the safe house, but she was going to let him try. There was little else to do other than drive around the city looking for a blue door.
They hurried down the street looking out for a taxi. After ten minutes, Kelos managed to hail one and Amber handed over the address.
“Did Margie mention anything else about the safe house other than a blue door?” Kelos asked quietly. “Any scents or sounds?”
“No.” Amber shook her head. “But Elliot did say something about smelling pizza. After I picked them up, he wanted to stop and get some.”
“Anything else?” Kelos asked.
“No. Maybe you should have asked them before we left,” Amber suggested.
Kelos: Spring (Shifter Seasons Book 4) Page 14