by Zoe Chant
She set off briskly ... then somewhat less briskly. Walking through the field was bad enough, but once she got on the road and settled into a steady pace, she began to realize that she was going to be in a world of hurt if she walked too far on shoes that didn't quite fit her, especially carrying a baby.
Damned if she was going to stop now, though.
Darius arrived at her elbow. "I'll carry Skye," he said, somewhat subdued.
Loretta handed her over, and devoted most of her energy to trying not to limp.
"Are you limping?"
... Dammit.
"These shoes aren't quite the right size for me," she said. "They belong to Elvie. It's okay. I'll be fine."
"You certainly will not." Darius stopped and looked around, and then he smiled. She'd never seen a look like that on his face before. It was a conspiratorial smile, almost boyish; it sent a bolt of heat straight through her middle. "I have an idea. Come this way."
They left the road, crossed a weed-filled field, and entered the edge of the trees. Darius looked around carefully, then handed Skye back to Loretta.
"Darius ... if walking on the road is hard for me, I don't think it's going to be easier here."
"You don't have to." With that, he bent over and shifted, and settled to the ground.
It was easier this time, climbing onto his back with a baby in one arm; she seemed to be getting used to it. Once she was settled, Darius set out at a slow, rolling trot. They glided through patches of sun and shadow, the river occasionally glimpsed through the trees.
"It's all woods on this side of the river," Darius explained. "There's a wildlife sanctuary and a park. We will still have to walk a block or so away from the river when we reach your building, but it won't be nearly so much of a hike."
"Thank you." She laid a hand on the warm scales of his neck.
"I could even carry you in my arms for that last block. It would be no trouble."
His voice sounded teasing, but she could imagine it so easily, his strong arms supporting her, pressed against his broad chest. She had to force herself to stop daydreaming about it. "Don't push your luck, buddy," she said in a voice that wasn't half as stern as she wanted it to be.
***
She was only limping a little by the time they reached her apartment building after walking from the river; Darius, without saying anything, had carried Skye and taken it slowly for her. Those moments of kindness, of thoughtfulness, continued to surprise her—little flashes of a kinder, more considerate person hidden under the cool facade.
She was dreading what the building would look like, prepared for nothing more than a blackened pile of ashes, but it was still intact. There was some visible fire damage around some of the downstairs windows, but not the wholesale disaster she'd been fearing. Yellow caution tape had been strung across the doors, and there was still a fire truck parked in the lot and a few people in hardhats around, checking off items on clipboards or poking around the building. An investigation team, Loretta guessed as she picked her way through soot-streaked puddles and foam in the parking lot.
Darius stopped near the building and scowled at it in furious silence for a minute or two. "I will make him pay for this," he murmured.
"Him?" Loretta asked. "Do you think it's arson?"
There was a moment's hesitation before he said, "I don't think the building would spontaneously catch fire, do you?"
"That building? I could believe it."
Darius opened his mouth as if to argue. Then he closed it and looked at the building again. She could see his gaze wander from the strip of weeds and gravel around the building where landscaping should be, to the peeling paint and the dumpster overflowing with trash. His expression darkened.
"This should not have been allowed to happen," he said quietly.
"Are you telling me you care about the humans who live here?" Loretta asked, challenging. "Other than me, I mean."
"I care about doing a job well. I care about keeping my things in good working order. I shall be inspecting my other buildings and finding a new property management service for them."
Loretta sighed. She was tired and her feet hurt, and she wasn't looking forward to seeing what condition her apartment was in. "Right now I just want to pack up my things."
"Yes. Of course." Darius handed Skye to her, and went to talk with one of the clipboard-holding men beside the fire truck. Loretta couldn't hear the conversation, though she could see that it became vehement at some points. It was clear they didn't want Darius going in the building, and equally clear that he had no intention of being dissuaded. Eventually he came marching back over to Loretta, looking satisfied, and gestured her onward. He held up the caution tape so she could duck under it.
"They said there are some structurally unsound parts of the building, so we should avoid anywhere that's marked with this tape."
Loretta nodded.
It was dark in the hallway; the power still seemed to be out. Darius produced a light with his phone, and by that light they made their way across the puddle-strewn floor. One end of the hall was taped off, and Loretta could see why. It was bad down there, the ceiling sagging and walls blackened. That was the end with the stairwell she'd tried to escape through. And if not for Darius ... but she refused to think of it.
They went up the other stairwell, which was pitch black inside. The entire building reeked of smoke. Loretta held Skye against her shoulder and tried hard not to think about concealed pockets of smoldering coals springing back to life, flames racing up the outside of the building—
She jumped when Darius's warm hand settled in the middle of her back. She hadn't realized she was that nervous. "Are you all right?" he asked softly.
"It's just ... hard. Being here."
"No harm will come to you here," he promised, holding the door to the hallway for her. "I will not allow it. If you need to leave, we can simply fly away."
That actually did help.
In the upstairs hallway, she looked up at the hole in the roof. She'd half thought that she was remembering wrong, that he couldn't possibly have done that, but the hole was even bigger than she remembered. Light streamed down into the hallway, and shattered ends of the roof's support structure jutted out unevenly. Strands of caution tape crisscrossed the hole, pointlessly as far as Loretta could tell. What were people going to do, fall up?
"You really did that to get to me," she said in wonder.
"You were in danger, my mate." His voice was matter-of-fact, as if there was nothing strange about it.
"How'd you know I was down here, anyway?"
"I just knew."
"You ... just knew."
"I could sense it," he said quietly. "From all the way at my lair, I could tell you needed me."
Loretta wasn't sure how to feel about that. Anyway, she needed to get this over with. Taking a calming breath, she pushed open the door to her apartment.
Aside from the stink of smoke and some puddles inside the open balcony doors, her apartment didn't seem to have suffered any damage. Everything looked just like she'd left it, and she couldn't get over how strange it was to think that not even a full day had passed. Mere hours earlier, she'd been going through her normal morning routine, having no clue that her life was about to change. The fork and plate for her breakfast cake still sat in the sink; her sunflower blouse and yellow stretch pants were laid out on the bed.
With great relief, she kicked off the borrowed shoes and slipped her feet into a pair of her own. Darius took Skye back and sat on the end of the bed, holding his granddaughter in his lap, while Loretta got a suitcase out of the closet and began to fill it with clothes and keepsakes.
"How much can I carry when I'm riding you?" she asked. "I can pack just the necessary things and come back again later."
"Take what you need." Darius absently jiggled Skye on his knee. "I wasn't planning to fly back. Maddox will drive down and pick us up."
As she took the children's cards off the refrigerator and put
them in a box, Loretta realized that they hadn't even talked about the possibility of getting a hotel for her, or finding somewhere else to stay. It was simply assumed, by both of them, that she'd be moving into Darius's mansion for the time being.
Well ... there was plenty of room. And it wasn't like he needed her to pay rent.
"Hush, child," Darius murmured as Skye's fussing escalated. "What is the matter with you?"
"She might be hungry, or need a diaper change," Loretta said over her shoulder. "Where's her bag?"
"Bag?" Darius said.
"Yes, you know, with diapers and baby food and such?"
There was a nervous silence.
"Darius."
"How was I to know? They didn't give me anything!"
As if on cue, Darius's pocket buzzed urgently. He sighed, handed the fussing baby to Loretta, and answered it.
"Yes, she's quite fine," he said, while Loretta tried to soothe Skye and determined by dipping a finger into her diaper that she did in fact need to be changed. "I don't know why you consider me incapable of taking care of a—Yes. I am entirely aware that babies need to be ... Yes. It is completely unnecess—Fine. 229 13th Street. Right."
He hung up.
"Skye's parents?" Loretta asked.
Darius sighed again, deeply. "The child's mother will be here in ten minutes or so. Have you packed everything you want?"
"For now, I guess."
Loretta carried Skye and swung a bag over her shoulder, while Darius effortlessly lifted the rest of her bags as if they weighed nothing, reminding her again how strong he was.
As they retraced their careful steps down the darkened stairwell, Loretta, lighting their way with her recovered phone, said flippantly, "I have to say, this is nothing like any date I've ever been on. You take a girl to the nicest places."
"Date?" Darius said, sounding startled. "No, oh no. This isn't—I didn't mean—" He cleared his throat. "I will take you to the finest restaurant in town to make up for this."
She had to laugh. "Darius, I'm joking, that's all. Sort of. I don't mind if this is our first date. It's charming and different. And so are you."
"I am fairly sure no one has ever described me that way before."
"Well," she said, her voice light, "I'm your mate, aren't I?"
This managed to fluster him enough not to say anything else all the way out to the parking lot.
A car was just pulling up to the barricade. Loretta had expected Darius's daughter-in-law to drive something expensive, but instead it was a small, rather beat-up Subaru. The horn honked sharply.
"How did you know I was in the city, woman?" Darius demanded as the car's driver hopped out. "Are you following me?"
"I called your manservant, or whatever he is. I tried calling you first, but your phone was out of area, so I assume you were a dragon and your phone was in limbo or wherever things go when you guys are shifted. Oh, hush, hush, sweetpea." She took the baby, who wrapped chubby arms around her neck. Skye's mother was a pretty young woman with light brown skin, a mop of short hair, and a T-shirt with a cat rescue logo on it. "I know, you're hungry, aren't you? Grandpa is a big meanie and didn't feed you."
"She's perfectly fine; I don't know what you're complaining about," Darius snapped.
"Yes, congratulations, Darius, you managed to achieve the most minimal of low bars for taking care of a baby." She freed up a hand from the squirming baby with parental expertise and held it out to Loretta. "I'm Tessa. I hear that you're Darius's mate. You have my deepest condolences."
"Hey," Darius said.
"I'm Loretta." They shook hands. Tessa had a firm grip.
"Do you two need a lift?" Tessa asked. "I just need to change her and get a bottle in her."
Even as she spoke, a sleek limousine pulled up behind her car. "Not at all," Darius said. "Our ride is here."
"Well, thanks for the babysitting, for whatever it's worth." Tessa reached out an arm, and Loretta was startled and then gratified to be pulled into a hug. "Give me a call if you need to. Me and Melody—that's Darius's daughter—have a kind of support group going. You'd be welcome to join it."
"Support group?" Loretta asked.
"For people having to deal with him." Tessa jerked her chin at Darius, who brushed at his soot-smudged jacket and tried to look dignified.
"He's all right," Loretta said, and was a little surprised to realize that she really meant it.
"You just have to keep him firmly in hand. Isn't that right?" Tessa kissed Darius on the cheek. "I like her. You should bring her to the cabin for dinner."
"Some other time," Darius said loftily. "My mate and I have plans for the evening."
"We do?" Loretta asked as they headed for the limo. Maddox got out before they got there and wordlessly held the back door for them. Loretta smiled and thanked him; Darius seemed to take it in stride.
"We most assuredly do," Darius said as they got arranged in the backseat, while Maddox stowed the luggage in the trunk. "I promised you a date at the best restaurant in town. I was entirely serious. Maddox!" he snapped as the big man got into the driver's seat. "Put in a call to Harrington's. We'll have a table for two at four-thirty. Cost is no object."
"On it, boss."
"I ... I don't know," Loretta protested.
"What's the problem? You must be getting hungry by now. If not, you will be in a couple of hours."
"Yes, but I feel so ..." She glanced down wordlessly at her gold skirt. It was a very nice skirt, nicer than almost anything she owned, but she didn't think it was nice enough for the kind of restaurant Darius considered fancy.
"Hmm. Well, that's no issue. We'll simply have to clothe you properly. Maddox!" Darius commanded. "When you've secured our reservation, take us downtown. My mate needs to shop."
Chapter Nine: Darius
With his admittedly limited understanding of women, Darius had always understood that shopping was one of the things they enjoyed, so he wasn't sure why his mate put up an initial fuss, even after he explained that he would be paying for everything.
She didn't flat-out say no, however, and that was how he ended up in the women's clothing floor of the downtown's biggest department store, getting treated to his mate trying on clothing.
Darius was wearing a clean shirt to replace the soot-smudged one; Maddox had silently and efficiently produced one from the limo's trunk. (Good man, Maddox. He might have the job skills and general appearance of mob muscle, but he could valet with the best of them when he put his mind to it.) Darius sat outside the dressing room as Loretta came out in a series of dresses of various colors.
"How does this one look?"
"Utterly captivating," Darius said. She had chosen an off-the-shoulder style with a purple skirt and hints of silver threads in the dark bodice. Her red hair was twisted up in a hasty knot to get it out of the way, exposing a great deal of lightly freckled neck and shoulder that it was taking all his self-control not to nibble on.
"You said the last one looked radiant."
"It did."
"And the one before was striking."
"It was."
Loretta let out a tiny sigh and swirled around, watching the skirt bell out around her legs. "It ought to! I made the mistake of looking at the price tag on this one. Did you know it's—" She leaned toward him and whispered, "Three hundred and fifty dollars!"
"You're right, it is far too cheap for my mate. See if you can find something more expensive."
"Darius!"
"I'm quite serious. Woman!" he barked at the attendant, waving a hand. "Fetch for her the most expensive dress you have."
The changing room attendant gave him a look as if she wasn't entirely sure he was serious, and then gave a small shrug and hurried off.
"Please!" Loretta frantically called after her, and scowled at Darius. "Be polite. These people don't work for you. And even if they did, you should still be polite to them."
"Don't worry, I shall compensate her handsomely for her time." Darius t
ook in another enjoyable look at his mate in her current dress. "With more time, I could have taken you to a custom dressmaker. You should have a style all your own, for you are entirely unique and your clothing should show it. But since off-the-rack is all we can manage for tonight, you must have a fine one."
"Darius, I bought my last dress at Walmart! And they were having a sale."
The attendant came back carrying two dresses on hangers. One was a basic black dress, sleek and sheer and gleaming; it looked expensive in the way a fast car might. The other ...
"Oh," Loretta breathed, and Darius knew in that instant that they'd found her dress.
It was champagne silk, sleeveless, the bodice ornately decorated with tiny seed beads of white and gold. Loretta took it reverently from the attendant and vanished in the changing room.
"You have done well," Darius murmured to the woman, slipping her five hundred-dollar bills with a casual flick of his fingers. He had promised his mate, after all.
The woman's eyes went very wide. "Uh ... we're not supposed to accept tips ... but if you insist, I guess ..."
"Darius?"
Loretta stepped out of the changing room somewhat shyly. The dress had been beautiful when she wasn't wearing it; now, as it hugged her full figure and enhanced the curve of her hips, it became sublime. The beads glittered when she moved.
"That is a dress fit for a queen," Darius murmured. Dragon queen, he'd almost said. Which of course she was, or at the very least a dragon's queen, but it wasn't as if he could say so in front of humans. "Woman attendant! Bring us jewels."
"We're a department store, sir, we don't have—"
"Or beads, whatever you do have. Something for her hair." The sight of Loretta's stocking feet peeking out from under the long skirt reminded him of something else. "And shoes! Expensive ones!"
The attendant rushed off, and Loretta plucked nervously at the skirt. "Darius, I don't know about this. This dress is incredible, I mean, I feel like a princess, but I'm going to be afraid to eat wearing it. Or go outside. Or breathe."