“I’m going to put the car in the garage,” I said, relocking the front door. “Be right back.”
“Cool.”
After hiding the car, I put a kitchen chair under the back door’s knob, then returned to Magnus. He sat with his eyes closed, his skin a grayish color I didn’t care for. I touched his brow with my fingers, instantly waking him.
“Sorry,” I murmured. “I don’t know what I’m doing, but I should maybe have a look at that hole in your back.”
“Knock yourself out.”
I helped him remove his coat from around his shoulders, and, as he leaned forward, I took the bloody cloth from his wound. “It stopped bleeding.”
“Good news.”
The area around the hole looked bruised, swollen, and angry. “Can you move your arm?”
He managed to lift his left arm a few inches before the pain stopped him. “Maybe the bullet didn’t break anything.”
“All we can do is hope you’ll heal even if it fractured a bone,” I said. “Being a dragon should help that. We tend to heal fast.”
“And the bullet?”
I tried to peer into the wound but saw nothing except black blood. “I can’t see it, and I’m not digging for it.”
Magnus leaned back and took my hand. “Docs don’t always take bullets out. Only if there’s a problem with leaving it in.”
I crouched beside his chair, looking into his haggard face. “I have to get supplies. Food, water, something to clean that wound with. Blankets or sleeping bags, maybe air mattresses. But I don’t want to leave you here alone.”
“I’ll be okay.”
“Not if some yahoo decides he wants this house. You’re a pushover in this state.”
“Secrecy is the key, Jade. No one knows we’re here. You’re right. We need stuff.”
I bit my lip, not liking to leave him. But I had little choice. “I should be back in a few hours. If I don’t come back –”
“I’ll shift and fly in search of you. Don’t worry. I’m just going to sit here and maybe sleep.”
“Okay.”
Leaving by way of the garage, I backed the car out, then closed the heavy garage door. I saw no sign of anyone interested in making that house their own. In fact, I saw no one as I drove out of the neighborhood. Dark gray clouds hung over the city and the mountains, making me hope for another storm to cover the car’s tracks.
First, I stopped at a branch of my bank, and asked for both a temporary card and a statement. The statement left me breathless. “F-five million dollars. Oh my God.”
“Is there a problem?” the manager asked.
“Uh, no. Sorry.”
“Here’s your temporary card. Your permanent card will be sent to you in the mail.”
I smiled. “That’ll be great, thanks.”
At a sporting goods store, I bought sleeping bags, air mattresses, a camp stove with propane, a couple of thick wool shirts for Magnus, a heavy winter coat, a pair of good belt knives. As I shopped, I kept a watch for anyone who might be following me.
I saw nothing and no one that seemed out of the ordinary.
After stowing my purchases in the car’s trunk, I stepped around to open the driver’s door.
A black Chevy SUV eased into the parking lot and stopped a short distance away.
