Striding the rest of the way to the doors, I pushed them open for Elias to walk through. The receptionist stood, but I just nodded at her. “Thank you for your help.”
We nodded and smiled at the people waiting and made for the exit with our heads held high. I could see Axoular standing beside a cab with the back door open.
“Sir!” a man shouted behind us.
“Go,” I whispered. “I’ll distract him and follow on one of the bikes.”
I turned to face the man that yelled. “Yes?” I replied pleasantly.
“You can't take a patient from the hospital. Stop them!” Two men ran out of a door on our right. I turned to stop them, but Elias already had Riley in the cab.
“I think you’ll find we can. Who are you?” I asked.
“My name is Dumadi, and you’ll regret taking my grandchild from me.”
I looked around the waiting room full of humans, my blood boiling. I turned my back to the room and faced the Shapeshifter, who I was sure was the one that kidnapped Riley. Baring my considerably sharp teeth, I did my best to send panicked feelings toward him. I’d never tried my gift in reverse. I could only hope it would work.
“I'll kill you one day soon, Shapeshifter. You stole what is mine, and for that, you'll suffer.”
His eyes widened, and his neck pulsed. For the first time in my life, I wanted to use my teeth to rip his jugular from his body. I’d been told it could happen, the desire to kill a human and feast on their blood, but I’d never experienced such savagery in myself.
I turned, confident he wouldn’t follow. He was sufficiently cowed, even if it would only last a few more moments.
The cab pulled away from the curb as I exited the hospital. Our bikes were close, so I jogged over and hopped on. I was soon behind the cab, head swiveling as I searched for a tail.
Elias must have told the cabbie something to make him take a crazy route back to the house because he surely took us down every side street they had. It took us nearly two hours to get back, but I was confident we weren’t followed.
Axoular jumped out of the car, then turned back to get Riley. Elias made sure she was steady in his arms, then reached back in to pay the man. I hurried toward the house behind Axoular. Cindy met us at the door.
“I’ve got the portal open. It took you so long I packed everything I could find that I was pretty sure was yours. I already took the bags through. The portal is opened straight to your bedroom at home.
We rushed through the house. I didn’t even bother looking to see if we’d left anything. We hadn’t taken anything important enough to waste time searching for. Axoular and Riley were the first through, then Elias, then me, and finally, Cindy.
Only when I spotted the dark red walls of our bedroom did I take a deep breath. We were home.
Riley
My eyes hurt and my bladder spasmed so much I was afraid I’d piss myself. To add insult to injury the baby kicked it. I grunted. “What happened?”
Anthony and Elias slept together on my left and Axoular on my right. The sound of my voice jolted them from their sleep and all three hovered over me, asking how I was, faster than my fuzzy mind could handle. “Give me some room to breathe, guys.” They looked as bad as I felt. Axoular had black circles under his eyes, and Anthony and Elias were extra pale. Elias’s blonde hair made his pale skin look worse. Anthony’s hair was a mess.
The baby danced a jig on my bladder again. “I gotta pee.” I tried to sit up and found all my muscles were weak and sore. “I could use a little help.”
To their credit, they treated me with a velvet touch, but all three of them helped at once. I was—carefully—helped to stand beside the bed closest to the bathroom, but three men gently pushing me forward served to propel me forward. Elias was the fastest and caught me.
“I can’t wait to be my limber, only occasionally clumsy self again,” I grumbled as I waddled my tired, achy body toward the bathroom.
“She’s a little grumpy.” I stifled a laugh. I was pretty sure it was Elias’s voice whispering through the bathroom door. My hearing had been improving over the past few months, I assumed because of my Sárkány side waking up.
You’re being mean. They missed you and were terrified.I finished my business on the toilet and opened the door. “I want to shower, okay?” I smiled at them waiting just outside the bathroom door.
Axoular leaned in and kissed my cheek. “What do you want to eat?”
Sighing, I couldn’t think of a single thing that sounded good. “Whatever you feel like making. Thank you.” I grabbed his face and placed a soft kiss on his lips. He smiled as he turned and walked from the room.
Leaving the door open, I turned the water on and let it warm while I brushed my fuzzy teeth.Gross.
“How do you feel?” Elias asked.
