“They made contact, then the Shapeshifters sent a man named Ross to meet with them. He's like their prince or something.”
I rubbed my hand across my face, suddenly exhausted. “Dumadi?”
“They're looking for him. His son, Ross, says he's disappeared.”
“Of course, he has,” Axoular said. “He's insane, trying to steal a baby.”
“So, he could be anywhere, or Ross is hiding him.”
Anthony nodded.
“So where are the kids and I going? Do you have any more hidden properties like that one in Texas?”
“Actually, yes,” Elias said. “There's a flat in London, and another house close to here, in the mountains. And a beach house in Florida, a cabin in Aspen, a house in a tiny town in Ohio, and a house in a tiny town in North Carolina.”
Anthony continued, “And we have access to houses all over the world. Sort of like an Unseen timeshare program.”
“Well, what do you think? Where should we go after I give birth?”
“Probably as nondescript as possible. I'm thinking North Carolina,” Anthony said.
Axoular nodded. “I'll go with her. You're not likely to need me unless you want me to gather the Sárkány to fight.”
“I won't go before. I won't be without you two when I give birth.” They sure couldn't force me to go through that without them, in the name of safety.
“What if we all go until the birth? We can use a burner phone to make any contact we need with the Junta, then travel to New Zealand after to deal with Ross and whatever his solution to this mess is.”
“So, he maintains it's just Dumadi being crazy? They don't all want to steal my baby?”
“That's what he said,” Anthony walked around the rocking chair and put his hands through the rungs to rub my shoulders. “We will work it out, one way or another, Coya. I promise.”
Moaning from the massage, I almost didn't hear him. “I don't see how. How can we trust this Ross means well? His brother was Peter and his dad kidnapped me. He comes from a family of terrible people. And according to Peter, the Shapeshifters have been trying to kill the Sárkány for centuries.” I leaned into Anthony's hands. “We've picked a fine war to plop right in the middle of.”
“Hey,” Elias said, “You're the one that's a dragon and their mortal enemy.”
I swung my head around to Elias, ready to scrap, but he was grinning at me.
“You hush,” I said, shaking my head. “I won't be pregnant forever. I'll have this baby and then kick your butt.”
“I can't wait,” he said, blowing me a sarcastic kiss.
“So, North Carolina, then?” I asked the room at large.
“North Carolina,” Anthony and Elias said at the same time.
“I'm going to go sit in on lessons for a while and be near the kids,” I said. “You guys decide when we should leave, and I'll start packing. We're taking all the kids. They can have a vacation. Maybe we'll do some activities near the house.”
They all stood when I did, like old-fashioned southern gentlemen. I gave them a bemused look and waddled my way to the classroom.
The kids were sitting back down from lunch when I walked in, and Tammy hadn't returned yet. “Hey guys. What's going on?” I asked.
Stephen, Anthony's oldest, stood and pulled the comfy chair from the back of the room to a round table near the younger kids so I could help them with their math. “We're planning a shopping trip for this weekend,” he said. “There are some new CDs out I want to try.” I hadn’t shown him the marvel that was downloading music yet. I’d have to get to that.
“We?” I asked.
“Me and David.”
My Daniel shot out of his chair. “Why can't me and Charlie go?” Charlie nodded his head furiously, looking exactly like Elias. They were very close to the same age and had become fast friends when Daniel and David came to live in the manor. Stephen was thirty-four, a teenager by Supay standards, and David was only twelve, but they got along well and liked a lot of the same music and video games.
