Anything to not be near that vehicle right now.
“He’s on his way,” Odem said as he slid his phone into his pocket then ran his hand up and down my back. “Ionus is coming too and bringing Baird.”
The fierce older man was a wee bit terrifying to look at, despite his age, which meant I felt nothing but relief at hearing that. I couldn’t shake the feeling of wrongness whenever I glanced outside, grateful when the sheriff showed up and began inspecting the vehicle with a mirror on a stick that he held beneath it.
I turned over my keys to Odem, who took them out to the sheriff so he could get under the hood and in the truck. Funny, but the longer I sat there watching him at work, the clearer memories became of being worried about that car long before it had crapped out on me.
They’re not going to find it that way.
The voice in my head shocked me less this time than it usually did, or maybe it was just that I was finally growing accustomed to having my dragon speak to me.
They need to take it apart.
The shop just did that.
The shop fixed what was broken, they didn’t take it apart. They need to take it apart. It’s the only way they’ll find it.
If you know there is something to find, why don’t you just tell me where it is so I can tell them and they can get it out of there!
Where it is now isn’t where it will be in a little while. They need to take it apart, somewhere secure. Tell them that, and to have fire handy. As for what they are looking for, you can not freak out if I share it with you.
I don’t like you right now.
Human, you are not going to like what I show you either, so I need your word that you will remain calm and not fly off the handle in public, again.
Huffing, I stared around the shop at all the cute things I had yet to buy and nodded.Fine. Just get it over with.
The image that suddenly swam up from the dark corners of my mind, was of a large, sightless leech, about four inches long, it’s once white coloring streaked with oil and grit. There would be egg cocoons by now. The car would be riddled with them. The leeches, raised by one of the elders in my former community, were used to extract…oh-no-no-no, I did not want to remember the way they used those leeches, but Larkin had to be warned.
Bolting from the bench threw me off balance, but a display rack caught me, sending dozens of pretty binky clips to the ground. We’d forgotten to get any, and we’d need them, according to the books I’d read. Lost pacifiers could be extremely stressful for the little ones who were attached to them, or should have been, so they wouldn’t have gotten lost. I’d make sure to get several, and a decorative box to keep them in, but only after I warned them about what my dragon had told me.
They were going to think I was insane.
One of my eggs was poking in a very uncomfortable spot, meaning I waddle walked out there very aware that I needed to pee on top of everything else.
“My um…” I stammered, when Odem spotted me and hurried to my side. “…dragon says there is a gross ass leech in the car somewhere laying eggs in cocoons and that the car needs to be taken apart to find it. He also says to have fire handy, since the leeches…why are you staring at me that way!”
I stomped my foot and instantly regretted it, because now I really needed to pee and he was looking at me like I’d grown a second head.
“Just tell them to take it somewhere safe, find the leech and burn the eggs,” I snapped as I turned right back around to waddle run back into the shop and straight to the restroom I’d spotted earlier.
Oh, blessed relief.
Pokey eggs were no fun.
Odem was waiting for me outside the door when I came out, a concerned look on his face, Ionus peering over his shoulder. I held up my hand before he could say anything.
“We need to talk, again, yes, I know,” I said, “But there are two things I will have to buy first.”
Without another word to them, I walked far more comfortably back into the room, collected several binky clips from the rack the owner had just finished restoring to order, paid for them, and headed out the door.
I could hear them whispering as they followed me three doors down, but if I was going to take another deep dive into the horrors buried in my head, I was going to reward myself first. The giant slushie sign had caught my eye when we’d parked, and I’d skimmed the flavor list as we headed to the clothing store, spotted tangerine and felt happy bubbles in my belly, almost like the twins were giggling.
“Could I have a tangerine slushie?” I asked when it was my turn at the counter. “The largest size you have, please.”
“Sure thing,” she said, and turned away to make it.
I could feel the presence of my mate and his brother like a giant wall at my back, brimming with frustration and amusement. The amusement came from Odem, while Ionus grumbled beneath his breath the whole time we waited for my slushie.
