Chapter 10
Anthony
“It’s time for me to get a place,” I announced at breakfast on Saturday morning. “Well, move into my place.”
I’d been working on it all week; I just hadn’t had the nerve to tell my parents.
There was an old stone house on the outskirts of clan land that I’d purchased years ago.
I knew I’d need to move home eventually, and when the property had come available, bordering my parents’ large acreage, I’d jumped on it.
Over the years, I’d rented the house out to clan members.
When my tattoo had flared up again when I moved home, I started the process of helping the current tenant find another place to live.
And now they’d vacated, the cleaner had come through, and it was ready for me to move in.
I was more than ready. My mother was about to drive me insane asking about Skye. And every time she did, Dad stiffened and cleared his throat, changing the subject.
“Skylar and I shared a moment,” I said after my mother asked me about Skye for the hundredth time this morning.
Dad sighed, again, so I kept going to get all the news out at once. “And I’ve arranged to move into my house. It’s ready for me.”
They knew what it meant. My bond with Skye was growing. At this point, there was no ignoring it whatsoever. The more time I spent with her, the more my feelings grew and intensified.
And this son of a bitch burned.
What came next was unavoidable, not that I wanted to avoid it, anyway.
It was time to deepen the bond and pray that she reciprocated my feelings.
If she were a dragon, we’d likely already have been mated.
I would’ve given her my bite and that would’ve been that.
But she was human and sinking his fangs into her neck just wasn’t going to fly.
There was no precedence for telling a human about us, not that I’d found so far, anyway. As far as I’d seen, it hadn’t happened.
“Well, I’ve got most of my things packed, and arranged for the rest to be brought from storage. I’ll head over after breakfast. Let’s arrange a clan fly for anyone available this afternoon?”
Dad nodded with his attention on his breakfast. “Did you contact the witch?”
His gruff voice irritated me. He’d been in a foul mood since I came home, nearly.
Definitely since I announced my intentions for Skylar.
I ignored his tone and answered his question.
“Sammy is free this afternoon. That’s what made me want to see if anyone can meet.
Though, I’d like to try the bluffs behind my new house.
It’s a great spot, if I recall correctly. ”
Mom cut her eyes at Dad. “Okay, darling. I’ll make the calls. Say four?”
After swallowing my last bite of French toast, I gulped down my juice and headed upstairs.
I didn’t have all that much stuff here at my parents’ house, a few books and clothes.
I got it together quickly. Mom was in the foyer when I brought down the last suitcase.
“You know,” she said. “You lived away from home for so many years. Now that you’re leaving again, I find I’m upset about it. I don’t want to see you go.”
I set my last suitcase down and put my arms around my mother. “At least this time I’m just down the driveway. Not several states or countries away.”
She laughed. “You’re right. And you still hate doing laundry, I’m sure. You’ll be back.”
After giving her a squeeze, I jaunted out to my car, in a great mood.
By the time the first of the clan members began pulling up in their various vehicles, I had my suitcases unpacked and had explored the house. It was the first I’d found time to get out there since coming home.
I spent most of my afternoon going around and ordering random items I knew I didn’t have in storage, like a plunger, mop, and dishwasher tablets.
It would all be delivered in two days’ time. In the meantime, I’d make do and hope I didn’t need the plunger.
A handful of clan members turned up along with my mom and dad.
It was a nice number to try out flying from my new place.
“Welcome,” I called when Sammy walked up.
She was so petite that I was lucky I didn’t overlook her so far away.
She nodded her head, and her short black hair didn’t move.
She’d had it cut close to her head, shorter than I’d seen it last time.
She smiled and waved as she opened up her lawn chair.
I made a mental note to order something special for her when I got back inside.
The woman was a saint for looking out for us.
When she waved again, I knew we were protected, so I addressed the crowd.
“I don’t have any news, so we can get started! ”
After everyone murmured their assent, I grinned and shifted before launching myself off the cliff.
It was an even more secluded spot to fly.
Our normal location had a small beach at the bottom of the cliffs.
On hot summer days, we liked to fly down to the beach and enjoy the privacy of a spot otherwise only reachable by boat.
These bluffs had only rocks and more ocean beating against them at the bottom.
Soaring through the salty air, I marveled at the feeling of bonding with a clan again.
I’d missed this in Boston. Flying had been a few and far between experience, reserved for when the local clan alpha remembered to shoot me a text and invite me to join them.
I tried shifting in my home a few times, just to take the edge off, but it was less than satisfactory without taking to the air.
Flying with a strange clan had been a bit like eating a peanut butter sandwich when I craved steak. It filled me up and did the trick, but this, being with my clan and family, this was steak. Steak and shrimp.
If I could add my mate to the flight, that would be the whole meal.
I’d be sated. I lost myself in the journey, banking and diving, using the water, and playing with my clanmates.
I even tried diving into the ocean, which was not as fun as I thought it would be, and I remembered only after trying it that the last time I’d done it, I’d said never again.
Hopefully, the next time I got a hair up my ass to try it, I’d remember.
When the sun dipped below the horizon, reflecting off the water, I glided back in and landed in the large open swath in front of my new-old house.
As I shifted back, everyone else landed around me.
I turned to Sammy, who had stood and folded her lawn chair.
She waited for the last person to shift back before giving me another wave and walking down the lane.
I never asked how she got here, but I’d also never seen her car. The woman was a mystery in a tiny package.
It took nearly an hour to tell everyone goodbye. They all stopped to shake my hand, and after giving my mother a big hug goodbye, it was just me and Jace. “Well,” he said. “I better go relieve the little shit at the bar. He’s probably burned the place down by now.”
I chuckled and shook his hand, then watched as he climbed in his car and drove away.
The sun had long since set, and the moon was rising higher and higher in the sky. I walked slowly toward the house, happy to see the outside lights worked, and came on as soon as I was in range. One thing to tick off my to-do list: Checking the motion sensor lights.
As soon as I went in, I headed for the shower.
Taking my time under the hot water, I thought about the flight and wondered if it would ever be possible for Skye to fly with me.
Would my bite turn her? As I soaped up and rinsed off, the possibilities of what might happen once I bit her ran through my mind for the hundredth time.
It all came down to uncertainty. There was no telling what my bite would do to a human. None whatsoever.
As I toweled at my hair and stood dripping in the bathroom, my cell phone chirped in the next room. When I dried, I wrapped the towel around my waist and tied it off to go see who had texted me.
It was Jace. Skye is here at the bar with her friend Kaylee.
I picked up the phone and replied. So?
His reply came first with several emojis indicating booze and laughter. Kaylee is wild. They’re likely to get tanked. Thought you’d want to come to play bodyguard.
Seconds later, he followed up with, You enjoy playing bodyguard.
Well, he wasn’t wrong about that. I didn’t need telling twice. Without hesitation, I threw the towel and got dressed, thanking my mother for drilling neatness into me as a kid. If I hadn’t unpacked earlier, I’d be searching now for something to wear and wasting precious time.
Clad in jeans and a tee, I grabbed my leather jacket and hopped in the car.
Even though my place was a good drive outside town, I got there in no time.
As soon as I walked in, I knew exactly where Skye was, at a table near the center of the room.
But I purposely didn’t look over there. Instead, I headed for the bar with every cell in my body sure that Skye’s gaze was on my back.
“Thanks,” I muttered as I sidled up to the bar.
Jace chuckled and nodded toward their table. “I was right to call you; she might really be needing a bodyguard soon.”
I chanced a glance in their direction, and sure enough, Skye’s gaze was glued to me. I gave her a quick head nod, but even as fast as I looked away, I didn’t miss the line of colorful shots in front of each of them.
“They come in now and then. Sometimes they go next door.” Jace set a longneck in front of me. “I always make sure both of them get home safe when they come here.”
I picked up the beer and tipped it his way. “I owe you for that.”
He waved me off. “You’d do the same.”
As a matter of fact, he was right. I would’ve done that for any female that I came across who was too intoxicated, and most men, for that matter. But I didn’t say that. I still appreciated what he’d done all these years while I was away.