5. Totally Not A Kidnapping
5
TOTALLY NOT A KIDNAPPING
Ivo panicked. He tugged the blanket more securely over Mary and tried to make sure none of her limbs were sticking out.
Ace stared, his forehead furrowed. “Did she...?”
“She, um, shifted,” Ivo squeaked. He threw himself into the backseat, trying to pretend that Mary’s animal form was larger than it actually was.
“What does she look like right now?”
Ivo’s heart thumped. “Um. Um, she’s... small. And black.”
Ace eyed the bundle in Ivo’s arms. After a moment, he smiled and closed the door on Ivo, sliding into the driver’s seat to start the car. “Sometime, you’ll have to let me see her shifted form.”
“Her other form is a—” Ivo glanced around to make sure there weren’t any eavesdroppers “—dragon.”
Ace’s eyes sharpened. “Oh? Where is her other... parent?”
Ivo shook his head. “Not around.”
Ace frowned. “I can’t imagine anyone who’d leave a—a child like that behind.”
“Or any child, really,” Ivo grumbled. “It was a one-night stand.”
“If you need any help with her...” Ace met his eye through the rearview mirror. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. You’re always welcome to come to me for help. No matter how difficult or inconsequential it sounds.”
Ivo gulped, looking down at Mary’s blanket. “Okay.”
He peered warily out of the window as Ace drove. Before this latest kidnapping, Ivo had never left Colorado. Now that he was in Cartfalls, Southern California, everything was new to him.
What he hadn’t expected, was for Ace to drive through some increasingly nice neighborhoods. Houses with large lawns transitioned into mansions surrounded by hedges. They drove down roads that were walled off on both sides by a mix of walls and hedges, giving the effect of moving through a maze.
Ace drove by a solid iron gate and honked once without stopping. “That’s where my twin lives.”
“Your twin?” Ivo squeaked. The property wasn’t even visible through the thick hedge.
“Raptor. You’ve met him.” Ace kept driving. The hedge never seemed to end... until they pulled up in front of another iron gate, identical to the one they’d just passed.
The gate rolled aside. As they passed through, magic swept over Ivo’s body—a protective barrier. Then they began driving up a long, winding driveway.
Did Ace... live here?
Halfway up the driveway, Ace stopped and cut the engine. In the distance sat a sprawling brick mansion, with several French windows dotting its walls. The rest of the land was covered in tall grass, trees, and—a little creek, like Ace had promised.
The creek ran from one side of the property to the other, where it passed under a hedge— Actually, the fourth hedge wasn’t even a complete wall.
Instead, its middle section had been removed to give access to the mansion next door. A low hedge maze had been planted between the two mansions, with a tiered stone fountain in the center of the maze.
“Wow,” Ivo breathed.
“Raptor visits me sometimes,” Ace said. “I’ll tell him not to bother you, but if you cross the line into his property, he’ll have every right to annoy you into pieces.”
“Okay.” Ivo was still staring open-mouthed when Ace opened the back door.
“C’mon, I’ll show you where you can nest.”
When Ace’s back was turned, Ivo made sure Mary was well-hidden in her blanket. Then he followed Ace onto the grass, kicking off his shoes so he could feel the soft greenery between his toes.
Ace led him to a small cluster of trees with sweeping, protective branches. Grass grew generously there, far more than Ivo had found at the park. It was definitely enough for both of them to make nests.
“Is this a good spot?” Ace met his eye, looking hopeful.
“Yeah.” Ivo fidgeted. “Will you be making a nest, too?”
Ace lit up. “Would you like me to?”
Ivo nodded. Even though he knew that Ace owned this property, it was still... a little too large for him to feel completely safe. In fact, he felt safest when Ace was nearby, close enough that he could reach Ivo in case of any danger.
“Then I’ll make a nest,” Ace rumbled.
Ivo looked down to hide his blush. He made his way through the tall grass to the far side of the creek, examining the tree roots. When he’d picked a spacious spot between two large roots, deep in the shade of an oak tree, he asked, “Where are you making yours?”
Ace stuck to his side of the creek, snapping off some twigs to mark out a spot near the water. Then he disappeared into a small, inconspicuous shed.
He emerged a few seconds later with a long blade attached to a pole—a scythe. Ace began cutting down large swathes of grass, his shoulders flexing beautifully under the sun. When he’d accumulated a huge pile of grass, large enough to wrap both his arms around, he carried the grass over the creek, and laid it by Ivo’s feet.
“There,” Ace murmured. “That should be enough to get you started.”
It looked so lush that Ivo wanted to roll around in it.
He blushed. No alpha had done this for him before. “Thanks. That’s—That’s a lot.”
Ace grinned. “Just holler if you need more. I have a butler in the mansion keeping his ears open for any unusual sounds. If I don’t respond to you right away, he’ll pass the message along to me.”
Ivo couldn’t wrap his mind around just how rich this dragon was. And he also needed to remember: he couldn’t say anything to Mary that would jeopardize his secret; Ace’s butler was probably a shape shifter, and he could probably hear the quietest of whispers out here. “Thank you for this. Really.”
Ace shrugged. “I’ll park the car and get some things sorted at the house. I’ll come by later to see if you need anything else.”
Ivo nodded. He held Mary against himself and watched until Ace had gotten back into his car. It was only when Ace had disappeared into the mansion, that Ivo relaxed.
“I guess it’s just you and me out here,” he said, freeing Mary from her blankets.
She twitched her nose and pawed through the cut grass, nibbling on a blade of grass and spitting it back out. Ivo laughed.
His highest priority was sending his friends a text.
IvoFivo
Just so you know, I haven’t been kidnapped
Nat-urallyBig
???? What!??! Are you not at the apartment anymore!?
IvoFivo
I went to the park and Ace found me there. Guess I was itching to build a nest. He offered to let me build one on his property
KillianKillsDreams
You went to the park BY YOURSELF?????
NotAWalrus
Please don’t tell us you started building a nest there
IvoFivo
Umm. Ok, I won’t
NotAWalrus
IVO. (scream emoji) You know we’re not supposed to leave the apartment without a friend!!!!
KillianKillsDreams
What Walren said. You could’ve asked us to come back!
HocusPocus
Or you could’ve asked me to come over
IvoFivo
Sorry. I didn’t want to bother you either, Uriel. (sad emoji) I needed to leave immediately. I wasn’t thinking
NotAWalrus
Ivo. You’ve been kidnapped twice already. We can’t lose you.
IvoFivo
At least I was with you guys the second time
Nat-urallyBig
Wait. But why are you building a nest?!
IvoFivo
I don’t know. I just had to
HocusPocus
That sounds... suspicious. Keep us updated.
Ivo sighed and tucked his phone away, grabbing a handful of cut grass. He began to weave a shelter for Mary—this was one of the first things his dad had taught him.
Halfway through, Mary came rustling back through the tall grass, whimpering to be fed. Ivo tucked her into his shirt and continued weaving one-handed.
At least he could still do this with one hand and one eye. His feet helped to hold down the grass, to prevent it from moving around too much.
He’d just begun humming a lullaby, one he’d learned from his mom, when he noticed Ace making his way over.
How did I not notice him?!
He panicked again. Mary was a tiny lump in his shirt, her size far too incriminating. Ivo wadded up her blanket and tucked it around her, wincing when it soaked up the milk leaking from his other nipple.
“Hey,” Ace murmured when he drew closer, sweeping his gaze over Ivo.
“Hi,” Ivo said awkwardly.
Ace’s attention lingered on the uneven lump under Ivo’s shirt, but he didn’t say anything about it. Instead, he lifted the wicker basket he was carrying, leaning over the creek to set it on the ground. “This is for you. Just some things you might find useful.”
“Thanks. I’ll—I’ll look when Mary’s done nursing,” Ivo said.
Ace smiled. “Mary? That’s a sweet name.”
“I named her after my grandmother. Gran was amazing; she baked the best cookies in the world.”
Ace’s smile grew. He left to gather more twigs, bringing them to his spot by the creek. Slowly, he laid them in a circle, clumsily weaving in the ends. Except his twigs kept popping out of place, and his nest grew messier the harder he tried.
“Ugh! Damn it,” Ace growled. Then he paused and glanced at Ivo’s chest. “Dash it, I mean.”
Ivo laughed. “Is this your first time building a nest?”
“Will you laugh harder if I said yes?”
“I’m not laughing at you!” Ivo’s cheeks burned. “I’m just—You’re trying so hard not to swear in front of Mary.”
Ace shrugged and looked sheepish. “I want to make a good impression.”
“You already are.”
Ace looked so happy that Ivo felt better. Ace’s forehead furrowed, though. “Why were you sad?”
Ivo opened and closed his mouth. “You noticed?”
“How could I not? I didn’t leave you here with your shoulders slumped.”
Ivo sighed. “My friends are worried about me. The thing is, I know why they are. I just... I couldn’t stop myself.”
“From doing what?”
“Trying to build a nest. I wasn’t supposed to leave the apartment.”
“Yeah, you weren’t.” Ace tore out some grass and tried to shove it between his twigs; it made his nest look prickly and uncomfortable. He looked up suddenly. “You won’t try to leave this place, will you?”
Ivo shrugged. “I... don’t know.”
Ace frowned harder. “Maybe you should take a look at the basket. I hope the things in there will help you stay.”
That piqued Ivo’s curiosity. He got to his feet carefully, one arm wrapped around Mary. Then he made his way to the wicker basket and tugged it a little way back, to give himself some distance from Ace.
The basket was packed with things.
In there were two bottles of water, a large ham and cheese sandwich, several cookies, a T-shirt and pants, and a small but soft blanket. “How did you manage to fit all this in there?”
“Magic.” Ace laughed. “Do you like your gifts?”
Ivo was too busy stuffing the sandwich into his mouth. Three bites in, he set down the sandwich and began sampling the cookies. “So good,” he moaned.
Ace’s smile grew. “Let me know if you have any food preferences. I’ll cook for you myself.”
Ivo’s eyebrows shot up. “Don’t you have a cook?”
“No, I don’t. Raptor cooks most days, and I go next door to steal his food. But we learned to cook together. He’s the one running a restaurant now.”
“So you’re saying that your cooking might be restaurant-quality.”
Ace grinned. “Why don’t you be the judge?”
Ivo squirmed and lowered his gaze, feeling self-conscious. “You want me to?”
“Yes.” Ace watched him intently. Except there was something else in his expression, something like hesitation.
“What’s wrong?” Ivo asked.
Ace worked his jaw, a shadow flickering through his eyes. “I need to be elsewhere for a bit. I’ll be back soon.”
Without another word, he stood and walked away, leaving Ivo staring after him.