Chapter 3
Meera
The egg sat inside my backpack in the passenger seat. I’d put the seatbelt around it, hoping it was enough to stop it from becoming a very expensive omelet.
I was one hundred and ten percent sure that whoever I’d spoken to on that useless phone call to Darlington Museum had not been Desmon; I doubted the Dragon of Darlington would tell me to take a hike.
I’d sent the video the moment I had the chance.
Too bad I didn’t get to keep my phone for long after and see if I’d gotten a call back.
I wasn’t sure I would though, considering the man on the other line sounded like he thought I was batshit crazy.
I wondered how often the museum got calls like that.
Was it common for people to call in claiming they had a dragon egg?
Or maybe a phoenix feather? A kraken’s dong?
Who knew what types of loons they’d had to deal with.
In hindsight, stopping at the truck rest area back in Wharton had probably been a bad idea. I’d been too close to New York, and the stop had slowed me down.
Karim had tried to call a few more times, and the last two messages he sent were, “Answer your fucking phone, or else!” and “This isn’t a joke, Meera.”
He hadn’t written anything that gave away the fact that he knew I had the egg.
A part of my brain kept telling me I was overreacting, that he was just angry that I wasn’t picking up like all the other times we had a fight.
This was normal Karim behavior. He was just pissed off that I wasn’t kowtowing to him.
But then I remembered the dead body on the floor, freaked out a little, and kept driving.
I dumped my phone shortly after I turned onto the highway. I didn’t trust him not to have put some sort of tracking on it, so I pulled over on the shoulder and left it right there on the ground.
I hadn’t gotten too far from the city, considering how long I’d been driving. But that was mostly because traffic had been so bad. I should have kept going, but I was cursed with a bladder the size of a peanut, and it was starting to complain. Again. I knew I had to make another stop soon.
I squinted through the setting sun that threatened to blind me through my windshield before looking up at the rearview mirror. The black SUV was still there.
It could be nothing, or it could be someone looking for the egg.
And I wouldn’t know as long as I continued driving straight ahead.
And I had to know because I had to stop eventually.
First of all, I’d made the crucial mistake of nervously drinking way too much water, and now I needed to pee.
Badly. Not to mention, I was getting tired and hungry, and the last thing I wanted was to get distracted by bodily functions and end up in a multi-vehicle crash with the egg in my possession.
I doubted the police would believe me if I told them it was an art project.
Something inside demanded that I protect the future dragonlet, and that included from discovery.
I didn’t trust anyone. And the longer I drove, the more I wondered if going to Desmon in Darlington was even a good idea after all.
What if this wasn’t his? Weren’t dragons supposed to be exceptionally competitive?
I’d read somewhere that firstborn dragons destroyed their siblings’ eggs, pushing them down cliffs or smashing them on rocks.
Was this how this one came to end up in an accounting firm in New York?
Had it already survived its first murder attempt?
I reached over and placed my hand on my backpack, which I’d placed the seatbelt over just in case. “I wish you could talk to me and tell me what to do. I just want to do the right thing.”
The shine of light in the rearview caught my eye again as the SUV drifted closer. I gripped the wheel harder, trying to ignore the way adrenaline pumped through me, making my heart race and my hands shake. I sped up, and the SUV matched me.
A sign for an exit flashed by, and I made a split-second decision, taking it fast, the tires gripping the road as I curved down the ramp. I kept checking the rearview, and sure enough, the vehicle followed me off the ramp, its tires complaining just as loudly.
Yep. They were after me all right.
My prayers for a green light were answered, and I shot through the intersection at the bottom of the ramp. Instead of turning into a residential area, I cut into an industrial park.
I turned into one of the parking lots and drove around the building, my eyes on the lookout for a place where I could hop the curb and head into the next lot, skipping a street.
The goal was to use some creative driving to lose my tail.
I did this several times until I couldn’t see the SUV behind me anymore.
Then I wove between two long-haul rigs parked for the night and killed the engine and headlights.
My little gray borrowed hatchback disappeared into the shadows.
I was buzzing from adrenaline as I slowly exhaled and pressed my forehead against the steering wheel. I closed my eyes, trying to calm the thud-thud-thud of my heart.
I heard a vehicle drive by and looked up just in time to see the SUV zoom past the entrance, missing me completely.
I reached over and put a hand on my backpack. The warmth of the egg had seeped right through the canvas.
“We’re safe,” I murmured. “For now.”
I kept still for a moment, listening for any signs they’d double back.
A minute ticked by, and the SUV did not return, but I didn’t trust it yet.
Grabbing my backpack, I got out of the car and searched for a place to hide it.
At the back of a loading dock I found a bin used to hold road salt in the winter.
I hesitated. Everyone knew how much damage salt does to everything that touches the road, and I didn’t want to brine the baby dragon.
I hurried back to the car, grabbed the emergency blanket in the back, and used it to line the bin before placing my backpack inside.
Then I returned to the car and started the engine. I drove down the street, my eyes ever vigilant for the black SUV. When I didn’t see it again, I went in search of a bathroom, secure in the knowledge that even if my pursuers found me they wouldn’t get their hands on the egg.
I drove to a nearby coffee shop to do my business.
It was pretty empty, which was expected since everyone in the area had gone home for the day, and it was closing soon.
I was just about to walk to the car, bladder empty and another coffee in hand, when I saw the SUV turn into the lot. I froze and backed away from the door.
There had to be a way out of here.
Thinking fast, I approached the barista. She looked like she would be the type to help. “Hi, I am trying to hide from my abusive ex-husband and his friends. I see him outside in the parking lot. Can you help me?” I looked nervously at the door.
The barista’s eyes went wide as she looked behind me and out the window, and she nodded. “Sure thing, hon. Come back here and hide under the counter.”
I did as I was told.
“Is that your car out there? The gray Hyundai?”
“Yes.”
“They’re checking it out now. A man and a woman.”
“Does it look like they’re putting a tracker in it?”
“No, but…” She gasped suddenly. “They just broke your window.”
She gave me a play-by-play as the assholes rifled through my car. “Shit, they’re coming this way.”
The front door opened with a ding of a bell, and the barista grabbed a towel and casually started wiping down the counter like she hadn’t just been watching them.
Instead of coming to the front to order anything, the man went straight back to the bathroom. He cursed when he found it locked.
“Sir. You need a key. But the bathroom is for customers only.”
I was hoping that would be enough to get the guy to go, but the man begrudgingly bought a coffee, grabbed the keys, and opened the door. He swore again. I didn’t know why he would think I’d be in there if he had the key to the doors. What an idiot.
Another voice, this one sounding feminine and oddly familiar, said, “We’re looking for my sister. She has brown hair and eyes and is kind of boring-looking.”
Boring-looking? What a bitch.
“I see a lot of people every day,” the barista said. “Brown hair and brown eyes are pretty common. Is there anything else that might stand out?”
“She might be carrying a large black duffel bag.”
Interesting. If they still thought the egg was in the black duffel, then Karim must have known not to waste his time looking for me at my house.
Or maybe these people were friends of the dead guy.
I was glad I ditched my phone now. Though I did wish I had another one; I hadn’t expected it to be so difficult to navigate through streets I wasn’t familiar with without a map.
“Oh, her!” The barista faked recognition. “She came by, bought a coffee, then left like ten minutes ago.”
“Shit.” The man swore. “But her car—"
“We didn’t see her when we drove in,” the woman interrupted. “Did she go on foot?”
“Oh no. Some guy in a red sports car picked her up. You can’t miss it. The thing was loud.”
I pressed my lips into a flat line, trying not to react. The girl was good. The way she said it was totally believable. And now these idiots would be looking for a red sports car.
The two left.
“The coast is clear.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. I owe you.”
“I’ve been through this exact shit before. Did you know my ex also told people he was looking for his sister? You don’t owe me anything, just pass it forward. Now, can I grab you a ride? I don’t think you can drive a car with the window that busted.”
“It’s a rental. That is going to cost me.”
“Don’t worry about that yet. Figure it out when you’re safe.” She held up her phone. “Last offer for a ride.”
I thought of the egg inside the salt bin. “I can’t. I hid my bag a few blocks over.”
“Ah, smart. Well, good luck. And stay safe.”
I made my way back to the industrial park on foot since it wasn’t that far, and I could take a shortcut through the lots. Also, those douchecanoes might still be watching out for the car, and I wanted to give it some more time.
The building was already in sight when I heard footsteps behind me.
My breath stalled, and my hand landed on the combination lock I had in my pocket; in my rush to get out of the gym, I’d shoved it into my pocket instead of my gym bag.
It was weighty, and I wished I’d had the forethought to put it in a sock first. It would make a decent weapon in a pinch.
Instead of going to the egg, I continued walking past the building. I turned the corner and found myself face-to-face with a gate. The gate was closed with chains and a padlock, but there was a gap. It would be a tight squeeze, but I could make it.
But it was too late. I whirled around, my eyes trained on the growing shadow that crept around the corner I’d just taken.
A man stepped out from the shadows. He was tall, with broad shoulders, and strikingly beautiful. Dark hair fell in loose waves that framed his chiseled jaw. His clothes were simple: a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a fitted jacket. But his common clothes did not hide his uncommon physique.
He stood around six-and-a-half feet tall and was built like a tank.
He was bigger than anyone I’d ever met. His form would put a bodybuilder to shame.
His giant shoulders came down to his waist in a perfect V.
When he lifted his head, the light from the streetlamp caught his eyes, revealing an inhuman glow.
There was no way this guy was fully human.
I’d never been more certain that his true form was hidden behind a magical illusion.
And even wrapped in glamour, something about him challenged the edges of reality.
Maybe it was the faint, cool gray undertone of his skin, or the way his eyes shifted between molten silver and the green-gray of storm clouds over a raging sea.
His cheekbones and jawline looked like they were carved from stone.
This wasn’t one of Karim’s friends. I didn’t recognize him, and I was certain that I’d remember a man like that if we’d ever met before.
Not to mention, Karim didn’t have any monster friends.
And I was pretty damn sure he secretly hated them but put on a mask just so he wouldn’t lose some of his better-paying clients.
I couldn’t force my gaze away from the huge man-beast blocking my exit. A shiver skated up my spine and I swallowed hard.
I wanted to run, but my feet felt rooted to the concrete. My heart pounded in my chest so loudly that I was sure he could hear it. All the words I thought I’d say in a situation like this fled my brain, and all I could do was stare.
“I’m not going to hurt you. I’m here to help.” His voice was low and smooth, and it clearly wasn’t the same one I’d heard in the coffee shop.
But that didn’t mean I could trust him. There was more than one group after the egg.
It wasn’t just Karim; there was the other party too.
And they might think I was the one who’d murdered their friend for the artifact.
What if this was the EA, the (Secret) Enforcement Agency, which was like the paranormal police, and I was about to be locked away forever?
My throat felt dry, but I managed to croak out a response, “I don’t need your help.” I cringed at how scared and small I sounded. I was trying really damn hard to go for strong and fierce.
“Desmon sent me to help you bring the egg to him.”
I kept my face neutral the best I could. I didn’t trust him. He could be guessing I’d called Desmon. Or maybe they found my phone and saw the last message I sent.
Damn it! I should have deleted that and the video so they wouldn’t know where I was going. Ugh! Thinking under pressure was not my forte. I was clearly not the best woman for this job. Maybe Karim was right, and I’d never amount to anything without him.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” A lie. A terrible one.
And he knew it too.
“I don’t have time for this, woman.” He lunged.
My brain took that moment to check out, and instincts took the wheel. I hurled the lock in my pocket straight at his head. It wasn’t my finest decision, but hey, desperate times.
He was much taller than the average dude, and I missed horribly. It bounced off his shoulder with a ping like a spoon against a brick wall.
He didn’t even flinch. He just looked at me with this slow, amused look, like I’d just invited him to play. The corner of his lip lifted into a dangerous grin. “That’s all you got?”
Crap! I was so dead.
I was saved by the SUV that skidded to a halt behind him, its headlights highlighting his massive frame into stark relief. He whipped around at the noise, and I took my chance, breaking into a run toward the gate.