Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

OGDEN

When we finally escaped my self-proclaimed new in-laws, I found myself humming " Be My Baby ." Simon drove us a couple of blocks away before pulling over on the side of the street. He turned to me after parking the car.

" I'm so sorry about that." His cheeks pinked as he rubbed the back of his neck.

" About what, love?" I wasn't sure why he was apologizing. After we spent more time together, he'd understand The Ronettes were a positive sign. If I was upset, the song would be very different. I guessed there were a lot of things we needed to learn about one another.

" Everything ." He groaned. " My brothers, my mother, the whole mate thing… I can't believe my dad suggested that."

I doubted Daphne and Peter were fated mates—not only had I not seen any visible markings, but fated mates were rare—so when they'd suggested we were mates, I was surprised she suggested we might be fated mates. Chosen mates were the norm. But , given how quickly Simon and I connected, I agreed with Daphne and wondered if we might not be more.

Fated mates sounded like a fairy tale to most supes, but I was old enough to remember when the Eternal Magic played matchmaker for almost everyone. Was I na?ve for thinking that? Possibly . This might all be an artifice created by the magic in the whistle, but I kept thinking: What if it wasn't?

" I had already wondered if you might be my fated mate," I admitted.

" You did? But …" His words trailed off when he saw the serious look on my face.

I nodded. " Didn't you?"

" How could we be?" he whispered and averted his eyes, like he wasn't sure if he should admit that. " Isn't this all because of the whistle?"

" I wish we'd met under different circumstances, but what if this was the Eternal Magic's way of bringing us together?"

He glanced up at me, his face full of hope. " Yeah ?"

" Yes , kitty cat. I think that's entirely possible," I said as I reached for him. I put my hand on the back of his neck and pulled him close. His breath quickened as my mouth neared his. He smelled of maple syrup and bacon and orange juice. And then his lips were on mine.

The kiss was torturous in that I couldn't hold him against me—the front seat of a car wasn't the best place for this—but I closed my eyes and savored the taste of him. His lips pressed the right amount of firmness against mine. His tongue was tantalizing when it slipped up against mine. His moans, though… Those made me want to haul him into the back seat and claim him.

A ringing noise interrupted the sweet music of our mingled panting breaths.

Simon groaned as he pulled away from me. I could have stopped him. I knew if I held him in place, he wouldn't fight me. But I let him settle back into his seat and pull out his phone.

" Hello ?"

" Where are you?" It was the hellhound, Van . I could hear his question clearly in the quiet car.

" Uh …" Simon looked flustered as his gaze darted over the landmarks like he'd never seen the neighborhood before, although I was sure he'd grown up here.

" Is Walsh with you?"

" Yeah …"

" Take him over to Doc Roberts . I'll meet you there."

Then the hellhound was gone.

Right . With everything else that was going on, I'd forgotten about the bump on my arm.

Simon shook his head as if he was still boggled by my amazing kissing. I preened. Then he licked his lips and looked at me again. His gaze drifted down to my mouth before coming back to my eyes again. His pupils were dilated in a telltale sign that he liked what he saw.

" I didn't tell you earlier…" He hesitated and swallowed. His gaze darted away from mine. " But I like you in my clothes."

" Yeah ?" I mimicked his one-word question from a minute ago with a smile .

" Yeah ." He returned my smile with a shy one of his own when he glanced back at me.

Ugh , this kitty cat. He was so ridiculously adorable.

I rather liked being draped in his possessions too. And soon, I would drape him in mine. I had several gemstones that would complement his coloring. Perhaps I could buy enough peridots to line the walls of our bedroom with them. I was sure I could find the perfect color to match his cat's eyes.

I hadn't seen him shifted yet, but when his emotions ran high, his cat showed in his beautiful eyes. But perhaps when he took his cat form his eyes would reveal yet another color— Topaz ? Emerald ? Whatever it was, I would memorize it, then surround him with jewels selected just for him.

There were still so many things we needed to learn about one another.

Except , if he wanted me to wear his clothes often, we needed to expand his wardrobe. I didn't tell him that. Not today. I didn't want to burst this lovely feeling growing between us. But I needed color in my life.

Then again, if we were alone, we might not need many clothes… Hmm … I'd have to give that some thought.

Then Simon turned his attention to the road and guided the vehicle back on to the street again. I knew the hellhound was right to ask to have my bump checked out, but I didn't enjoy the interruption. And now that Simon was becoming more comfortable with being affectionate, I regretted it even more.

Soon , though, I was going to get him alone and show him how much I liked the idea that he could be my mate .

Instead of driving us to a clinic, Simon entered a residential neighborhood. The hellhound was waiting outside a stereotypical new build house with an ugly attached garage and concrete driveway in the front. Although perhaps it wasn't entirely stereotypical… the house was a lovely terracotta color, which clashed with the peacock teal house to one side and the flamingo pink one on the other. I'd never seen a neighborhood with such vibrant colors before. I loved it.

The hellhound waved us into the empty garage. As soon as Simon shut off the ignition, the door rolled down, enclosing us inside. I'd never had much to do with doctors—as a dragon, my body was tough—but I'd seen enough movies and TV shows to know this doctor's visit wasn't like anything in the human world.

" Doc ? We're here," Van called out as he knocked on the door connecting the garage to the house. He ducked his head inside. " Doc ? You here?"

" Take them into Two ," came the reply from somewhere deeper in the house.

Van guided us down a narrow corridor to the right room. He knew this place well. Did he live here? I doubted it. Not with the way he knocked and called out to the doctor. But he moved through the place with a familiarity that suggested he spent a fair bit of time here.

We'd just settled into a small exam room—houses didn't normally have rooms like this, so the whole set up struck me as odd—when a man came in. With four men, the compact room was full. Too full.

The doctor's hair was a mess of untamed curls. His hair wasn't long enough to seem intentionally long, but more like he forgot to get it cut regularly. He reminded me of when I owned a lounge close to a university a few decades ago. He had the grad-student-who-survives-on-no-sleep-and-buckets-of-caffeine appearance, although the doctor was obviously well past his grad student era… He just hadn't moved on with his personal aesthetic. But the smile on his face when he spied Van made him almost handsome—if you were into the slightly unkempt type. Based on the mirroring smile on Van's face, that was exactly the hellhound's type.

" Why don't you take Simon and go to the waiting room?" The doctor set his hand on Van's forearm in an easy gesture that suggested he was used to touching the hellhound. Although , I doubted these two were lovers—and after watching people in my job for… well, forever… I had a pretty good sense of these things.

Van and Simon both looked at me. When I didn't protest, they shuffled out of the room.

" Hi . My name is Xander Roberts . Please call me Xander . I know Van always gets so formal about these things, but meh…" He waved his hand through the air. " And you're Ogden Walsh , correct?"

" Yes ." I held up my arm and pointed at the bump. " Officer Hellhound thought you should look at this."

Xander's face lit up at my nickname for Van , but when he spotted the bump, his focus zeroed in on my arm. " Oh , how interesting… Can you tell me how you came to get this?"

I told him what I knew, which wasn't much.

He nodded and made curious noises as I spoke. When I finished, he scratched his chin. His assessing gaze was intense.

" And how are you feeling after the summoning?"

The question made me squirm. I glanced at the door as a sudden urge to leave swept over me. I didn't think anyone here would use the information against me, but talking about my vulnerabilities with a strange supe was unsettling. But Van wouldn't have brought me here if he didn't trust this doctor. And Simon did too.

" Weak ," I whispered. " I can shift, but nothing else. I can't access my fire or my electricity. I'm physically weaker than normal."

" Hmm …" Xander nodded. " I think we should do a full exam. Blood samples, the works. It is likely too late to identify what was used to incapacitate you— Van should have brought you here immediately—but we should try. I also think we should make sure you have nothing else wrong with you. Something that you might not have noticed yet."

I blinked at him. I glanced at the bump on my arm. That's all I'd expected the doctor to care about because we were supes. Supes rarely became ill. " Is that necessary?"

" Necessary ? Perhaps not. But wouldn't you rather be sure?" He spoke gently and quietly. " You said it yourself. You can't be sure what happened while you were unconscious."

He was right, and now that the question had been asked, I needed to know the answer.

An hour later, Xander let me know my results were as they should be. No lingering drugs or magic. No other obvious violations. No other bumps .

" But don't push too hard to access your magic," Xander warned. " Shifting shouldn't do any damage, but don't strain yourself by trying to do more. Let yourself heal naturally. You'll be stronger for it."

I frowned. Sure , I was happy he thought this was temporary, but sitting back and doing nothing didn't sound appealing.

" Now , let's look at this," Xander said as he examined the bump. " Yes . Hmm … Interesting …"

" Doc ?"

" Do you want something for the pain?"

" What pain?"

" When I extract the foreign object in your arm," he said, like it should be obvious.

" You found something in there?" I looked at my arm.

" Perhaps a local anesthetic?"

" Yes . That would be fine."

" Stay as still as you can. I will need to act quickly before your body absorbs and nullifies the drug."

I nodded.

He injected my arm with a clear liquid, then he grabbed a scalpel and sliced open my arm. I watched in horrified fascination as the doctor removed a tiny mechanical device from my arm. It reminded me of the tracker Van had given me the night before, except instead of being in a little pouch around my neck like the other one, this one had been stuck in my fucking arm.

Assholes .

The doctor dropped the offensive thing in an empty specimen bottle. The bloodied device landed with a click.

" Your arm should heal quickly now that it is out," the doctor assured me as he wiped the incision clean and placed a bandage over it. I didn't think I needed the bandage, but Xander insisted.

When we opened the door, both Van and Simon were waiting in the hallway immediately outside the room.

" He didn't want to go too far," the hellhound said as he pointed at Simon . Simon ignored the teasing, although his face darkened to a charming pink. He looked lovely with a bit of color.

" You were in there a long time. Are you okay?" Simon asked. His attention was fixated on the bandage. What a sweet little kitty cat. All protective and such.

" I'm fine," I assured him.

" This was in his arm." Xander handed the bottle to Van .

" Thanks for not destroying it when you extracted it, Doc ." Van held it up and examined it. Although if I could identify it, I knew he could too. He cocked his head to the side. " It's emitting a signal. I'm sure of it." The hellhound's smile would have been terrifying if he wasn't on my side. This was obviously a good lead.

How he knew about the signal, I didn't know. Could he hear something? Feel something? See something? I could have asked, but I didn't care. I didn't understand all the ins and outs of technology, only keeping up with the most popular trends. Tracking devices weren't a trend I'd ever needed to know about, even if they were all around me at the moment.

" Okay ," Xander said with an easy smile, waving us away. " You all need to leave so I can see my next patient. "

Van tucked the little jar into one of his pockets, then guided us down the hallway to the garage again.

" Do you think they've tracked Ogden here already?" Simon glanced around as if expecting someone to jump out and grab me.

" It's impossible to know," Van said.

Simon trembled a little and his ears shifted into his cat's ears. They swiveled, as if hunting for any sound that didn't belong. He was barely hanging on to his human form.

" But if they continue to follow the tracking device now, it'll take them to Officer Hellhound ," I said, slipping my hand into Simon's and squeezing it. I looked at Van . " You should be prepared in case that happens."

A wicked grin spread over Van's face, and fire lit his eyes. " Oh , I'm prepared all right. I'd like to see them try to take me down."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. " I would have said the same thing a few days ago but look what happened."

Van dipped his head in acknowledgement, but I got the sense he thought he could take on my abductors and win. I hoped that wasn't hubris.

" But if they come to Willow Lake , they might still find Ogden ." Simon's voice was shaky. Long , thin whiskers were poking through his cheeks now. " By now everyone in town knows about him being here."

And I suspected that was mostly because of his mother blabbing to everyone about how her baby had found his mate. But saying that wouldn't help anything.

" Gage's presence here should keep them back too," Van said quietly, as if finally realizing Simon needed some comforting words. His eyes met Simon's and held his gaze for a long moment, as if willing my kitty cat to feel the weight of his words. His calm confidence was working, or at least Simon didn't seem to be struggling to stay in his human form anymore.

" You think so?"

" Gage is a demon guardian. Few will want to take him on. His magic is tied to Willow Lake itself, and you are part of Willow Lake . You are under his protection, and now, by extension, so is Ogden . And it helps that Ogden was summoned. They may think the device malfunctioned when it suddenly showed him so far away from where they'd held him."

" I hope you're right," Simon muttered.

" I need to get back to the station and see what this little baby can tell me," the hellhound said, tapping the pocket where he'd hidden the jar. Van's eyes shone with the fire of his hellhound. His beast had to be close to the surface, perhaps eager to be on the hunt. " We need to act fast before they realize we're on to them."

" Will that little thing really help you track them?" Simon asked.

" Yep ." He grinned as he walked us back to the garage.

" Let me know when you track the signal to a location. I want to go with you," I said. " I can help."

" Ogden …" Simon said my name like a plea as he spun to face me.

" I have to, sweetheart." My fingers brushed over his cheek. " I escaped, but I can't stop thinking about all those supes in there. I can help."

" But … "

" They may have nabbed me once, but now that I am aware of the threat, they won't catch me so easily again. And I could actually be quite useful."

" You know how to fight?" Van asked.

" Well , not recently, but I fought in the dragon wars…" I was smart enough not to oversell my abilities, but I wouldn't undersell them, either. The dragon wars happened centuries ago, but some things you didn't forget. " I may not have current fighting experience, but I am a water dragon. I have fire and electricity. All dragons are natural predators. And I do have a personal stake in this. I was the one they kidnapped."

I was counting on the doctor not having told anyone about my current problems. Not having access to my full abilities might be a bit of a liability, but it was only temporary. They would return. Soon . I was depending on them.

Van considered me for a moment. If I was a human victim talking to a human police officer, the officer would never entertain my request, but the supernatural community didn't work that way. After a moment, he nodded. " Okay , but you have to listen to me."

" Of course, Officer Hellhound ."

He rolled his eyes and opened the garage door.

Instead of retreating to the driver's side like I expected, Simon stepped forward and stopped the hellhound from leaving. " If he's going, then so am I ."

And just like that, the axis of my world tilted. Pain sliced across my chest. How could he not believe he was brave?

" Simon …" I whispered.

He crossed his arms over his chest and met my eyes steadily. His cheeks were flushed, and his pulse raced, betraying his anxiety, but he didn't back down. Damn it. I wouldn't be able to stop him. Why did he have to discover his cat's inner stubbornness now?

Still , if the situation was reversed, I would never let him go without me, either.

But how was I going to keep him safe?