Chapter 1

Chapter

One

S amuel couldn't believe this.

He'd flown in on a plane, landed in Albuquerque, and had rented a little car. He had a week to figure this mess out—his parents had explained, clearly and succinctly, that his job was to come out here, get Susan's child, and bring it home.

And so now he was here, in this goddess forsaken desert place, which wasn't even near an airport. It was unreasonable.

He was feeling relatively unreasonable. It was cold. It was windy. It was snowing. It was not the ocean, and he did not approve.

How could Susan have even come here? There were no trees, at least until you got up into the mountains, and then there was snow. Not to mention the cactus—everything here was pointy or bitey or brown.

Get Susan's child. And come home .

Samuel wasn't one hundred percent sure what the next part of that sentence was going to be. He had the sinking suspicion that his father would inform him that his life was going to be caring for this child now, because they were busy and he was…not.

Which was all right, he supposed. He liked children, and hopefully this child would like him. He didn't know.

He just knew that he was here and driving, and it was hard to keep the car on the road, and nobody knew he was going to be there.

To be honest, Samuel wasn't even sure if he was going to be allowed inside the wing. He didn't have a phone number, a contact. He had Susan's alpha's name, the name of a town, and a map.

Or at least a list of directions on his phone when he had service.

Oro Escondido.

Hidden gold.

This place most definitely did not seem golden.

In fact, the whole of the trip thus far seemed as if it was trying to tell him to leave, to go home to his boring, quiet life staying under his father's radar.

It took most of the day to make the drive, and by the time he pulled into the tiny town, he was shaking and starving and scared.

Not to mention utterly exhausted.

Really, he should have planned better. He just—He simply hadn't seemed to have any time. He went from working in his library to his father coming in, handing him a plane ticket, and informing him that his sister was gone.

Not gone to New Mexico and this little tiny town gone. But… Dead.

It didn't seem reasonable. And now, twenty-four hours later, he was here in a place where there was a single road, a row of shops, and darkness. Thank the universe, there was a little coffee shop in the downtown area and a bookstore side by side.

He thought surely the coffee shop had Wi-Fi so that he could see if there was a hotel or an Airbnb or something where he could just close his eyes for the night. Then, in the morning, he would go and—do something, even if it was wrong.

But he needed caffeine, food, and possibly a kind word. Absolutely Wi-Fi.

He parked the car and wandered into the mostly empty coffee shop searching for a menu. There was a stand on the counter that called it the Blazing Bean. A young man ducked out of the back room, his bright green scales not hiding at all. Really, wasn't that dangerous, since this was an unwarded place that humans could see?

Hopefully, he didn't look as lost as he felt right now.

"Welcome to the Blazing Bean." The scales swirled out of sight as if they'd never been there. "It's really coming down out there, huh? What can I get for you?"

He stared at the menu board as if he'd never had a coffee drink before. He was just so tired.

"Hey, would you like to sit down? Maybe have a little juice while you decide?"

"Yes." His cheeks went red hot. "Yeah, I'm sorry. If you don't mind, I'll totally pay for the juice. I just. I've been on the road for hours."

"Where are you coming from?" The kid handed him a bottle of apple juice from a cooler. "Does this work?"

"Perfect. Thanks. I'm driving in from Albuquerque, and the weather has totally been kicking my butt."

"Albuquerque, huh?" The kid offered him a curious smile. "I've never been that far."

No, no, he didn't imagine so.

This little one was still learning to control his colors.

"It's pretty big. I flew in this afternoon. I wasn't expecting it to be so large, really." He yawned and sighed. He was relaxing, admitting the juice had helped a lot. "So what's the best coffee drink, and do you have anything to eat?"

"I like the white chocolate raspberry mocha, but the boss made this new one called a peanut butter and jelly latte. It's pretty cool if you're not allergic to peanuts."

"Huh." Samuel pondered that, but not for very long. "I think I'll try that."

"As far as food goes. We have turkey and provolone sandwiches. We have an Italian spicy sandwich. We have a protein pack that has eggs and nuts and dried cranberries and cheese. And then there are about a handful of pastries leftover from this morning, and those are all half off."

"Oh excellent. I would like the turkey sandwich, a pastry, and then the peanut butter and jelly latte." He pushed over two twenties. "This should cover everything plus a tip."

The young man blinked. "Wow, thank you. That's very generous."

"No problem. You've been incredibly cool."

And it was nice in here and warm, quiet, and he could think.

"Is there Wi-Fi?"

"Oh my God, yes. Can you imagine if there wasn't?"

"Believe it or not, yes, yes, I actually can," he chuckled. "I don't suppose now that you know if there's a hotel?"

"Oh." Now the kid was putting on his sympathy face. "We don't. We have a couple of places that rent cabins. Like, um, Airbnbs. I can?—"

"Hey, Greggo, are you about… Oh, we still have a customer." A pretty lady wearing an apron and a shirt that said Blazing Bean came out from the back.

"Yes, ma'am. I'm making him a turkey and provolone."

"I'll get the sandwich."

"Okay. I'll make the latte." The kid, Greg, smiled his way. "He needs a place to stay."

"Oh?" She gave him a thorough once-over. "I'll call Mariposa. She has cabins for rent, and she always has one ready for overnight guests, just in case. You passed them on the way into town, I bet."

"I wouldn't have noticed them if I had," he admitted. "I was trying really hard to stay on the road. That would be fabulous. I have to make some phone calls in the morning."

And then he would be out.

He would find this dragon who had his niece or nephew—they weren't even sure—and tell him he could take the baby and care for it.

Then he would drive back to Albuquerque, get back on the plane, and go. Easy peasy.

At least, he hoped it was easy.

"Let me get Mariposa on the phone. She'll be able to hook you up, get you a nice warm bed for the night, and then you can always come back here for coffee," the lady said.

"Yes, that would be wonderful. Thank you." He hadn't expected to meet so many kind people; it was a little unnerving, especially given that they weren't actually in the wing.

He could be mean. He could be a serial killer. Or a spy. Or something else incredibly nefarious that he couldn't think of right now.

But this lady and her barista acted like he was welcome, as if he was just like what he seemed. A traveler in a snowstorm who needed a place to stay.

The lady pulled out her phone. "Hey, Mari. Yeah, it's Georgia. Look, I have someone who needs a cabin. He's been on the road and—You bet. Okay. I'll tell him." She hung up and smiled at him. "She'll meet you at the parking area of the cabins in about half an hour."

"Oh. That's a kindness. Thank you. It's on the way back out of town?" He could just take the sandwich and coffee to go.

"If you go back up the road about a mile, where it turned back up toward the canyon? That's where you'll find them."

Samuel nodded his head and waited for his food. They ended up giving him a little box of six pastries for the price of one, which he thought was so dear.

After saying his thank-yous and goodbyes, he got into his car and drove it back to the cabins. He had to look closely to find them, because he hadn't seen them at all on his way up.

But, sure enough, there was a sign, small and lit with a single light bulb, and behind the sign there was a cluster of rustic cottages along the riverbed.

Then he caught sight of a lady, standing outside and waiting for him in the cold, like it was no big deal.

He parked and then stepped out of his rental, the cold air outside like a sharp slap to the cheek. He gasped a little, then held out his hand. "Thank you so much for letting me stay. This trip was unexpected."

She took his hand and shook, her grip firm and warm. "No worries. All is well. There's a reason we keep that cabin open for emergencies."

"Do you often get random emergencies in this little town?"

"More often than you would expect. There's not much between one place and another. People get out here and get stuck or they need help. There's all sorts of reasons. It's just good practice. Let me show you the cabin. Do you have a bag?"

He nodded his head. "And supper."

He grabbed his things and followed her to a log cabin with a bright red door on the front. "What do I owe you?"

"We'll settle up in the morning. It's chilly, and the snow is only going to get deeper. So tomorrow you can decide how long you think you'll stay, and we'll make a plan."

Okay, weird, but also incredibly kind. "Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate it." He took his goodies into the tiny single room. It wasn't fancy, but it was clean, warm. There was a light and a TV and a picture of a lake and a sunset hanging on the wall. Add to that a bed with big pillows and a bathroom, and he couldn't ask for anything more. So he didn't.

He turned on the television for noise and light while he ate his sandwich, which was incredibly good, and drank his peanut butter and jelly latte.

This was a quaint, decent, kind town.

Too bad he wasn't going to be able to stay.