Chapter 4

Chapter

Four

J ake finally had to put chains on his truck and headed out to the main road that ran around the wing to pick up a load of books from the bookstore. And he needed a coffee. He knew both Amber and Georgia would be open just in case there was a weary traveler out there who needed a place to stop.

The damn snow had come in, and it just wasn't melting one bit.

"Okay, buddy. We're off and running." He strapped Grant into the truck, his little man all bundled up to within an inch of his life. He did love a baby in a snowsuit.

Grant squealed, because he did love riding in the truck. "Da-da-da-da."

"Yep. You and me, bud." He hopped in and drove them carefully out to the bookstore, pulling into one of the almost-cleared parking spaces. Looked like maybe Logan had been over to help Amber out. He had a nicely controlled flame and could melt snow in a heartbeat.

He grabbed Grant, heading into the store. "Morning!" he called once he was inside.

"Good morning, my love. How are you, and how is your beautiful daddy?" Amber took Grant without even asking, snuggling the little boy and loosening his snowsuit. She did adore him. "Are you coffeeing or teaing today?"

"Coffee. Coffee. Coffee, Coffee." He winked at her, knowing her kettle was at the ready. "Are you going to play godmother while I'm next door?"

"Of course. If you could bring me a croissant. She's got it waiting for me in a box."

Spoiled woman.

Amber rolled her eyes and winked at him. "It's a thing. Go on now. I'm hungry. I'll get Grant a cookie."

He headed next door to the coffee shop, not surprised to find it empty. It smelled so good in here though—cinnamon and hazelnut and chocolate and pastries. He was just going to die.

Georgia looked up from the counter. Oh, she must have had a bunch of kids call out because she never worked the front register in the morning. "Good morning, Guardian. How are you? Where's my baby?"

"Next door with Auntie Amber." Damn it, he should have brought the baby.

"Oh, I'm gonna hold her croissant hostage." She winked and chuckled. "What can I get you this morning?"

"My usual, please."

"Fire and ice. I'm on it." She set to making his coffee complete with chile and white chocolate. It was delicious, and he just craved it.

"How's your morning going?"

She smiled at him. "It's been slow, thank goodness. Everyone else is in the wing. They're just staying home, which I understand. No one wants their teenagers flying in this weather. Did you hear about the new guy?"

"There's a new guy in the wing?" Because he hadn't heard, and he didn't care how new a guardian he was, he should know if somebody new came into the wing. Damn it, he always felt like he was thirteen steps behind everybody else. He was going to speak to Logan about this. This was just absolutely not?—

"No, he's staying at Mari's cabins. He came in, stopped at the coffee shop, and then I eased him in that direction. Definitely one of ours though."

Well, now he felt like an idiot, but at least he hadn't said anything out loud. Because then he would have looked like an idiot and sounded like an idiot. "No, I hadn't heard anything about him, but I haven't been out and about, you know, with the baby."

"He was a pretty little thing."

"He's a child?"

"No." Georgia shook her head. "No, no, no. He was just tiny and adorable. Great big violet eyes a la Liz Taylor. Violet . You can just barely see the little purple scales, and his hair is like snow, except for at the ends. Totally pretty. It's kind of nauseating, to be honest, but he was very sweet and a little nervous about the weather. He apparently is not from snowy climes."

Weird. Jake had never seen anybody with that kind of coloring, except for Susan, his sister's mate. He wondered if they were the same type of dragon Susan had been.

She'd been from a strict keep, somewhere in the deep South. She'd been a keeper of knowledge—this amazing intellectual with this memory that just was like a steel trap. She had gone through all their dragon lore and had been organizing it. It was…

Boring.

Boring is what it was, incredibly, but apparently, they needed that sort of thing.

At least that's what all the old people thought.

He didn't think so, but he'd never seen Jolie so in love, so happy, and Susan had made them all laugh.

"Do you think he needs anything?" He could stop by, check the kid out. Take coffee and food. He didn't like the idea of anyone stuck up at the cabins in this snow.

"Oh, I think he'll be fine. Lars headed up to see if he was okay."

"How did Lars know he was there?"

"I think he saw Mari out flying this morning." She shrugged, tamping the espresso machine and running a delicious-smelling double shot.

"He is aware that there's a blizzard out. That there was, anyway?"

"You know, Lars. Snow bothers him not at all. Besides that, he's so curious, like one of Logan's cats." She chuckled softly, teasing as she measured out milk. "The little one is driving one of those little bitty sedans. He's not going anywhere today. Says he drove in from Albuquerque."

"What's he doing here?"

"I don't know. I guarantee, though, we'll find out. Lars can ferret information out of anybody."

Jake nodded. There was no lie detected in that. Lars was a hound dog with a scent in his nose. Right. "I'm sure he's just heading from one place to another and knew that there was a wing here. Hoped there was. Whatever." Whoever it was, they could stay outside the wards for now.

"No, I'm sure. Although you know… Every so often, people come and stay."

He knew that happened, but they shouldn't just stay because people got hurt. "Yeah, like Jolie's Susan."

"Yeah." Georgia offered him a down-turned lip, a soft sigh. "I know. That whole thing sucked."

"It did. Thank goodness Grant wasn't with them."

"I can't even say such a thing," Georgia whispered. "It's the worst thing that's ever happened here, I think. At least in my memory, and I don't need that kind of excitement."

"None of us do." Suddenly, he didn't want to talk anymore. He just wanted to sip his coffee and go browse some books. Commune with the words that someone else had written. Feel someone else's truth for a while.

"I'm sorry, Jake."

"Thanks." He knew everyone felt bad. But that didn't even buy him a cup of coffee. "You should come see Grant. You'd get a camera thing if someone came in, right?"

"Hell, Teaball would tell me."

"So true." Amber's weird lizard-bird familiar saw and heard everything that went on at the little row of shops Amber's bookstore occupied.

"How's he taking Dakota's retirement?"

"Amber takes him to see the twins every night, or he lets himself in and sleeps with them." Georgia shrugged, but she was obviously tickled. "She swears he thinks the cats are going to eat them."

"Oh, now, Tawny and her mate are good familiars." He knew how it was. People thought his wolf might turn on Grant, too, despite companions like that being commonplace for a guardian. Hell, Jason had the meanest pair of raccoons he'd ever met. And they had opposable thumbs.

"Oh, I know. I would be more worried about Teaball." Georgia handed him his coffee. "That little carnivore is vicious."

"Ah, fuck, the little lizard-bird is mean as hell and vaguely terrifying." He couldn't imagine being Dakota and having to actually listen to the little shit talk. Apparently, Teaball was kind of an asshole, which surprised no one, not even Amber, who reportedly loved the little bastard.

He shook his head. "I still can't believe that Dakota had twins. I have to admit, though, those little girls are beautiful."

Not as beautiful as his son, of course. His son had these amazing eyes just like his mom's, but everything else about him reminded Jake of his sister.

"They are. Of course, Grant is. All babies are beautiful so that we don't kill them until they get older."

"That's reasonable. There were a few nights that yes… I understood that. For the most part though, Grant's a good boy. He likes to eat; he likes to sleep; he likes to be comfortable. Really beyond that. He's all right."

She handed him the coffees and the pastries. "I'm probably going to close right after the lunch hour, so if you could tell Amber I'll take her back across. I don't see any reason for any of us to be open. Tonight, they say that there's going to be more snow, so the humans won't be traveling."

"I'll let her know, sure." He paid and tipped and then headed out. It was bitter out here, that was for sure, and the wind was beginning to pick up again.

Jake didn't mind the snow. It kept people from poking around and made things safer in the wing. He didn't spend near as much time out and about as everyone else had.

Most of the guardians spent an enormous amount of time in the human world amassing wealth. Jake really didn't feel any need to leave. He was a builder. He could spend hours and hours in his wood shop creating things, if left to his own devices.

Grant had ensured that he had no more of that—either devices or own time, to be honest. One wouldn't think that a tiny thing who slept so much could take up so much of his time.

It didn't make any sense, but given every other parent in the history of parents had said the same thing, Jake would accept it as true.

He headed next door into the bookstore, that jingle of the little bell above the door making him smile. He searched for Grant, who was sound asleep in his carrier.

"Hey, lady. Georgia says that she's going to close at lunch, and that she'll give you a ride in. You and lizard boy."

"I think that's probably smart. I've been listening to the radio, and I don't love this blizzard condition. Do you think that Mari's going to be okay? Should we bring her? In with us, I mean."

The wing's wards didn't stretch as far as Mari's little set of cabins. It wouldn't take hardly any time for her to get in past the wards, but if the snow was too deep for her to get anywhere, and if flying conditions were just too bad…

Jake shook his head. He didn't love leaving her behind. "We should totally make sure she's safe. Even if she refuses, we should offer. I can call Lars. You said he was over there, right?"

"With the new dragon."

Fuck, what were they gonna do with the new dragon? They couldn't just bring him in past the wards, but they couldn't leave him stranded.

Hell, if he had nefarious intent, he would just go boom.

Which, okay, would be kind of fun to watch, but not nice. Very not nice.

He grabbed his phone, dialing Lars.

"Jake, buddy, how you doing?" He could hear that Lars was on the road.

"I'm good. Are you still at the cabins?"

"I am not. I am, in fact, taking Mari and my very new best friend over to the house."

"Are we on speaker?"

"We are not. But thank you for asking."

"Right, so." He pursed his lips. "Are you sure that this is wise?"

He didn't even know what happened if someone passed the wards in Lars's car and happened to explode. He wasn't even sure that the explosion was an actual thing, but an explosion inside a car?

That was bad.

It was just not good.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about."

He was gonna kick Lars's butt for that little singsong bullshit.

"I will call your brother." Probably not the bravest thing to say, but it was the most effective for sure.

He adored Lars, loved him. The man was giving and caring and quick and clever and completely not the wisest guardian in the history of the Earth, and there was a long history of the Earth.

"Nonsense. We don't need help. We're fine. I'm going to drop Mari off at Amber's house, and then I'm going to head to my place. I've spoken to Samuel about it. He's perfectly willing to come with me, and we're going to have a glorious time while the snows are there. He's even called his rental car company."

"Lars…" He didn't like this. He didn't want Lars alone with some random dragon no one knew.

"Oh no, no, don't worry at all. We'll be fine. Would you like to stop over for supper? Maybe in a day or two."

He heard over the line. "Do you honestly think it'll be a day or two?"

"Maybe longer, sweetpea? The snow is so unpredictable."

Lars's skill wasn't making weather, was it? He'd forgotten to ask. He should totally ask.

Logan would know.

"Oh." That was small, panicky sound.

"You should come to supper, Jake."

There was something in Lars's tone, something that told him there was more to Lars taking this guy in and giving him a place to stay for a few days to weather the storm.

"Okay. As soon as the storm stops dumping, I'll come over." Maybe he would get someone to watch Grant for him so he didn't put his baby in any kind of jeopardy. But then, he could always bring Bumper with him and let the big wolf do his job.

Although really, he couldn't imagine the dragon who'd made that worried little noise being dangerous.

"Excellent. I want to cook for you."

Jake chuckled. "Sure. Just nothing with weird vegan protein."

"Oh, now, you take all the fun out of it. Actually, I was going to smoke a couple of chickens. Maybe a turkey breast."

Lars had an amazing outdoor kitchen in his huge, rambling gardens. The covered area had a smoker, two grills, and a counter with a plumbed sink. Jake had some envy there.

"I can get behind that. What should I bring?"

"Cheese and crackers?"

Sweet dragon—Lars would pick something that he would have at the house already.

"I could totally do that. Thanks, man."

"Of course. I'll give you a call, and we'll set up a solid date either tomorrow night or the night after."

The phone went dead, and Jake looked at Amber. "So tell me. What happens if a guardian, say Lars, was to take a stranger dragon, say the guy at the cabin, and drive him across the wards? I mean, in his car, and he's bad."

"Who's bad?"

"The dragon."

"Which dragon?"

He was going to scream. "The new one!"

She tilted her head. Teaball was doing the exact same thing. "Do you think he's bad? Georgia didn't think he was evil."

"Georgia isn't a guardian."

Amber shrugged with her hands. "Lars is."

"That's not the point."

"What is the point then? You're guardians, right? You're supposed to guard. I mean, you're not supposed to ‘ian', right? Obviously, if Lars thinks it's fine, it's fine."

But it was Lars.

And he loved Lars…

But it was Lars.

He'd feel so much better if it was Logan. He would feel twenty-seven thousand times better if it was Jason.

Or Bea. Bea would have just eaten the other dragon. She wouldn't have even spoken to him. It would have just been chomp, nom nom nom, and then no one would have to worry about any of this. Why on earth had Mari called Lars?

He stared at Amber. "Okay. I was just curious."

Amber shook her head. "Never seen it happen, you know. The burning-to-a-crisp deal, yeah. That's kind of fun. I don't think there's an actual physical explosion, like kaboom, but who knows? Wards change. Guardians change."

Jake arched one eyebrow. "You sure you don't want to be a guardian, Amber? We can promote you. Jason's leaving…"

She glared at him. "Bite your tongue. Me? No. I want to run my little bookstore. Really. That's it. That's what I want. I just want to run my little bookstore."

"Uh-huh. I think what you want is to be with your girl, but that's okay." Jake grinned. "It's too bad, though. You would make a great guardian."

She shook her head, warding him off with her hands, waving them in front of her. "No, I'm too much of a busybody. I really like to do all the fun stuff."

Jake just snorted, nodding. "I guess that's okay, too. It takes all kinds."

He was willing to let it drop with Amber. Still, he was really worried about Lars. He didn't want to have to just run over there to appease his niggling doubts. He would wait until he was invited to dinner.

But, damn. He wandered over to check on Grant, who giggled and waved to him, and he played with his son for a few seconds. Then he went and wended his way around the store, looking for books, trying not to be a jerk. It was tough, and finally, he just hid back in the stacks and pulled out his phone to call Logan.

He was afraid that—Well, he just needed some reassurance. And Logan was the acting platinum dragon, even though that really wasn't his job. But Jason Delray was mostly retired, so it was so confusing sometimes. He wasn't sure where his place was on the phone tree, to be perfectly honest.

Maybe he was supposed to be calling Bea and she was supposed to be dealing with it. He just didn't know. But. Logan would have an idea of what to do. And he'd waited long enough.

"Hello. Tell me there's an emergency," Logan said by way of answering the phone.

"What?" Jake wondered if maybe he'd fallen into an alternate universe. Then the screaming in the background registered. Oh, the twins must be colicky today.

"An emergency. Fire. Ice. Acid. Volcanoes. Thunder snow. Tornadoes filled with crocodiles. A plague of locusts. You saw three ravens today. I don't care. Tell me there's something you need me to deal with immediately that is not in this house."

That he could do. "I think that your brother is trying to bring a strange dragon through the wards, and I'm afraid he's going to explode in the car."

There was a moment of silence before he heard a door close. "Are you serious? Or did you just make this up for me?"

"Oh, no. I'm serious. I actually mean it. Lars has an unknown dragon in his SUV, and they're passing the wing barriers."

"Hold on. I'm going to put you on the three-way call."

"Oh, no. No, I—" The line went on hold, and he slumped against the bookshelves.

Great.

Now he was going to have to explain to Lars why he'd talked to Logan when Lars had just called him.

This whole guardian thing was very stressful.

"Why the hell are you calling me?"

Uh, that wasn't Lars, that was Bea. It was way more dangerous to bother Bea.

"I'm calling you because Jake called me. And I would normally call Jason, but Jason's gone flying with his wife."

"In this weather?" Bea growled. "Are you sure?"

"Well, he left like a week ago and they went to Hawaii. Hey, aren't you a guardian? Aren't you supposed to be on top of shit? Surely there's a mailing list?"

Jake sighed. "I think Jason made a Facebook group."

Logan snorted. "Who uses Facebook in this day and age?"

"Not me," Bea rumbled low. "Can't you people just call like normal people?"

"Well, I sort of did," Jake pointed out. "I mean, right. This is the phone?"

"By call, I mean text."

Goddess, he had a headache.

"Look," Logan interrupted. "Pay attention. Apparently, Lars has picked up some stray and is bringing him through the wards. Jake here seems to be worried that there's going to be an explosion."

"Is he carrying C4? I have use for C4."

"Bea, we've discussed this. No. No explosives."

Jake rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I don't know that. No, he doesn't have C4. He's just—he's a strange dragon. Do we just bring them through the wards willy-nilly?"

"Did the kid just say willy-nilly?"

Logan sighed. "Yeah. He just said willy-nilly. He was raised by his grandparents or something. We love him though."

"I was not raised by my grandparents. You make it sound like I was raised by wolves! I was simply worried about the wing." Jake was really very frustrated with this whole thing.

Why didn't anyone care? Someone should care.

"You said Lars had him," Bea pointed out. "The current position is that Lars is a guardian. He should be able to bring people through the wards. It's in his job description."

"Not only that," Logan added. "Bad guys really don't explode. I mean there's burning—more like holy, magical fire. I mean it's unpleasant and not particularly good smelling, but there's no actual boom. It's just fire. Also, I want bacon."

"Mmm…bacon. Does that mean that fire-breathing dragons can just pass-through, even if they're crappy?" Bea asked.

"It's been a very long time since anyone passed through the wards uninvited, but the rumor is that even fire-breathing dragons can in theory be caught on fire, but that's not the point. They do not explode. Unless there are explosives on them when they catch on fire, then yes, possibly explosions. Is there a place without screaming babies that we can get bacon?"

"I hate you both." Jake squeezed his eyes closed and hit the end call button. He was totally making a text group for all of them, and fuck Jason and his damn Facebook group.

If everyone was just hunky dory with randos coming through the wards, who was he to argue?

He would just be hanging around waiting to say "I told you so" when it all went terribly wrong.