10
ORLANDO
I took the elevator down to the lobby in brooding silence.
I’d been worried about my situation with Cassie before. Intrusive, despairing thoughts that had plagued me all night. I berated myself for rushing into something with a stranger. I ridiculed the stupidity of sleeping with Cassie, making her my mate, before telling her everything that went along with it. I’d fretted and paced and not gotten any sleep because I wondered if I’d ruined any chance with the woman I was fated to be with.
But not anymore.
Now, having visited Cassie in her office—where she had a day job, I guess?—I knew I hadn’t ruined anything. I could feel her desire for me. It pulsed into my own heart through the totem that joined us. It wafted off of her curvy hourglass body, bolstering my confidence with each wave. And I could see it in the way she looked at me, the eager lust in her eyes while she tried to tell me to go.
I had her. I was so close.
She was my mate, even if she didn’t realize it yet. All I needed to do was give her some more time, to let her break down her own barriers before giving in to our mutual destiny.
God, I couldn’t wait. It had taken all of my willpower not to pounce on her in that office, feel her lips against mine and to run my hand through her silky hair…
I took a shuddering breath. I couldn’t wait for her to come around.
The elevator opened and I strode through the lobby. The guard brightened up when he saw me.
“She’s not convinced yet,” I said, tossing him my flowers. “Thanks for letting me try.”
“Hey, no sweat, Orlando. See you at salsa on Friday?”
“Sure, see ya then.”
But I didn’t know if I’d still be here by Friday. Hopefully Cassie would give in to her desires before then.
I exited onto the busy sidewalk and fell into the stream of people walking along. I wasn’t sure what to do next. I was confident that if I gave Cassie some space she’d stop resisting her feelings, but I wasn’t sure how much time to wait. A day or two? Should I wait for her to come to me, or should I randomly show up at her apartment again on Monday?
And there was the problem of the threats. Cassie’s pimp, or agent, or whoever managed her escort service, had left some very threatening emails if I bothered Cassie again. Even if she eventually came around, I didn’t want to trigger her pimp’s rage. Nothing killed a relationship quicker than two broken kneecaps.
In the mean time… there was the other thing.
The Onyx Dragon.
As I walked along, I couldn’t help but tilt my gaze to the sky in between buildings. He was out there, somewhere. If my friends were to be believed, shifting into my gryphon form was like shining a giant spotlight on my location, drawing them to me. Ethan’s dragon had to travel from Louisiana to Texas to find him, but Roland said his dragon was sniffing around Boston before he shifted for the first time. So they had some sort of sense.
I wondered where my dragon was. For all I knew, he could be anyone walking around on the street. He could he right in front of me.
It was tough to walk around like nothing was wrong with that thought in my head.
Rather than go back to my apartment, I made my way down to Grant Park, and then the lakefront. There were a scattering of runners along the path but fewer than usual thanks to the chilly weather. I liked that just fine. Being able to see individuals jogging in the opposite direction felt a thousand times safer than being in a crowd where anyone could be the dragon, and from here I could scan more of the sky.
I’d promised to check-in with Ethan today, so I pulled out my phone and dialed his number.
“Hey pal,” he said after only one ring. “Everything going fine?”
“Well, I’m not burned to a crisp yet,” I said with a fake chuckle. “So I guess you could say so.”
“How’s your mate?”
I paused as a jogger passed by, and waited until he was out of earshot before continuing. “I just saw her. Better than she was when I talked to you last night, but still not on board.”
“Not everyone’s as easy as me!” I heard Jessica say in the background. Ethan must have had me on speaker phone.
“The Gryphon Sluts would be a sweet name for a band,” said Ezra, Sam’s mate. I heard Sam make a choking noise.
“But I’m wearing her down,” I said. “She was real close to giving in just now. She’s fighting her feelings, but they’re going to win soon. I can feel it.”
“Yeah…” Ethan said. “Here’s the thing. We’ve all been talking, and we think you should go ahead and come to Texas.”
It took a second for his meaning to sink in. “Wait, you mean without Cassie?”
“You’re in danger,” Sam said, voice getting louder and clearer as if he were moving closer to the phone. “Since you’ve shifted, the dragon is probably sniffing you out. You might not have much time.”
“I still think we should give him more time,” Jessica said. It sounded like they’d had this argument already. “Our dragon didn’t find us until the second time Ethan shifted.”
“Yeah, okay, and ours found us within a few hours,” Ezra snapped. “Swooped down on us in the fucking parking lot.”
Their voices abruptly dimmed as Ethan took me off speaker phone.
“We’ve decided,” he explained, “that it’s too risky for you to stay there. You’re a sitting duck if you remain in Chicago, close to where you shifted. The dragons are impulsive, and prone to rage. From what we can tell, us shifting drives them crazy with bloodlust. What are you going to do if he finds you before you convince Cassie? You two haven’t had sex since you shifted, right?”
“No,” I admitted. And I knew he was right: I couldn’t shift right now even if I somehow got Cassie to press the onyx gem on the totem in my pocket. I had to recharge, as stupid as that sounded.
“But I think I only need one more day,” I said. “Two max.”
“And if the dragon finds you in the mean time, you’re a dead man. Without your powers he’d finish you in a few seconds.”
I glanced up at the sky above Lake Michigan. I didn’t feel so safe out here in the open anymore.
“You’re safe down here, where we can protect you. We’re safer together.” He hesitated. “And I think the dragons are… doing something. Their power is building like a storm, just over the horizon. Sam and I can feel it. All of us need to gather together before it’s too late.”
Everything he said made sense, or at least as much sense as something so crazy could sound. I stopped and sat on a bench, leaning back against the cold metal.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll come.”
“Good. We knew you’d listen. Oh!” Ethan gave a start. “By the way. Don’t take a plane down here.”
“What?”
“I don’t know, because Roland wouldn’t give any more details.” Ethan sounded bitter at that. “But he was very insistent. Planes aren’t safe.”
“Alright, no planes. I’ll figure something out,” I said. “But what about Cassie? I’m just supposed to leave her here? Or Are you suggesting I kidnap her and throw her in my trunk?”
I said the last part as a joke, but Ethan took it at face value.
“No, we decided that’s probably not ideal. Getting arrested is probably just as bad as the dragon finding you.”
“Then what?”
There was a brushing sound as someone else took the phone. “Orlando,” Jessica said, “don’t worry about Cassie. Just get down here… and she’ll follow.”
She paused for a moment, and I could almost feel the others nodding along.
“The totem won’t let her stay,” she said. “If you leave Chicago, so will she.”