Page 57 of Cruel Daddy Dragon

After a second, my stomach hurts. A pulse of worry moves through me.

It’s… my stomach? That’s the trouble?

For a long moment, I don’t understand. I’m sick? That’s the trouble?

Then, a thought hits me.Wait a minute…

A loud banging draws my attention. It rips me out of the vision I’m having, and I look out the window to see Kaius. He gives me an exaggerated shrug, and I get out of the car.

“What’s the hold up, Sarah?” he asks.

“N-nothing.” I grunt, “Long day at work.”

He gives another shrug, and we both start heading towards the mansion. I don’t want him telling Julie anything, because I… I don’t know what to make of what I’ve just seen.

I wonder if I can ask Lena for a pregnancy test subtly…

We get to the front door and Rufus and Orion open it to greet us. As I’m getting out of the car, I hear Milo call to them:

“So, what’s the emergency?”

“Come inside,” Orion says, “We need to discuss this at length. Cyrus and Evander had to leave, so we have a situation.”

The meeting at least distracts me from my current thoughts, but it has a dark tone underlying it. Orion seems to be the de facto leader when both Cyrus and Evander are away, and he leads the meeting in a grim tone.

“So, that’s what the situation is,” he says.

Kaius and Milo are silent for a moment. Julie looks between Lena and me anxiously. Lena is the one to speak first:

“Cyrus said he was going to be back in a couple of days.” She says, “Do you think we can wait that long before investigating the cave?”

“Not sure,” Orion replies, “But I don’t like how the last fight went. If Eclipse knows the importance of that cave, then they’ll be sending much more than two dragons to claim it, and we can’t fight off that many. Besides, Cyrus has made it clear that keeping Lena and Julie safe is our top priority.”

“So, we might have to sacrifice the cave?” Rufus says, “That’s what you’re saying?”

“I think so,” Orion says, “If Eclipse throws everything they have in claiming the cave, then we’d have to respond withallof Soleilus. Not only do we not have the power to do that without the Alpha, I have to wonder if it’d be worth it.”

There’s a little pause between us all. Kaius looks at Julie.

“How far along are you in making the map, babe?” he asks her.

She responds with a little surprisedOhand pushes her glasses up her nose before she answers:

“I have covered a good amount of the town. Maybe… 70% of the West side?”

“And you’ve found some areas where there might be keys, right?” Kaius asks.

“A few,” she answers.

“And the cave isn’t on the map yet, right?” he presses.

“Um… no, sorry,” Julie murmurs, “I haven’t got to that side of town yet.”

Kaius places a hand on the small of her back with a soft smile.

“It’s all right,” he says, then looks to Orion, “So, Julie’s been working on the map, and we have some other places that might be even better than the cave. Say we have to hunker down and wait for Cyrus to come back, and Eclipsegetsthe cave. We probably still have a chance to fight back as long as we have the map.”

There’s a murmuring among everyone for a second.

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