Page 45 of Expensive

The safe in Marjorie’s office has a lot of money in it, but I’m not sure it has that much.

“I don’t know if I can get five hundred thousand dollars in cash. I have people watching my finances right now. I wasn’t aware that it would be so expensive,” I admit.

“Oh, son. The spell you are seeking will cost far more than that, but you can pay the other warlock with a wire transfer. The cash is for me. I can’t be involved with this on paper. I need people to know that I’m a safe person to turn to when they’re seeking magical prenatal care, and if this spell gets botched, it could reflect badly on me. If you can’t get five hundred thousand, bring what you can.”

There’s a kindness to what he’s saying. He’s letting me make the choice while protecting his ability to help others. But his decision is also cruel. He’s not helping me for free, and he plans to wash his hands of me if the spell goes wrong.

It’s the cruelty that makes me trust him. His offer to help me is real. I can feel it.

“Alright. I’ll leave right now. I’m less than an hour away by air.” I snap the burner phone shut and grab my regular phone.

If the Monroes have been tracking Timber, they probably track my phone too. They may even have the signal of my burner phone. But I can’t disappear to the Pallisade Ice Baths without telling someone. As much as I want to trust Howard, he could have ulterior motives. Someone should know where I’m going.

Edward went to the ice baths all the time. If I told Marjorie I was headed there, she would have no reason to suspect I was going to see a warlock. She’d just be confused about why I was leaving the house while Timber was here.

But she wouldn’t be able to get here in time to stop me.

I’m going to the Pallisade Ice Baths. Be back in a few hours.

Before she can respond, I send one last message.

If you don’t hear from me by midnight, come looking for me.

It’s a red flag for anyone who might be intercepting our texts, but it’s still necessary. Whatever warlock Howard sets me up with probably won’t be any more trustworthy than the Monroes.

I take quick steps to Marjorie’s office and input the code into the safe. Like I suspected, there isn’t five hundred thousand dollars in there, but there is well over a hundred thousand and a diamond necklace that will probably make up the difference. I toss the money, the necklace, and the burner phone into a bag, then head up to the roof.

The sooner I get out of here, the better.

I watch the skies as I pull off my clothes and deposit them in the closet. So far, I can’t see any other dragons. I shift quickly and grab the bag full of money with one paw before spreading my wings and pushing off the ground. Somewhere down below Timber is driving Edward’s car and Marjorie is probably freaking out. Maybe my father is too.

They’re the only three people in this world that I have a meaningful emotional connection with. That’s what this bond ache has done to me. I have no control over my own life. I can’t be with the man I love. I can’t even give birth without worrying about what will happen to my child.

Whatever I have to risk for my freedom, it’s worth it.

I fly toward the ocean. The Pallisade Ice Baths were built into the edge of a cliff over a hundred years ago as a retreat for ice dragon shifters from the sweltering summers in New York. In the beginning, they were nothing more than a spa, but over time magical healers like Howard and doctors that specialized in medical treatment for ice dragon shifters rented offices there. I’ve been to the Pallisade Ice Baths twice. The first time was directly before Edward and I had sex. I was given several different medications from an OB/GYN that increased my chance of conception. I didn’t get pregnant, of course. Edward was seventy, and he never ejaculated inside of me. But it certainly wasn’t from a lack of trying.

The second time was directly after Edward’s death. My father and the Monroes were “concerned” about me, so I was taken to a psychiatrist at the Ice Baths who diagnosed me with a bond ache. He also testified at the hearing where I was deemed unstable and in need of an adult legal guardian.

I’m not thrilled to return to the Ice Baths. The doctors there were never interested in my welfare. They simply did what they had to in order to placate the people who controlled my life. The warlocks could be the same, including Howard. I could end up in a situation worse than I’m in right now, and I know that.

But I could also end up free.

Flying is much faster than driving, so it takes me less than thirty minutes to get to the cliff where a collection of buildings look like they’re hanging off the edge and about to tumble into the ocean. The infrastructure is rumored to be supported by magic. That, or some sophisticated architecture. It’s impossible to say.

The Ice Baths look out onto the ocean. The air around them is thick with moisture and smells of salt. It’s more difficult to fly through, even in the fall, and during the summer, the heat has a weight to it that’s insufferable.

Sometimes it’s hard for me to understand why ice dragon shifters chose a place like this to live.

To the right of the buildings are five landing pads separated by high fencing to ensure privacy. Each of the landing pads has a traditional closet like the one on the roof of my house. After I shift back to my human form, I open the closet and grab a towel from within, drying the sweat off my body. There’s also a robe, a pair of slippers, and a copy of theNew York Times. I pull on the robe and step into the slippers but leave the newspaper inside.

Every landing pad has a door that opens to the same hallway. It splits in two directions. According to the signs, one leads to the spa and the other leads to the healing and medical offices. I take a right and end up walking into an airconditioned pathway with doors on both sides that are labeled with the names of doctors and warlocks. I’ve never entered from this direction before. If you arrive by car the entrance to the doctor’s offices are more like storefronts on the outside.

At the end of the corridor I find a door with, “Howard Barnes, Warlock, Prenatal Specialist” on a plaque. Underneath there is a second sign that says, “Entrance granted by appointment only. This is private property and protestors will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Protestors? Do people protest warlocks? I didn’t know that was happening.

Before I can knock, the door swings open and a woman with long, dark hair and rosy cheeks smiles at me. “Welcome. Please note that there’s no photography or recording beyond this point.”

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