Page 56 of Dragon in Boots

She had thought about it. Every day, actually. There should be places like this across the globe, in every country, with resources, manuals, and standards of care for the administrators to take in any needy creature that came their way. Like a virtual sanctuary university they could access at any time.

All of it could be used to drive public awareness, to push more humans to respect nature and its creatures. When one removed a predator from its habitat, it effected the entire ecosystem just as much as when one took away an animal that was a food source.

Shoot too many rabbits, no more coyotes. No more coyotes, too many rabbits. Too many rabbits, too much munching and no food for bees. No bees, no plant fertilization. Less food for people. There wasn’t a thread you could pick apart without causing ripples.

Yes. Humans, like every animal, had a right to eat, but their survival depended on caring for the food chains of all creatures. As the human population grew, more and more of nature’s spaces were being taken away. And if the bottom rungs of the food chains disappeared, so went the humans.

But one had to crawl before they could walk. Hunting animals into extinction for sport was evil. So was treating wild animals like status symbols to impress one’s friends.

“Thanks,” she said, “but I put my boots on every morning like anyone else around here.”

“Say all you want about being like everyone else here, but you have a fire inside, Jac. I see youandyour boots.”

A dragon in boots.Jac inhaled slowly, trying not to giggle at the mental imagery. “Thank you, Bernard. I actually needed that pep talk.” Because now, she had to confront another dragon to free a demon.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Jac drove to Dash’s apartment only to find the window blinds up, revealing from the outside that the place was vacant.He moved out?

Her heart went into overdrive, wondering if Heebie had eaten him. Dash had said that he’d already completed the cleansing ritual.

She rubbed her forehead.But so soon?

No. He can’t be dead. I refuse to accept it. Dash would’ve said goodbye. Right?

She went to find the manager’s office, hoping that someone could tell her where Dash might’ve gone.

She knocked, and an older man wearing a wifebeater answered the office door.

“Hi, um, I’m looking for the guy in unit three-oh-two? It’s urgent I speak with him, but he’s apparently moved out.”

“Yeah, people do that.” He rubbed his scruffy chin and stared at her boobs.

She ignored the gross behavior, hoping kindness would convince the man to point her in the right direction. “Can you tell me if he left a forwarding address or if he mentioned where he might go?”

“I can’t give out personal information.” He let out a juicy burp.

Yuck.“Please, it’s important.”

“How important?” He wiggled his brows.

Seriously?She was losing her patience. “Do you or don’t you know where he went?”

He rubbed his tongue over his front teeth. “Maybe.”

Double yuck!She opened her purse and dug out a twenty. “Here. It’s all I’ve got on me.”

He tilted his head to one side. “There are other ways to make it worth my while.”

Okay. Now she was pissed. “Tell me what you know, or I will come back here tonight with a very cranky tiger who really hates people. Other than me, of course. I feed him steak, so he does what I say.”

He laughed. “You just gonna go to the tiger store, huh? Bitch, you crazy.”

That’s it.Now he’d crossed a line. “Listen closely, you ginormous turd burrito…”

The man’s eyes went wide, and he stumbled back in terror. “I don’t know where he went, okay, lady? He just left some strip club’s address to forward his deposit.”

Dash was at the Pink Pit? Why?

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