Page 5 of The Buck Stops Hare

“Wish you’d been this concerned over not talking to Rayne for a year.” I glared at her, and the tiniest spark of anger fell from her face. Her breath caught, and I swore under my breath. “I can make it in a few hours if I carry you.”

“Carry me how?” She hesitated, and I pushed Jacque into her arms.

“You’ll ride. So, hold him tight.” I could swear that Jacque growled at her and settled with slight resignation.

She followed me as I left the apartment, making my way out of the garage as dust to reform on the other side. Not as a man but as a bird, one I knew from eons ago.

The great size of me had become what scientists would refer to as apterosaur. I’d been called many things over the years, thunderbird, phoenix, and one I hated more than all.Quetzalcoatl.The blood from those dark times in my life still flowed in my veins, of countless humans they’d offered to me like sustenance before I truly knew better. Before I loved, before I watched my brother be served his own mate.

I spoke through a clenched jaw as she stared up at me, slack-jawed. My great resonant crest bore flame-colored feathers that they depicted in murals and impressions throughout the ages. Many features were embellished or changed throughout the ages. Few saw this form since those days long passed, and I’d not be taking it if the life of someone Rayne cared deeply about wasn’t in the mix.

Instead of offering to let her ride my back, where there’d be nothing to grab hold of save for flimsy feathers in the way of my wing joints, I offered my leg. She strolled to a car that she’d parked by the garage and pulled out a backpack, making room for Jacque inside. “Drop me, and I’ll haunt you. Drop his rabbit and he’ll make you pay. Got it?”

I huffed and shook my leg, urging her to climb on. I liked the girl moreandless by the moment. I hoped she continued to avoid Rayne after we made sure Cliff was okay.

She didn’t act like she noticed my attitude and climbed aboard, wrapping her solid thighs around my leg and squeezing in a way that did nothing for me. Not that she wasn’t an attractive female, but unlike my brother, my preferences leaned toward masculine, solid and resilient. I craved a male beneath me that could fight back, challenge my dominance, and fall to pieces in absolute tears.

I flapped my wings and dreamed of the old days when I’d sit upon a throne while they brought men forward to me in teams to compete in Ollamaliztli, the ancient Aztec ballgame. The winning team would have the honor of feasting in my temple, and sometimes I’d choose one to carry off to my bed. As I felt the strange weight of my burden and took off, I realized those days were long since passed.

“Are you comfortable, human?” My voice snarled from a strange mouth as I glanced down.

She shrugged, the motion a nudge against my scaled leg. “Does it matter? I’ll make do. Just find Cliff.”

“Why are you so concerned with Cliff and not Rayne?” I huffed and brought us high into the clouds as the wind whipped.

“We never were close. He always lived a separate life.” She huffed and readjusted her grip. I changed the angle of my foot, making her rest easier. I could deal with discomfort if it meant speaking with her more.

“He spoke of you and his brothers. He didn’t think any of you knew.”

“That he’s omega? That he has a kid? That I set off the nerves of every single shifter and witch around me when I get upset? When did he get knocked up?” She leaned her face against my leg, cheeks cold, but the slight tremble through her body had nothing to do with the chill in the air.

“All of the above. He didn’t know any of it.”

“Cliff didn’t know, either! I started getting creepy shit happen, and Rayne seemed normal, so I kept my mouth shut. Also, he stayed hidden so much doing his internet stuff it was bound to blow up on him. I was waiting for some dark web stuff to crop up.” She huffed and earned a yap from the hare.

“I wish I could mend the broken fences to come, but you have much to learn, yourself.” I set my sights west, dead set on searching out Grim Dawn’s territory.

Chapter Four

Cliff

I woke in a bedroom stagnated with years of mustiness. Motes of dust filtered through the golden light pouring from between the slats of roman blinds, to a world obscured by ages of dust accumulated on the outside window.

A salty, cottony, unpleasant taste basted my tongue as I sat up and groaned, overwhelmed by the severe need to pee.

I assessed my person and surroundings, happy to be clothed, unhappy to lay my eyes on a single door with no doorknob. No rug covered the dusty wooden floor, the only furniture a barren bookcase, a small night table, an equally empty desk and what was likely a stool tucked under it. A quick sniff told me the area was disused but not abandoned. “Great…”

I stood and made my way to the door, knocking on with hopes of getting a trip to the bathroom…and a glass of water. If all else failed, I’d piss out a window. I’d done it before. And as I was contemplating the process, the door rattled, the clink of locks alerting me to a presence on the other side. One that greeted me soon enough as fiery eyes like that of a sunrise glared back at me at the first burst of outside light and air. I stumbled back as a thick scent assaulted me, one of raw, male musk and anger. “Omega.”

“Uh… Cliff, actually. So, before I start throwing a fit, can I piss first?” I gestured beyond the tall male, all golden-toasted skin and square features. His upper lip twitched in response and he gestured me to a door to the right, eying me silently as I walked by, nearly on my tiptoes, sock feet padding across cleaner wooden floors onto beige tile. Sad. Beige Tile. In fact, beyond all the dark-stained wood flooring, everything was a sad beige.

Not knowing if I could stand that long, I stumbled to sit upon an ecru porcelain throne, making it just in time with a sigh of relief. With the worst of the pain of necessity out of my way, I finished the world’s smallest eternity and shook things clean before taking care of the hygienic shit and washing my hands, buttoning stuff up, et cetera.

Of course, since I’d been kidnapped, I didn’t waste much time stepping out with still-damp hands to meet those same golden eyes. “Now. What the hell am I doing here?” I glared at the stranger.

“I don’t…know.” The hesitant pause in his voice irked me.

“How the fuck does someone not know why their prisoner was kidnapped and drugged and torn away from their precious little baby fluffy bunny?” Instead of pure rage, I tried to keep levity in my tones. Without any bargaining room or joviality, I was screwed.

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