Page 22 of How to Rescue Your Surprise Baby

This time, bubbles poured out of him. He hiccupped and scrunched up his face, starting to cry.

“Ah, crap. Baby T! What did you do?” Ace crouched next to him, his horrified expression so real that Telos almost believed him. “Why are you spitting bubbles? What the hell?”

He scooped Telos out of the stroller and rocked him until he stopped crying. When he replaced Telos in the stroller, he looked especially concerned.

“I’ll make an appointment with the doctor. We’ll have to find out what’s wrong with you.”

He pulled out his phone and tapped into it. Then he wheeled Telos to the register, placing an order for three hotdogs and a drink.

Telos saw the hooded figure approach. Ace must’ve noticed, too, because he dropped to a crouch and turned away from the stroller, retying his shoelaces. “When we get home, I’m going to buy you lots of milk,” Ace rambled at his shoe. “We should bring Teddy and Dino out for a picnic—”

Someone grabbed the stroller, pushing it rapidly away from Ace. Telos’ heart leaped.

Ace gave them a few seconds. Then he leaped up and yelled, and the kidnapper began to push Telos along faster.

It was exhilarating, actually. Knowing he had the upper hand, knowing he was perhaps one step closer to meeting Estie.

Telos kicked his feet and babbled, listening to the sounds of scuffling, of people yelling.

Ultimately, no one caught up to the kidnapper. Rough hands plucked Telos out of the stroller; the kidnapper yanked open a car door and shoved Telos into a black canvas bag.

Telos began screaming then. He kicked weakly and didn’t cry as loud—he didn’t want to get a broken arm if he could help it. Someone slapped him through the bag anyway, and it hurt. Telos cried and kicked harder.

“That’s not the way to shut a baby up,” one of the kidnappers said, voice oily.

“The other way’s to give them a concussion,” the other kidnapper replied.

Telos almost shut up, but he wasn’t supposed to understand any of that. He continued to wail, bracing himself for—

Thud.

Pain burst through him. He took the chance to fall silent, pretending to be unconscious.

“There,” the kidnapper said. “Easy as pie.”

Fuck you,Telos thought. He clenched his jaw and tried not to smell the bag—it reeked of various dried baby fluids. Instead, he reached out with his hearing, listening to a car start up in the distance.

The kidnappers began to drive. Telos listened to them, filtering out the chatter for vital information, trying not to think about the rest of it because it made him want to hurl. Or peck their eyes out with his pterodactyl beak.

They drove for a while. Then the car stopped and they grabbed the bag holding him, carrying him somewhere else.

“New ‘un,” said the one who’d snatched him.

“What species?” a different voice asked.

“We think it’s a dragon and mermaid hybrid,” the first man said gleefully.

“Put him in with the rest. We’ll transport them to the next facility in two days.”

Aw, fuck.Telos held still, listening as the kidnapper unlocked a heavy metal door. The quiet whispering behind the door fell silent abruptly.

“Feed this one too,” the kidnapper said with a distinct threat in his voice. He reached into the bag and grabbed Telos roughly; Telos wanted so badly to break his hand. Instead, he pretended to be unconscious, keeping his eyes shut when he was scoopedout onto a thin mattress. “I better not come back to find him dying.”

You could’ve broken my neck, you piss stain,Telos wanted to snarl. He waited for the footsteps to leave, for the door to clang shut and the key to turn in the lock.

For a while, no one spoke. The footsteps drifted away; the kidnappers didn’t appear to be listening.

Something shuffled closer to Telos. Heavy metal dragged across the floor. Telos cracked his eyes open to find two men much closer than they were before.

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