Page 11 of The Accidental Dragon Baby

Ivo tried not to get his hopes up. Before he could answer, Uriel pulled out his phone.

“Huh.” The mage glanced at Ivo. “Ace wants to know if you were really in heat. There’s an urgent matter he wants to speak with you about.”

Ivo squirmed. What could Ace possibly want with someone like him? “It can wait, right?”

“I don’t know,” Uriel said. “Maybe not.”

Ivo shook his head. “If it’s really important, he’ll ask you again.”

Uriel frowned. “I’ll check back with you in a couple days, see if you want to talk to him then.”

“Okay,” Ivo said. He didn’t think he was going to take Uriel up on it, though.

Ivo was going stir-crazy.His friends had gone out a few hours ago, and it had just been him and Mary alone in the apartment ever since.

“I need a change of scenery,” he muttered, glancing longingly out of the windows.

Mary squirmed and kicked in his arms, babbling happily.

“I guessyoudon’t mind staying in here, as long as I keep you fed and clean,” Ivo said drily. She smiled and stuck her fingers into his nose. “Ugh!”

Mary gurgled with infectious laughter. Ivo sighed.

He needed to feel real grass beneath his toes. Maybe roll around in it. The single square of artificial turf he had was... really miserable. It smelled like plastic and dug uncomfortably intohis skin, and it was the first thing he’d bought with the money his rescuers had given him, that he hadn’t spent on food and clothes.

Two blocks away, there was a park whose scents came through the window occasionally. If Ivo bundled Mary up and hurried over...

No one would attack them in the ten minutes they were out, right?

Ivo debated with himself for the longest time. In the end, his animal urges won. He wrapped Mary up in a loose blanket and left a note on the fridge.

Then he scurried down the stairwell and burst out into bright daylight, breathing in the scent of asphalt. He reached out as far as he could with his hearing, making sure the sidewalk was empty behind him as he hurried toward the park.

His ache grew sharper, the closer they got. In fact, it almost reminded him of his heat.

His heat had mysteriously faded after last night. In its place was an urge to build a nest in the grass and trees, to surround himself with sweet leaves near a gurgling creek.

Ivo’s teethhurtwith it. The moment he reached the park, he kicked off his shoes, moaning when he felt the soft grass between his toes. “Feels so good. Can you smell the plants, Mary? Don’t they smell so amazing?”

He held her face close to some flowers. She sneezed.

“Guess not,” Ivo said, tucking her close to himself. He wandered through the small park, jumping at the little sounds. He had towalk slowly, lift his feet carefully in case his messed-up depth perception made him trip on the tree roots.

When he found a shady spot under a large tree, Ivo set Mary down, pulling up handfuls of grass so he could start surrounding himself with it.

“You shouldn’t be doing that in a public park.”

Ivo jumped violently. When he looked up, he found a huge person towering over him.

He yelped and grabbed Mary, shoving himself against a tree.

The man held up his hands as a sign of peace, and stepped back.

“It’s me,” the man said. “Remember?”

It was Ace.

Ivo’s heart stuttered. “Oh.”

---