Page 39 of The Accidental Dragon Baby

It sounded familiar. In fact, he’d seen that just recently—

Mary hiccupped. A tiny flame sputtered out of her mouth, there and gone in a second.

“Damn it!” Ivo tugged the baby blanket over Mary to hide her from the public.

Except there was a sudden sharpness in the air, something that felt like danger.

“Ivo,” Ace growled, his dragon pressing just under his skin.

Ivo snapped to alertness, glancing around.

“We should get out of here.” Ace took Ivo’s arm and turned him toward the exit.

Two steps in, a hooded figure entered the aisle, cutting them off.

It was no ordinary human. Shadows swirled under the person’s hood, so dark that Ace could not see their face at all.

A second person stepped into the aisle behind them.

Ivo turned and swore. “It’s a metal guy.”

Thosewere a pain, too. The silver-skinned men could turn their bodies into liquid metal at will, and they were impossible to pin down.

“Fuck. Ivo,” Ace began.

“I need a distraction,” Ivo muttered under his breath, so quietly that maybe the kidnappers hadn’t heard him at all. Did he plan on running?

“Harvey,” Ace ordered. “Get in here.”

But Harvey was at the car, and too damn far away.

“Ivo, I need you to stay safe.”

Ivo nodded tersely. “Just—buy me time.”

The kidnappers charged at the same time.

There was only one way Ace could keep Ivo safe right now.

He drew a deep breath. Then he spat fire at the shadow-man. The moment the fireball was airborne, Ace turned and did the same with the silver-skinned man at his back. He keptalternating fireballs, keeping a wall of flame on either side of himself and Ivo.

When he glanced down, Ivo had disappeared along with Mary, leaving a pile of their clothes behind.

He heard the patter of feet scampering away. Small and quick.

Good enough.

Ace charged at the shadow-man and grabbed him by the neck. Some of the blankets were burning around them; Ace slammed the man into the blankets so his jacket caught fire from the back, too.

The man screamed. Shadowy tendrils shot up Ace’s arm, going straight for his heart.

He breathed his hottest blue flames into the man’s hood until the shadows shriveled and pulled back.

Footsteps thumped behind him—the other kidnapper closing in.

Wheels screeched. There was a metallic crash, followed by the sound of splashing.

When Ace turned, he found the silver-skinned man scattered into puddles of liquid metal, Ivo’s shopping cart wheeling around to charge at him again.

---