Page 44 of Hungry Like A Dragon
Chapter 9
Why couldn’t they have dated for a while? Why couldn’t she have discovered what a great guy Noah wasbeforethey had a kid together? Before it became an obligation?
Because regardless of how wonderful he may seem, with Sadie in the picture, she couldn’t get past her own fear of turning into her parents.
Finally, after what felt like two lifetimes, she guided the car off the main street and down an unlit, two-lane road. The first in a row of perfectly matching, small wooden structures with rusted metal roofs came into view. Ancient, gnarled trees dripping with Spanish moss shaded what had once been the slave quarters for this old sugar plantation, the largest in the parish, back in its time.
She pushed aside the frustration over her current relationship status and focused on the most important thing in her life at the moment: finding their daughter.
“Ugh, I wish I could pump,” she said, massaging one of her hard-as-rock boobs even as her fear for Sadie’s safety ratcheted up about seventeen notches. Now that they were here, she could scarcely breathe through the sickly fear squeezing her heart.
While packing, she’d discovered the kidnappers had taken Sadie’s diaper bag and a couple of bottles from the fridge. It was possible that they truly had no intention of hurting her baby. Delilah only wanted her and Noah to get out of town.
They were dealing with humane abductors—which was good, right?
Noah was staring at her rather than watching the fascinating scenery slowly drifting by outside the windows. She averted her gaze back to the windshield. The moon was full tonight. Helpful, since there weren’t any streetlights out here.
A bayou came into view, and Petra pointed at a dilapidated brick structure she could just make out in the distance. “That’s the old sugar mill. That’s where we’re supposed to go.”
It was a skeleton of the building it once had been. The glass that had covered the arched windows had long ago broken and shattered; the wooden double doors were sagging and cracked, and there was no roof. With a wide berth of thick, tall, yellow weeds surrounding the structure, Petra had a hard time believing anyone was here right now, let alone in the past decade.
She parked the car and they both climbed out and met in front of the hood. Noah glanced at her. “Can you feel the magic?”
Petra shivered. Now that he mentioned it, the air did feel…different. More potent.
“Maybe this is where she practices her curses,” he suggested, and then he shook his head. “Come on, let’s get our daughter and get the hell out of here.”
He reached for her hand, twining their fingers, and she allowed herself a moment to relish the sensation, the closeness, the affection she could feel through the physical connection.
If only…
They waded through weeds and grass and overgrown shrubbery, the earth spongy under their shoes. Something scurried away to her left and then a moment later there was a gentle splash.
And then there was another splash, a much larger one. Perhaps a bayou where alligators lived hadn’t been that creature’s wisest choice.
Stepping up to one of the wide, arching windows, Petra glanced inside. Three-foot tall ferns blanketed the ground underneath scrub trees growing among decaying wooden beams and piles of broken brick. In the middle was a clearing, where an elderly woman sat in a rocking chair, humming to something she cradled in her arms.
A sleeping infant.
The woman had black- and white-streaked hair, a creased face, and wore a gold choker necklace similar to the one Delilah wore, with a green gem in the center.
A hand came down on Petra’s shoulder, squeezing for a moment before relaxing and remaining there. In the dim moonlight, relief was carved into Noah’s features.
He leaned closer, his breath tickling her ear, and Petra shivered.
“This place is surrounded by gargoyles,” he whispered.
She nodded and veered to the left, walking the perimeter of the decaying edifice, with Noah close behind her, until they came to a set of wooden doors with rounded tops. One door was barely attached to the structure by rusted hinges; the other simply rested against the bricks, leaving a gaping hole through which they entered, heading toward the lady in the rocking chair.
Petra cleared her throat and the elderly woman glanced up. The ghost of a smile graced her lips before she said, “Oh, hello. Are you the child’s parents?”
“Um, yes,” Petra said, moving closer, desire to have Sadie in her arms overriding any sense of concern that this was likely a trap. Noah moved with her, clearly not intending to leave her side, even if he thought she was crazy for putting them in danger like this.
“She’s lovely,” the older woman said. “Just lovely. Hardly fussed at all for me.” She sighed. “As if my desire for grandchildren wasn’t already almost too strong to bear. I really hate it when she does this to me.”
Petra inched closer. The woman made no move to run or hurt Sadie or do anything other than sit in that chair in the middle of these ruins and continue rocking.
“Who?” Petra asked.
