Page 45 of Dragon's Flame
“I borrowed that woman’s phone and called Sarah.”
His nostrils flared and he leaned down. “You. What?”
“I had to say goodbye!” she protested.
His entire bearing was pissed. “And then?”
“And then she used our code word for shitty dates. We—we used to joke about whether or not a guy would butter our muffin.” She held up her hand, before he could ask. “Trust me, you did it about five times last night.”
Tarian defused a little. “And?”
“She told me I was late for my shift at the bakery—it’s just an in-joke—only I know she wasn’t at a date with anyone she’d need rescuing from at”—and here she looked for the sun to make a guess at the time—“eleven in the morning?”
“But she does need rescuing...from someone,” he said, his voice going dark.
“Cliff knew where I lived.” Which meant he knew where Sarah lived, too. She looked to Tarian to make her case. “We can’t just leave her.”
He shook his head, patting his broad chest, where their shared bond lived inside him. “I know we cannot. I felt your concern like my own.”
“But it won’t be safe. If they’ve got her—she’s bait.”
“Yes.” His expression turned grim, as he inhaled and exhaled deeply. “It would be an extraordinarily bad decision to go back to your apartment.”
Kenna nodded. “I know...but,” she said, looking up. “We don’t have to. We just need to get to an Apple store.” She then whistled for Rocky.
38
TARIAN
Tarian had no idea why going to a place where they sold fruit was so important, but seeing as it made Kenna’s face light up, he knew they were following through.
And then it turned out there were about twenty extra steps required to actually purchase fruit, which was highly confusing for him.
Their trek began at a gas station, where Kenna made him wait outside while she went inside to go buy him a shirt and flipflops, and her a hat, then at an assortment of other stores—one of the ones with strong smells and all the products for personal grooming—and someplace where one could procure a vehicle to drive.
This one she took him inside of, and pushed him towards the counter. “Do your thing,” she demanded, handing him Rax’s black plastic card back.
“I would like your finest vehicle. No—not that—your safest.”
And the pock-marked youth behind the counter had stuttered, “D-do you have a license?”
He did not, but Kenna glared at him, so he brought his magic to the fore. “Of course I do,” he said, producing an imaginary card—which was enough for the youth to be brought off, and he worked behind a plastic box for some time, doing what Tarian could not say, until keys were produced, along with a number in a parking lot.
Kenna laughed once they got back outside again. “This’ll be a lot easier once I get a working phone back.”
“Will it?” he asked, and she grinned.
“Yeah,” she said, taking the keys from him and angling towards the driver side seat of the car.
They checked into a hotel that did not seem very nice so that Kenna could manage her hair—and he noticed the things she’d bought for herself were long and baggy, proclaiming her a member of some local surfing gang.
“I don’t want people looking at me in the mall,” she announced before going into the bathroom and leaving the water running for an exceptionally long time.
“Does she like being in there?” Rocky asked, like the concept of enjoying a bath was insane.
“I’m not entirely sure,” Tarian confessed.
He could feel her emotions on the bond between them, surges of sweetness and then discontent, as she considered her situation with both him and Sarah in rapid turns, and finally he couldn’t take it anymore. He knocked on the door and walked in, peeking behind the shower curtain for her.
