When I see a large body of water, I swoop low and dump my filthy, piss-stinking human into it, and fly away.

He will not bother my Dakotah or my Ribbit again.

OceanofPDF.com

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER 48

DAKOTA

“She looks so good, doesn’t she?” Aggie straightens the little hat she’s put atop Stella’s head and beams at the dog as if she’s cured cancer. “Such a smart girl.”

The smart girl has twin strings of drool hanging from her jowls. Her tail thumps on the ground, and she settles herself at Aggie’s feet, placid and fat with puppies. She’s also insanely enormous, easily the biggest dog I’ve ever seen. No wonder Curtis was so fired up to get her. He could sell mutant guard dog puppies to people in forts and make a fortune. “She’s huge,” I point out to Aggie, who might be smaller than Stella in size. “Is there a breed of dog bigger than a Great Dane?”

“Pfft, she’s not that big,” Aggie says dismissively. “And she eats less than Dottie.”

Dottie just makes a face at her friend. Rabbit giggles, the sound as happy as ever, and she pulls Kermit into her lap as we all sit near the fire and warm up dinner.

I’m glad they can relax after the day we’ve had. Me, I’m going to be hearing the words of the nomad in my nightmares. He’s told the fort about us. It doesn’t matter if Murr dumps him five hundred miles from here—if he really told someone at the fort that we have solar panels, they’ll come looking. And with every fort I’ve had experience with, they don’t appreciate people that do their own thing.

We’re in danger, but we can hide easily. I’m more concerned about Murr, because if a fort gets their hands on a dragon, who knows what they’ll do to him? And Murr is good and kind and sweet…and innocent. They could abuse that easily, and the thought terrifies me.

I’m going to have to convince him that he’s better off on his own, somehow.

We sit around the fire until it’s late, and Dottie pulls out knitting and a blanket she’s working on. “It’s going to be a cold winter,” she tells us. “We’re going to need to prepare as much as we can.”

“Can you show me how to knit?” Rabbit asks.

“If we can find more yarn, of course.”

My daughter looks over at me, her eyes bright.

“There’s bound to be a craft store somewhere in the area. We can look around when we get some free time.”

“I bet if you asked Murr to lift you in the air, you could see a lot more, Mom,” Rabbit says.

She’s not wrong, but I’m also planning on telling Murr to leave when he gets back. It’s for his own safety. “We’ll see.”

When Murr returns, it’s well past sunset and I’m nervous that he’s been gone so long. Hell, I seem to be nervous about everything lately. I’m just one big bundle of anxiety when it comes to him. The only reason I know it’s Murr is that the breeze he causes as he sails overhead nearly puts our fire out. I expect him to pop up a moment later, but he shifts to his human form at the far end of the parking lot and approaches our fire. The cats rush towards him with a chorus of meows, and he meows back at them.

It takes everything I have not to jump to my feet and throw my arms around him. I manage to keep it cool, noticing that he’s wrapped his loins before coming to sit at the fire.”Hi there,” I say, offering him a plastic bottle full of freshly boiled water. “All good?”

“Good,” he agrees. He takes the water from me, but doesn’t drink. Instead, he reaches out and touches my face, turning it slightly so he can examine the scrapes along my chin. He frowns at the sight but strokes it gently before releasing me.

“Enough flirting,” Dottie says. She nudges Aggie with her knitting needle, and Aggie awakens with a snort. “What did you do with Curtis?”

“Curtss,” he says, repeating. “Bad…man. Yes?”

“That’s right,” Rabbit says. “Very bad.”

“Murr fly.” He raises a hand, gesturing at the horizon. “Fly, fly, fly. Big water. Bad man…” He clenches a fist and then releases it, flattening, as if to mimic that he dropped him over the water.

Aggie chuckles. “I hope that was the ocean.”

Murr moves to Stella’s side and crouches near her. The dog immediately goes to him, licking his cheeks and covering him with slobbery kisses. He submits to this, grimacing as it continues. “Stella…good.”

“She’s very good. That’s enough, Stella. Let someone else love on him for a while. Like, say, Dakota.” She gives me the most obvious wink possible.

Oh brother. I take the water bottle from Murr and wet a towel, offering it to him so he can wash his face clean of dog slobber. “Why don’t we let Murr and Stella get acquainted tomorrow morning? It’s late and we could all use some sleep.”

And I personally need to talk to a dragon about plans for the future.

OceanofPDF.com

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER 49

DAKOTA

Rabbit wants to know all about Murr’s journey and where he dumped the nomad, and what it looked like from above and if there were any landmarks and…

“He can tell us all about it tomorrow,” I reassure her, picking up a random cat that rubs against my leg and plopping it into her arms. “Murr’s tired and it’s late, and Aggie and Dottie will want to hear what he has to say. Let’s save it for the morning, all right?”

She stifles a yawn, looking over at Aggie, who’s asleep in her chair again. Dottie’s managing to stay awake, but just barely, her eyes mere slits. “Tomorrow, then.” Rabbit gets up, cat still in her arms, and moves to Murr. She gives him a one-armed hug, then me one, and then Dottie and Aggie. “Night, everyone.”

Three cats trail after her, no doubt because she’s good to snuggle with.

“That’s my cue,” Aggie says, heaving herself to her feet. “Come on, Stella girl.”

The massive dog follows after Aggie, but Dottie lingers behind for a moment. She takes a long time to put away her knitting, and when she finally stands up, she moves to my side instead of heading to bed. Dottie takes my hands in hers. “She isn’t going to say it in so many words,” Dottie says, voice low and soft. “But what you did today to help us was kind and thoughtful, and we appreciate it more than you realize.”

“I didn’t do anything,” I protest. “I literally fell out of a window.”

“Murr listens to you, not to the rest of us. We noticed.” She squeezes my hands, hers trembling. “Aggie hasn’t been herself since Stella got taken. She’s been so subdued and sad. We thought we’d never see that dog again. I just want to say thank you for giving two old ladies hope.” She turns to Murr, beaming him a smile. “Both of you.”

Aggie has been subdued? Jesus Christ on a cracker. “Again, it was all Murr.”

She turns to Murr and puts her arms out. “Then let me hug you, Big Meat.”

He carefully wraps his arms around Dottie, as if she’s the most fragile of creatures, and when she pats his back, he pats hers. He glances over at me, as if seeking reassurance that this is normal, and holds her until she lets him go. She releases him, gives me a brief hug as well, and then waves a hand. “And now I’m off to bed. I hope that dog didn’t get my spot, because she snores like a freight train.”

“Let me know if you need more bedding,” I call after her. “We can make a bed for Stella if we need to.”

She disappears into the store, and then it’s just me and Murr by the fire.