A satisfying click filled the air, and then the collar fell off my neck. Relief flooded through me as I felt a tiny bit of my power returning. I rubbed my throat with one still manacled hand and sent a thank you Gaia’s way for my freedom.
When I glanced away from my unexpected savior who was now working to release the rest of my constraints, I saw Cale smiling at my reaction. He knew precisely how relieved I was.
“Later, you can admit this was a great idea. I will accept all expressions of sincere gratitude.”
The ancient-looking locksmith turned and glared at Cale. “Your lady should be kicking your keister for locking her up in these things and then losing the key. You should know by now to put that dang key in a safe place until you’re done playing your games.”
“Yeah, you heard the man, Cale. I should kick your butt for losing the key,” I repeated, giggling my way through the words.
Cale glared at me, but my happiness to be set free was too great to care how he felt about my teasing.
The locksmith made a disgusted sound. “At least you didn’t make your lady strip first like some guys do. You don’t want to know how many naked women I’ve had to take chains off of—well, men too, actually. The sheer number of these kinds of calls would shock both of you.”
Cale and I grinned at each other but said nothing else while the man finished his task.
The locksmith somehow managed to make a key from a malleable resin he said he used for custom molds. He dipped the filed down plastic model into some kind of chemical hardener and then set it out to dry. Ten minutes later, he pronounced it ready. The resulting key wasn’t metal hard, but it worked well enough to turn the simple locks built into the Dragon chains.
Science was the Mortal Realm’s one saving grace. Unfortunately, it was also the source of most of their problems, but that was a discussion meant for another day.
When the final ankle manacle fell off, I gathered up the chains and put them into one of my mother’s laundry baskets.
The locksmith made me giggle when he handed me the key instead of Cale.
“That will be three hundred and thirteen dollars, Miss.”
“Here you go.” Cale handed the man a single bill that widened the older man’s eyes and made them sparkle as brightly as Petal’s green glitter. It must have been a five-hundred-dollar bill to elicit such a reaction.
“Consider the rest a bonus for coming so quickly and being so discreet,” Cale told him.
The locksmith thanked Cale over and over as they walked out of the house together.
While they were gone, I retreated to the bathroom attached to my bedroom and shed all the clothes I’d worn. I stayed in the shower long enough for the water to turn cool before I reluctantly climbed out. With most of the dungeon funk finally removed, I dressed and then combed my wet hair.
Wandering through the house looking for Cale, I eventually found him in the kitchen. He punched the start button on the microwave when he saw me.
“Got your power back yet?” he asked.
“It’s returning slowly,” I said, sliding into a seat at my mother’s table.
She was missing from the house, as usual. My adopted mother was the last person I had time to worry about, so I didn’t bother. I had to trust that she knew to take care of herself and watch her own back.
When the microwave dinged, Cale brought me a fragrant dish of something that smelled wonderful. He set it down in front of me, then fetched a fork and napkin.
“You’re spoiling me.”
Cale smiled. “Maybe I’m hoping you’ll return the favor one day. This is my grandmother’s pastitsio. She makes it every week, and there are always leftovers, even with Indar living with us now. We’re learning that Dragons eat more food than humans do. That explains so much about why the men in my family are always hungry.”
“Yum… thank you. I love lamb.”
At first Cale looked surprised that I knew what pastitsio was, then his face cleared of confusion. “I keep forgetting you’re Greek too.”
“That’s right. I’m as Greek as you,” I said as I dug happily into the food. “Did you have someone courier food here?”
“No, I flew home and got it while you were in the shower.”
My fork paused on its way to my mouth. Did he really fly home? “Can you keep mortals from seeing you?”
“No one screamed about seeing a Dragon, so I’m going with a yes answer.”
“Petal’s gift do this?” I asked with a smile.
Cale nodded. “Yes, it seems to be a gift that keeps on giving.”
I laughed at the happiness in his voice as I finished the meal he’d provided. When I set down my fork, I sighed in contentment. “Thank you so much for feeding me.”
“You’re welcome, Atlanta. I enjoy feeding you. So does my family. They’re happy you saved Indar.”
I smiled. “Indar helped save me back today. That’s how things work when you treat people well. I know I keep saying that, but I don’t think people are taking me seriously.”
My thoughts automatically drifted to Duff and Liam. Duff was more right, and Liam’s attitude needed adjusting, but they’d both gotten fooled. If Ewan’s story was true, it wasn’t just Hamlin’s trickery. Duff’s parents had been behind the incident that destroyed their relationship.
Cale crossed his arms and stared at me. “You’d already decided to save Indar whether he kept his word to you or not.”
“You’re right. I did. I decided to save Indar the moment I felt my father’s energy emanating from the statue.”
“But Indar did keep his word to you about telling where to find the Dragon that guarded the fleece.”
I nodded as I ran through it again in my mind. There was so much more to it than simply keeping promises, but how could I explain?
“I saved Indar for many reasons. Your grandfather believed that the person in the statue was a real Dragon and Theo deserved to know he was right. I’d decided that before I knew the truth myself. Then there was Athena fainting at the sight of Indar.”
“But you didn’t save Indar hoping for a favor in return.”
“No, and yet here I am beholden to Indar, as well as to the rest of you.” I stood and carried my dishes to the sink. “I’m tired, but I need to find Duff as soon as possible. She might be in trouble.”
Cale nodded. “I agree with you. When you didn’t return in a few hours, I went to Duff’s bar looking for you both. There was a closed sign and a note on the door citing there had been a death in her family.”
I nodded. “That was Jane doing her job. Jane’s a fairy.”
“I saw Jane while I was there. She came to the door to talk to me.”
I turned to look at Cale. “What did she say?”
“She told me to tell Duff to stay out of Otherworld because it wasn’t safe for her there.”
I sighed. “Something happened to put Duff on the run. I honestly don’t think she’d leave me in the Otherworld dungeon on purpose.”
I woke from dreams a short time after lying down with my heart racing. In the soft light of the partially open bathroom door, I could see I was back in my room and not still in the cell.
Thanks to Hamlin, my days of sleeping in complete darkness might be officially over.
I could see Night and the parrot cuddled together on his perch. The house was totally quiet. Everything was just as it should be.
Except Duff was still missing.
Even though we’d had a long day and barely any sleep, Cale and I made the rounds checking in with his family and visiting Duff’s bar, which was still closed. At the end of our trek, I admitted to him that I was too tired to do any more sleuthing.
My body had been without magic too long. It was coming back, but at the moment, I functioned like a half-full battery. Sleep should have helped, but how could it when I was too filled with anxiety?
I went to the bathroom and then crawled back into bed. Every time I closed my eyes, though, I was back in the Otherworld dungeon. After staring at the ceiling for an hour, I gave up.
I pulled on workout sweats, socks, and my loosest shirt. I tapped lightly on Cale’s door in the hallway before opening it to see if he was sleeping. I found him reading on his phone.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey,” Cale said back.
He set the phone on the side table, which I knew was his new way of showing me I had his full attention. “I can’t sleep.”
“Me either,” Cale said. He patted the space beside him and then scooted over.
“I’m not…”
“Quit making excuses and get over here.”
I snorted as I tromped to the bed and cautiously sat where he’d said to sit. He reached under my knees and lifted my legs into bed too. “I’m not sure I like this more aggressive side of you.”
“Bet I could make you love it,” Cale whispered as he arranged my legs and pulled the covers up to tuck around both of us.
My body warmed when he sighed in my ear. “Cale?”
“Atlanta.”
“Are you naked? It’s okay if you are because I’m wearing layers.”
His chuckle in my ear made me smile. “Do you want me to be naked?” he asked.
I rolled toward him and moved lower on the pillow we were sharing until I could tuck my head under his chin and put my arm across his bare chest. Cale returned the favor and pulled me closer. I didn’t have the urge to let my hand go exploring to check his naked status for myself, but I felt sure that the desire would return soon… and with a vengeance for being denied so long.
My eyes burned as a relief to be there with him welled up in me. I was having the worst case of battle fatigue I’d ever experienced.
Or I was about to make the same mistake Athena had in becoming too fond of a Dragon.
I sighed against Cale and let his body warmth comfort me. Everyone gets needy now and again. Right?
“I like the idea of you being naked, but not so much tonight. I couldn’t give you the proper attention you deserve. Then you’d be lecturing me about how you’d finally gotten naked with me and I hadn’t reacted like you’d hoped I would. I really can’t go there after I jumped all over you for ignoring me.”
“You can have a naked raincheck,” he whispered with his lips touching my forehead.
“Or even when the sun shines again,” I whispered back. “Every time I close my eyes, I’m back in that dungeon. It would have helped if I’d gotten to kill Hamlin, but that didn’t get to happen, so now I’m having nightmares. I’m sure I’ll be better tomorrow. Once we have Duff and we figure out how to help her, I’ll be better than fine.”
“Shush now… you’re here with me and safe, Atlanta. I won’t let anyone take you back to that place. Get some rest while you can.”
Something in me must have believed Cale because I fell sound asleep with a Dragon holding me tight.