Today, I have to find the woman who has my niece, and I have to do it before someone else – or something else – finds her first.
I fly low to the forest, and I start to search.
Chapter Seven
Peggy
Daisy doesn’t cry.
It’s strange and it makes me feel a little bit uncomfortable. Shouldn’t she be crying? Shouldn’t she be afraid? I would be, if I were a little baby and having to run through the forest with a stranger. She’s perfectly quiet, though, and calm as I move as swiftly as possible through the dense underbrush of the forest.
I’m making mistakes right now and I’m very aware of that.
I’m running in the opposite direction I came from, moving deeper into the forest instead of out of it. After I kicked the man, the dragon shifter, my only focus was on getting as far away as possible.
So now I’m running, racing against time and everything in the world. Now I’m running with the hope that somehow, everything is going to be okay. Only, I don’t know if I actually believe that anymore. I don’t know if that’s actually a real possibility.
I wasn’t supposed to have a baby to take care of this week.
I wasn’t supposed to have kittens, either.
All I was supposed to do was go to work, go home, and paint.
Daisy squeals, suddenly, and I stop, looking around. Did she sense something I didn’t? She’s a dragon shifter, after all. Even if she can’t shift yet, it’s possible that she’s aware of things that I’m not. She makes another little noise, and I look in the direction she is. In the distance, I see a faint light.
Is it possible there are humans around here?
The dragon hasn’t caught up with me yet, but I know I probably won’t have long before he rears his ugly head. No, that’s not true. There was nothing ugly about that damn man. He was everything anyone could ever want in a man, actually, and I’m embarrassed with just how turned I got around him.
My own romantic history has been spotty.
It’s mostly been non-existent, to be honest.
That’s not important, though. What matters is finding out if there’s shelter up ahead. Are there humans? Good humans? What about shifters? The forest is filled with many different types of shifters. It’s possible there’s a good group of them here who might be able to protect Daisy and me.
Maybe they can help us find Fablestone.
I look over my shoulder and take a deep breath.
“This is it,” I whisper. “Let’s go, Daisy.”
The baby giggles quietly as I move, and I silently will her to be quiet. I step lightly, slowing my pace as I near the light. As I get closer, I can see it’s some sort of cottage or cabin here in the woods. There’s a light on inside, which is the brightness I saw while I was running.
So it’s not a clan or a group of people.
It’s just one person or family.
Would they be willing to help me?
Maybe they can tell me where to go to find Fablestone. Apparently, the website I looked at had outdated information. There was no hope at the stone tower. There was no one to guide me safely to Fablestone. There was only a man who wanted to hurt me and I was lucky to escape from him when I did.
I near the cabin. Suddenly, each footstep feels like it echoes loudly. My worn shoes crunch as I step on leaves and twigs.
“Okay, so I’m not the most graceful person,” I mumble.
Daisy starts to fuss in response and even the kittens meow from my backpack, but I keep going. At the very least, this place might have a phone I can use.
“It’s going to be fine,” I tell them, but Daisy is starting to complain and I wonder why she’s suddenly so anxious.