I shouldn’t be laughing.
It’s not really the time for laughing.
Cameron has been off with the clan all day, trying to figure out a way to get this sickness under control. I’m at home for now, but I’m going to leave soon to go pick up baby Daisy. I’ll be watching her while Ellie and Cameron help their mother at the clinic. She’s doing her best to keep everyone hydrated, comfortable, and most of all, alive. Natalie left to go find a doctor who can help with this, but I don’t know how realistic it is to think she’ll be able to find him.
This guy, Donald, left the clan so long ago. The details are a little vague, but apparently, Natalie’s little brother died under his care and he couldn’t seem to forgive himself. That’s why he left. He needed to go to a place where he could start fresh and where he wouldn’t just be the guy who let a little kid die.
I get it.
Really, I do.
It’s hard to stay in the same place when you think you’re going to be judged or hurt or where you made a huge mistake. Nobody wants to be looked at as the person who failed, as the person who let everyone down.
I hope she finds him.
I hope Natalie is able to locate this guy and that he makes the right choice. For all of our sakes, it would be incredible. I don’t want to wish too hard, but we need a miracle right now. We need this guy, this doctor. Henrietta and the medical technicians who work here are doing everything they can, but it might not be enough. It might not be enough to save Fablestone, but Donald can.
I shove my hands in my pockets, and immediately, I still.
There’s something in my left pocket, something I’d completely forgotten about, something that’s very, very important. I don’t have to look at it to know what it is, but I pull it out slowly, anyway. And then I stare at the business card with the phone number printed on the front, and I realize I’ve made a terrible mistake.
I should have given this to the clan leaders weeks ago.
I should have given this to them before we attacked the Lucky compound.
I should have turned it over and told them that two Lucky scientists visited me before I came to the clan, and that they gave me a business card with their fucking phone number on it. I should have done all of those things, but I was so busy trying to protect Cameron’s niece, Daisy, that I didn’t.
Now I have the card, though, and there’s only one thing to do.
I have to get it to Cameron. He’ll know what to do next.
I forget about Donald and Natalie and everything else, and I take off running.
I have to find him.
Chapter Four
Natalie
The storm clouds look worse as I leave the little diner and head back toward the mountains. I need to get back to Fablestone and spend as much time as possible with my father before…
I suck in a breath.
Before he dies.
That’s what’s going to happen, I realize. My father is going to die because the one clue I had to find the leader we need was a shitty clue.
And I didn’t do a very good job with it, did I?
This would never have happened if I was a real dragon.
If I was a real dragon with wings who could shift and fly and hunt, I could just fucking find him. This isn’t true, but right now, I’m in the midst of a full-blown pity party, so I’m going to imagine it’s true. The reality is that Cameron, Wilson, or even Henrietta wouldn’t have been able to find Donald, either.
This fucker doesn’t want to be found, apparently, and that’s fine.
So what if the whole clan dies?
So what if they all have horrible, terrible deaths?