Filed to story: Reclaimed Book by Roxie Ray
“Yeah, I got him. Thanks for fielding the school’s calls. Sorry I didn’t text you.”
“What happened?”
I glanced at the ceiling. The familiar sound of Dylan’s current fantasy game obsession was just audible enough that I knew he wouldn’t hear me. “He got into a fight. I think his dragon is making things hard for him. His outbursts are getting worse, and this was the first violent one.”
“Shit,” Cassidy muttered. “What’d Suri say?”
“That he needs his sire.”
There was a long pause. Then Cassidy said, “Sire? Dragon shifters are always so weird about stuff like that. What happens if his sire isn’t in the picture?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Suri made it sound like it could be pretty bad. More outbursts, more uncontrolled emotions… And then there’s the question of his actual shifting. I don’t want him to be alone when that happens. And God knows I’m not prepared to walk him through that.”
“Suri can’t help?”
“He said Dylan might want to be with his clan. If he’s with a dragon he’s not related to, it could make it worse.”
“Clan!” Cassidy said. “These dragons talk like they’re from the 1400s!”
“Some of them probably are,” I muttered.
“What are you going to do?”
I said nothing.
Cassidy, my best friend since we were teenagers, expertly translated my silence. “You’re taking him to Lakeview.”
“I don’t see any other option.”
Cassidy was the only other person in Atlanta who knew Lakeview the way I did. She had been with me that fateful summer ten years ago, when I had fallen hard for the hot older guy who worked at the auto shop. It was supposed to be a summer fling, a little happenstance rendezvous to keep me occupied. Plus, hanging out with Stephan and his friends had been way more fun than dealing with my troubled mom.
What had started out as fun had quickly become something intense. At least, my feelings for Stephan were intense. Strong. Sometimes overwhelming. I’d thought he’d felt the same way about me, but at the end of the summer, he’d made it clear that wasn’t the case. I was angry for a long, long time. But at the end of the day, it was a single summer, a decade-and a lifetime-ago.
Cassidy had been with me through everything. The pregnancy, the birth, those rough first few years. Cassidy was more than my friend. She was my sister.
“You already know how I feel about Ace,” Cassidy said.
The nickname almost made me smile. To everyone around him, he was Ace. To me, he’d always been Stephan. “Right. You think he’s a raging tool.”
“Well, am I wrong?”
“No, but if he’s the only one who can help Dylan through this transition, I can’t keep him from that, right? I can’t let my own anger get in the way of what Dylan needs.”
“Ace is really the only one who can help?”
“I think so,” I said.
“Ugh. I hate this.”
“Join the club.”
Cassidy sighed. “But, if that’s the best solution for Dylan, I think you’re right. I love that kid. I know he’s been having a hard time at school. If Ace can help him manage his dragon, I think it’s worth it.”
I blinked. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. Don’t sound so shocked. Obviously, I’ll gut him if he hurts you or Dylan.”
“I’d gut him first,” I said with a smile. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
“I like it when you go protective mama-bear mode. Or should I say mama-dragon?”
“I’m not the dragon in the picture,” I said. “Sometimes I wish I was. It’d make this whole process a lot easier.”
“I know. But I think you’re making the right call, all things considered.”
“Thanks, Cass.” Upstairs, the music cut off, and I heard Dylan shuffling around. “I’ve got to run. I need to order some wings and try to get this kid to eat a vegetable.”
Cassidy laughed and wished me luck. I felt better after talking to her, but the reality still loomed over me like a thundercloud. A summer back in Lakeview. A place I hadn’t been in a decade.
Would I ever be ready to see Stephan again?
ACE
“Yeah. Yeah-just the body repair? We’re still on track for next week. Nope-no, we can’t speed it up. Right. We’ll see you next week. Thanks for calling Cole’s.”
Dropping the phone back into its cradle, I leaned back in my desk chair. I tipped my head to one side, then the other, cracking my neck. I’d been sitting at my desk for way too long now, but I was responsible for managing the shop’s invoices, so I’d be here for at least another hour or two.
I stood and stretched my arms over my head with a groan. Internally, my dragon stretched too, and I felt the rustle of his wings. Unfortunately, there was no time for a quick head-clearing flight, not until I finished all this paperwork.
Stepping forward, I looked out over the shop. My second-level office wasn’t big, but it had an immense glass window overlooking the shop floor below. From here, I watched my employees work. We’d been booked for weeks, and it didn’t look like it would be letting up anytime soon. On the far end, my guys were painting a Mustang a pearlescent green; in the middle a coupe was having its doors adjusted to butterfly-style; and close to the entrance a Nissan’s body was being lowered so much the driver would be hard-pressed to get it out of the garage at all. My guys were skilled and fast. I paid well enough to attract the best mechanics and technicians in upstate New York. And on a beautiful day like this, I let them work with the garage doors flung open and classic rock blasting through the speakers.
I ran a tight ship, which was one of the reasons we were so booked. But it wasn’t just a body shop. That Mustang was a special order, and I had a lot of others like it.
I turned back to the desk and thumbed through the special orders. Each invoice was for a body repair or enhancement-a new trim, new rims, bumper fixes, or paint jobs. Each repair corresponded to the client’s special order-a half dozen handguns, a semi-automatic rifle, and all kinds of ammunition. The clients brought their cars in with cash tucked into certain compartments, and we stocked them with the ordered weapons.
I withdrew an invoice from the bottom of the pile and scanned the list. This sprawling order had come in the previous week. It was like this client wanted to do a taste-test of all the weapons we had to offer. It was a vetted referral, but something about it made my hackles rise.
I sat back down at my desk. When running a front like Cole’s, you couldn’t afford to ever let your guard down. That’s why I triple-checked all the referrals and managed our client base. The feds had been after us for years, but hadn’t managed to find any evidence of wrongdoing. But if they found me running this? I’d be locked up again in a heartbeat, and this time, it’d be for a lot longer.
And those seven years had been a really long time.
I picked up the phone and dialed the number on the invoice.
“Mr. White?” I asked.
“Speaking.”
“This is Ace from Cole’s Body Shop. I’m calling about your recent order.”
“Is there a problem?” the client asked.
Feds always had a tell. They’d tried this scheme before, and once I got them on the phone, it was easy for me to tell whether the client was in the life. Plus, I had a slight advantage over humans.
My dragon was already perked up, listening intently to the conversation.