Page 10 of Midlife Animal Rescuer Dragon

The figure took a step into the tent.

Only then did she realize it wasn’t the hunter. The man was a lot bulkier. Not to mention he was bald. He looked like he was in his late forties, his shirt pulled tightly against his beer gut, a dyed handlebar mustache adorning his face. Dark shades rested on his nose, his eyes peering over the rims at Nora and the dragon shifter.

“There you are,” he said, his deep voice filling the tent. He had a harassed look on his face. “My kid’s been asking about the animal shelter. She won’t stop talking about it. So I brought her here.”

Henry and Nora exchanged a glance. Then Henry faced the man.

“I think you mean animalsanctuary,” he said, picking up a flyer. “Here at Green Animal Rescue Sanctuary, we—”

“Yeah, whatever you say, pal. Look, she just wants to pet the animals.” He pulled a wallet from his pocket and slapped a couple of crumpled notes on the table before Henry could say anything else. “Think that’ll cover it?”

“Bunny!” cried a child’s voice from outside.

All three of them stepped outside the tent. Sure enough, a little girl stood pointing at one of the rabbits in the petting crates. With a grin too wide for her little face, she approached the crate, giggling as she stroked the rabbit’s fur.

“She’s so cute!” she gushed. “I love her.”

“Actually, that’s ahe, kiddo,” Henry corrected with a kind smile. “But look—I think he likes you, too.”

The girl’s grin only widened. Nora watched her pet the rabbit, unsure why the sight made her feel so good inside. Perhaps it was the pure innocence of the child, unaware of the reality of the world she lived in, caring about nothing but the rabbit before her. Or perhaps it was the way Henry spoke to her. There was something about him, an air of safety that seemed to radiate off him. She’d felt it earlier, back at the sanctuary when he saved her from almost certain death. And now, even with the threat of the hunter still looming in the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but feel a bit of calm as she watched him.

She decided it was a bit weird simply standing and watching, so she decided to make herself useful. Thinking quickly, she reached for one of the boxes of T-shirts and pulled out one of the pink ones with the cartoonish rabbit in front. She held it out before the girl.

“What do you think?” she asked her.

The girl’s eyes looked like they might pop right out of their sockets.

“Bunny!” she cried again, pointing at the top. She rushed over to her father, tugging determinedly on his arm. “Daddy, can I have that T-shirt, please?”

The man gave a tired sigh. “Look, Mandy—”

“Prettyplease,with a cherry on top?” She shot him a puppy-eyed look. “I just want the T-shirt.”

The man looked at the T-shirt, then at Henry, and then at his daughter. Then he reached for his wallet again.

A minute later, he and his daughter were gone, the little girl already wearing the pink top and clutching a flyer. Nora turned to find Henry staring at her, a curious look on his face.

“See?” she said with a smile. “Branding. We just might get you your five grand before the day ends.”

Henry didn’t return the grin. His brows furrowed slightly. “You look shaken.”

It took her a moment to realize that he was right. Between watching the kid pet the rabbit and handing her the T-shirt, she hadn’t realized it, but her heart seemed to be bouncing around in her ribcage like a pachinko ball. She drew a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

“You thought that was the hunter, didn’t you?”

She nodded. In that split second before she’d realized it was just another customer, she’d been frozen in terror. She sucked in another breath.Of course it wasn’t the hunter. He couldn’t have found me already. I left him all the way in Texas.He was fast, but he couldn’t bethatfast.

Could he?

Around them, the fair continued to unfold, people milling about in excitement or exhaustion, but she had eyes only for Henry. His dark, intense gaze lingered on her, and for a moment she wondered what was going through his mind. No doubt, he was thinking about the hunter, or the fact that she was a hybrid. Nora bit the inside of her mouth. Had she made a mistake telling him what she was? What were the odds he wouldn’t turn on her?

If he did, he wouldn’t be the first.

***

“It’s happening on the Fourth,” Isobel was saying.

Nora stared across the clearing at the coven leader, unsure what she meant by that. She swept her gaze around at the other witches in the circle, none of whom seemed to share her confusion.Of course.Served her right for showing up late to the meeting. In her defense, the meeting had been somewhat impromptu, and she’d been working a late night at the eatery today.