He turned away from her attack. What was that crazy woman trying to do?
She buzzed him a few more times. Her last dive landed her square on his back.
He screamed out as her claws nabbed onto his wings and she hurled him into the air… right over the side of the building.
Flipping several times in the air, his wings finally popped open about halfway down as his instincts kicked in. Michael beat them for all he was worth and was delighted when his flight leveled out.
Carissa wheeled in next to him, laughing.
“What the hell!” he growled at her.
Carissa laughed again. “Dragons are born with the instincts to fly,” she cooed, wheeling around him.
“I wasn’t born a dragon,” Michael snapped.
“Maybe not, but you still have instincts,” she pointed out before closing her wings and dropping out of the sky.
Michael’s heart dropped just as fast, and he closed his wings to chase her. He couldn’t let her hit the ground!
Carissa’s wings snapped open just feet from the concrete.
Michael followed suit and glided up behind her. As his fear subsided, joy slowly took over. Beating his wings, he overtook Carissa. He pulled a few fast corners and loops, testing out his new ability. This was fun!
“So, where are we going?” she asked as she pulled up even with him.
His mind came back from the joys of flight to what they had to do. “My place.” Michael turned and angled towards his home.
12
The three-story townhouse was lovely. Carissa considered the quiet home from where they perched across the street. Why Michael hadn’t just flown up to his house had confused her, but watching it now, there was definitely something that bothered her about it, too.
Michael’s head swung back and forth as he scanned his road. “Come on.” He turned away from the house.
Carissa looked at it for a moment longer before following her companion across his neighbor’s roof and down over the backyard.
Flying low over the ground, he dodged between trees and toys until he was several houses down.
Carissa glanced back the way they had come. It would have been so much easier just to cross the street. Holding her tongue, she followed him across the street between two cars. She had to flap hard to make it through before the second one hit her. What the hell was he thinking?
With a loud crunch of breaking branches, Michael crashed into a bush on his side of the street.
Following him in, Carissa pulled up short as he paused, looking around. “What are you doing?” she hissed at him.
He just shook his head and tucked his wings in. Scurrying along the fence line, Michael took off towards the back of the yard.
Carissa let out an exasperated sigh and followed. They crawled under bushes and squeezed through fences until they reached the back of the blue house Michael had claimed was his.
Crouching as low as he could, Michael scanned the backyard before shooting across the open grass to a small flap in the back door.
Carissa chased after him.
A couple of good knocks with his shoulder popped the old cat flap open, and he squeezed inside.
Carissa tucked in her wings and followed the end of his tufty tail. The sight that met her stopped her in her tracks. What had once been a well-maintained kitchen was now in shambles. The drawers were pulled out, and junk was dumped everywhere.
Michael slinked his way through the mess and stopped just inside the door, listening.
Carissa followed him carefully. Now she understood why he had been so cautious about approaching his home.
Michael took off down the hall, leaving Carissa standing in the doorway. She stared into his living room, shocked by the sight of it.
The kitchen had been bad, but the living room was worse. Someone had taken a blade to just about everything the man owned. Cushion foam was torn up and tossed everywhere. Books had been massacred. Even the painting above the mantel had been shredded. Either Michael had had a major fit before he left, or someone had been looking for something.
“All’s clear,” Michael said as he came back down the hall, pulling the belt of his bathrobe tight.
Apparently, he wasn’t having an issue shifting between forms any more.
He dropped a second terrycloth robe over Carissa as he turned back down the hallway.
Taking the hint, Carissa shifted and pulled the large robe on before chasing after him. The rest of his house was just as bad as the living room. “What happened?” Carissa asked as she looked over the shredded mattress that had been on his bed.
Michael bent into the closet and started pulling out what had been clean clothing. “Eternity.” He sighed. “They probably came in looking for some clue as to where I was.” He wrinkled his nose at the claw marks rending the front of his shirt before tossing it towards an overturned wastebasket. “Although, I’ve never known them to get this destructive. They must have been really upset.”
Carissa’s eyes finally identified the cause of the destruction. She had assumed the cuts were from a knife, but closer inspection showed multiple jagged lines. Someone had shifted to dragon form and torn through his place.
Michael picked up another shirt—this one was whole—and handed it to her.
“And you’re okay with this?” Carissa asked as she rubbed the shirt between her fingers.
“No. I’m not okay with it,” Michael growled, and then he let out a sigh. “But, I understand it. If they thought I was killing dragons…” He let the subject drop as he went back to searching for clothing.
“How are we going to find your file in this mess?” Carissa pulled off the bathrobe and slipped into Michael’s shirt. It hung low enough that it was almost decent.
“We’re not.” Michael handed her a pair of jeans. There was a tear down the front of the leg, but it looked more artful than damaged.
A belt followed, and she pulled on the oversized pants and secured them in place.
“The file was never here.” Michael found another set of clothing that wasn’t too bad off and quickly changed into them. “I mailed it to a friend of mine.”
Carissa looked around at the mess. “Then what are we doing here?” She was sure his home had been lovely before someone had ransacked it.
“Getting dressed.” Michael found two socks and pulled them on. “I’m not sure what Terrance would do if we showed up at his house as dragons.” He shrugged as he fished a boot out from under what was left of his bed. “He’s a bit of a nutcase.”
Carissa gave him a pointed look. “And you thought to send him a file on dragon disappearances?” she questioned.
Michael shrugged again and collected the second boot from behind a desk. This one looked slightly chewed. “He might believe in the second shooter on the grassy knoll, but he’s one of the best statisticians I’ve ever met.” Michael struggled into the boots before standing up and scanning the room again. “Anyway, I’ve known him for a long time. If Eternity’s put a price on my head, then he’s the one person I can trust to not turn me in.”
Looking at the mess they’d left, Carissa was sure that Eternity had put a bounty out for Michael.
“Here.” Michael handed her a pair of leather moccasins tied together. They’d been hanging over what was left of the ceiling fan.
Taking them, Carissa worked the leather thongs apart and pulled them on. “How are we going to get there?” she asked as she stood up in the oversized shoes.
Michael held out a ratty-looking, leather jacket. “In style.” He smiled and led the way out.
Thank goodness he hadn’t told his boss about the arrangement he had with his neighbor. Michael smiled as he opened up the gate in his side fence and let Carissa into the little shed in Mrs. Giuffria’s backyard. Thin light filtered in through the dirty window, shining over a multitude of gardening supplies. The grandmotherly woman had donated a small section of her storage area in payment for his help tilling her garden in the springtime. Two days of backbreaking work was turning out to be well worth it.