Page 25 of New Nebraska Home (New Nebraska)

Malik

THE RIGHT MOVE ISN’T ALWAYS THE SMART MOVE

O nce Liz made the decision, everyone got to work. Cal had some experience with construction—well, architecture, but whatever. So he was running around the house, ensuring it was safe and defensible. I had no idea what he was checking, but letting him do his thing was probably easier.

Brock went to make the call to Amelia’s cousin. Brock thought maybe the royal family would want to act. I didn’t like the girl, personally, but she deserved retribution or at least someone to care about what had happened.

Liz got a call from someone saying they were sending Leif home, so I went to pick him up. I didn’t want him walking home alone.

Liz didn’t argue when I made the offer. She gave me a soft smile and nodded. I told her to go upstairs and take a bath and relax, knowing she was safe, the house was safe, and I would make sure the kid was safe. She gave me a soft kiss before heading upstairs.

Watching her walk upstairs, going to take care of herself, made my dragon purr, and I promised myself I was going to do everything I could to sleep next to her that night. It wasn’t even to fuck her. I wanted to hold her, know that she was safe in my arms and no harm could come to her until the morning when the big bad dragon decided to eat her. That was how I planned to wake her up.

I hadn’t a chance to taste her or to feel that silky pussy gripping my cock today. Her mouth was like heaven, but I wanted all of her. I also wanted to prove that the real thing was much better than the books she read.

The night was still stupidly humid, but it had at least cooled down, and the kid’s house was only a few streets over.

I was only about halfway there when I saw Leif walking down the street, his head down and tears falling down his cheeks. I froze for a moment and scanned the area. There was no one around him. The house across the streets had pulled their curtains closed when he was close. He wasn’t being stalked or followed. Yet.

I ran down the street to meet him, calling his name. He looked up, and the way his gigantic eyes glistened with tears, his little ears were sad and tilted down, and his mouth twisted as another devastated sob broke me.

I dropped to my knees in front of the child and looked him over for any cuts or bruises.

“What happened? Are you okay? Did someone hurt you?”

He shook his head and tried to speak, but it turned into another sob, and he laid his head on my shoulder.

“Hey, it’s okay, buddy. I’m here. I got you.” I hugged him close. “Tell me what happened.”

“My friend’s mom came home, and she said that this sup-super-natural group let them join. They’d be safer that way. But it meant I couldn’t come over anymore. She said that Matt wasn’t allowed to play with me or ever see me again.”It took him a good two minutes for him to get that all out between sobs.

My dragon pushed against my ribs. He saw the child as his to protect.

“Look, kid, I don’t know what adults are supposed to say in situations like this. I don’t have any pretty words to make it all better. So, I am going to tell you the truth, okay?”

He nodded and puffed out his chest, a slight hint of fear in his eyes, as if he was bracing for me to say something awful.

“There are people in the world who are not worth your time. They are selfish, mean, evil, or narcissistic. Do you know what that means?”

He shook his head.

“It’s not important right now. The important part is those people don’t matter. There are also those who are real friends, people who will care about you, help you, support you, and love you for who you are and what you are unconditionally. Those are the people you want in your life, and you know how you can tell them?”

He shook his head again.

“The ones that are worth your time will never make you feel small, unwanted, or undeserving. That is something only small-minded people do to make themselves feel bigger.”

“Why?” his little voice cracked, but his tears had slowed, so maybe I was doing something right.

“Because some people are missing something inside of them. Something important.”

“How?” His eyes got big and scared.

I placed a protective hand on his shoulder and we strolled in the direction of home.

“Because somewhere along the road, someone else came and took it from them. They said something mean or did something that ripped that little piece of their soul out, and they never healed it. So I need you to do me a favor.”

“What?” The tears had stopped, and he looked up at me with wonder back in those big green eyes.

“I need you to protect that little piece inside of you. When someone does something or says something that’s mean for no reason. I need you to be brave, be strong, and not let them take it from you.”

“But how?”

“Do you remember what I told you when we were training?”

“Always have your thumb on the outside of your fist,” he answered confidently.

“Well, yes. But what else?”

“Sometimes defending is more important thanattacking?”

“Yes, that!” Pride bloomed in my chest. “When people say mean things to you, you need to block it, defend yourself. When people are mean, I want you to think of your sister and how much she loves you. And how awesome I think you are too.”

Leif’s eyes lit up, and he smiled, his ears perking right back up.

“This is probably better, anyway. You left and Brock was so bored. I almost had to drown him.”

“He can breathe underwater,” Leif laughed.

“Really? Huh, I am going to have to think of a new plan.”

Leif reached for my hand and we chatted all the way back, his tiny mitt engulfed by mine, his mood lightening everything around him. As we walked, I noticed more and more fireflies coming out and hanging around the kid. That was odd; I only saw two when I went to get him.

I wondered if their presence had something to do with the kid. It may have been his gift, or maybe it was just mother nature telling us she was happy.

I just hoped it would remain safe enough for him to stay. We couldn’t be with him twenty-four/seven. Eventually, he would have to go to school. He would have to live his own life. How long was the Temple going to plague him?

And that shifter, Sid Zmei. What was he? He smelled… wrong, like evil and something else, something chemical. It was familiar, but I didn’t know what it could be.

I did notice that he seemed to recognize what I was. Nothing good was going to come of that.

“Hey, Malik?” Leif’s voice pulled me from my train of thought.

“What’s up, kiddo?”

“No one’s going to make you leave, are they?”

“Let them try,” I said, giving him a wicked smile and letting my dragon peek out from my vision. I knew my brown eyes would shift to golden with long, sharp pupils.

Leif gaped as his smile widened. “That’s so cool!”

“You wanna see something really cool?” I asked, looking around to make sure no one was peeking out of their window.

“What?” he bounced on his tiptoes, then rocked back on his heels.

“I can change my size, so how about I shift right now, get really small, and sit on your shoulder the rest of the way home? If anyone bugs us, I’ll get huge and eat them. How does that sound?”

It was a risk, but I just had to make this kid smile. No one so small, so pure, should have been exposed to the cruelty of the world. Not this young. He hadn’t heard about Amelia yet. Liz would tell him tonight, and I just couldn’t let him go from rejected to heartbreak.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. But you have to carry my clothes. Deal?”

“Deal!” He was still bouncing on his toes. I looked around again. Once I was convinced we weren’t being watched, I shifted to a dragon about the size of a gecko. I crawled out of my clothes and then up Leif’s leg, making myself comfortable on his shoulder, my tail wrapping around his neck for support.

“Can you breathe fire?” Leif whispered.

I opened my mouth and barked a mighty ball of fire. That was probably about the size of a lighter flame.

“Cool,” Leif whispered before bending at the knees and keeping his back straight while he gathered my stuff.

My dragon purred and butted his head against Leif’s chin. We claimed this child as ours. He was now part of our family. We would love him, support him and protect him with our lives forever.

If anyone dared to hurt this child or his sister,we would rain down hellfire so intensely the entire world would know dragons are real.