Page 10

I couldn't throw everything away for some guy I just met, no matter how hot he was or how much my instincts screamed at me to protect him. I had worked too hard to get where I was to just torch it on a whim. That being said, I couldn't just toss Kas to the men in black, either. If he really was an alien, which the arrival of the spooks seemed to confirm, they'd slice him up in a secret lab somewhere in the desert.

As I drove, my mind worked double time. I had a ramshackle piece of shit property in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, also known as Dallas, Oregon. Granted, Dallas was growing. I shouldn't call it bumfuck. It wasn't backwoods; it was picturesque. That's what the realtor had said. But my property was way back in Dallas, out in the middle of nothing. Which is why I bought it. That and the fact that it only cost me thirty grand.

It was an investment and also a place for me to escape to. Three rows of trees hid the house from the road and there was even a creek out back. The house was a piece of shit, but it was standing and it had electricity. Plumbing worked too. I furnished it with the bare minimum, but it would do. And the best part was that no one knew I owned it.

Yeah all right, it was registered in my name, and the spooks could probably find it. But I was hoping that Gromit was overreacting, and they were just trying to find me to confirm or deny whatever story they'd been told. If I could get Kas to the Dallas house and get back to Salem in time to meet the men in black, I could answer their questions and set the whole thing to rest. Then they wouldn't need to look into me any further. But I had to be quick. I wanted to look as if I'd been home the whole time, just hanging out. Without an alien.

“Where are we going?” Kaspian asked.

“I got another place nearby. It's more land than house, and the house is more of a shack. Sorry. Mainly, I use it when I want to get away from people.”

“It's far from your village?”

“Yeah. And none of my friends know about it.” I glanced at him. “Hopefully, no one will look me up and figure out that I own it.”

“You want me to hide?”

“For now. Yeah. I gotta drop you off and race back to the other house.”

“You're going to leave me?”

“Just until after I talk to the people who are after you. I want to throw them off your scent. Mislead them.” I glanced at him. “Once I convince them you were just some crazy guy who ran off, I'll come back.”

“Crazy,” he muttered.

“Look, I'm trusting you. We're strangers, but you helped us yesterday. That means a lot. So, I'm going to do right by you. But to be honest, I don't know if I fully believe your story. Maybe it was a fluke and the fire just happened to go out.”

“You don't believe me?” Kaspian's voice lowered into something that sent shivers down my spine.

“I mostly do,” I hurried to say. “But you need to understand that we don't have magic or dragons here. They're myths. And you don't look like a dragon.”

“And what am I supposed to look like?”

“A big, scaly, lizard-monster that breathes fire.”

“That's a rather crude way of describing the noble dragon form, but I'll accept it since you have never seen a real dragon.”

“Hold on.” I swung my head toward him. “Are you saying that you can become a big lizard?”

“A dragon. Yes. In this form, I am a Dragon with a capital D. In animal form, I am a dragon with a lowercase D.”

“Big and little Ds?” I snorted a laugh. “Okay.”

“You still don't believe me?”

“I want to. But I can't wrap my mind around the idea of a man turning into a giant monster.”

“I am not a monster!”

“All right. Relax, T-Rex. We call them monsters here.”

“Humans,” he growled. “Humans without leadership.”

“Hey! I told you we have leaders. We have laws. We govern ourselves just fine, thank you. We don't need alien lizards. This isn't V.”

Kaspian snorted. “Oh, yes, you're doing an excellent job of protecting your forests.”

“There's that arrogance again.” I scowled at him. “That doesn't go over well here. Especially not in Oregon.”

“Oregon?”

“The state we're in. I told you about it before.”

“We are in a state of oregon? Is that one of your words with multiple meanings?”

“Yeah, it's not an emotional state. Oregon is a region within a nation. We call them states.”

“Like a kingdom.”

“Sort of. America is only one of many countries on Earth. Countries are more like your kingdoms. Actually, there are still places with kings and queens. But America is considered a country. We divide the country into states to make governing easier. Each state can make its own laws in addition to the primary laws that the entire country obeys. We are divided into states but united as a country. And so, we are the United States of America. USA for short. Or just America.”

“United states.” He sighed. “I don't understand.”

“We can try again later. For now, just know that you've come to a good place. Some countries don't have laws like ours. They might have shot you on sight.”

Kaspian rolled his eyes. “Arrows won't kill me.”

“Arrows won't . . .” I gaped at him, then recovered. “Not arrows. Remember those weapons I mentioned? They're called guns and they shoot small pieces of metal very fast, much faster than arrows. Those metal pieces are called bullets and they can pierce a body as if it were butter.”

“I would still survive.”

“Kaspian, a gun can fire projectiles rapidly, shooting several bullets in seconds. It would be the equivalent of being shot with twenty arrows that went straight through your body. Guns bring down anything, even the largest animals on the planet.”

Kaspian frowned. “I would survive. I am not an animal.”

I gaped at him again.

“You don't believe me.” He rolled his eyes.

“It's fine. Look. That's my driveway.” I pulled down the gravel road, past the mini forest that filled the front of my property, around a bend that circled the house, and then parked in the garage.

Kaspian unlatched his seatbelt and shot out of the truck as soon as I parked. Within seconds, he was investigating the boxes of old gear and the toolbox I stored out there.

“Let me get you inside and then you can look around all you want.” I unlocked the door that led into the utility room and headed in.

Just like my craftsman, the garage let into the laundry room. An old washer and dryer combo loomed in one corner, beside a rust-stained sink. A few steps took us into the kitchen. It was small and outdated, but clean. The kitchen window also had a nice view of the creek. Yeah, the layout was like my craftsman but the place itself was nothing like my primary residence.

Kaspian glanced at the view, then focused on me. “Go. I'll be fine. I know enough about your human homes to make myself comfortable while you're gone.”

“Don't use the stove.” I pointed at the oven. “But you can help yourself to anything you find in the fridge or cabinets. I'll be back as soon as I can.”

“Yes, I understand. Go, Demetrius. I will wait here.”

“Stay inside for now, okay?”

“Go!”

I rushed back to the truck and within minutes, I was on my way back to Salem. Hopefully, I'd be faster than Will and Tommy.