Cruel Daddy Dragon (Candara Dragon Ops #3)

Chapter 8 - Sarah

Oh, god, what have I done? I’ve made it worse, haven’t I?

Yesterday, I sat at this desk, looking over all the nothing paperwork I had to do, and I was worried about all those sexual fantasies I was having about Rufus.

Today, I’m sitting at the same place, doing the same nothing paperwork , worried about the actual sex we had…

I mean… it wasn’t bad. Far from it—it’s been a long time since I’ve felt pleasure like that. But even better was afterward. Me and him, in the backseat of the car, his thick arms wrapped around me, snuggled in his chest. At that moment, I felt so safe. It’s a rare feeling for me—usually, I have to be on guard all the damn time because… well, I’m the sheriff. Greyson Ridge’s first female one; I have a lot to prove.

But after the sex, Rufus held me close and pulled me into him, and he was… there. In that wonderful, wonderful second, I felt like I could see it. Waking up next to him, those strong arms having kept me safe as we slept. Turning over sleepily and meeting those jade eyes. Smiling at him, asking how he slept. Getting a kiss in return. Perhaps going down and cooking breakfast together, then whiling the day away in each other’s company.

You know… being married … like a married couple is supposed to be.

And I loved it. As we snuggled together in the car after the sex, I was so happy to have someone with me, to not be alone anymore. To fantasize about having that kind of companionship that… well, that Lena and Julie must have.

But now I’m here, sitting at my desk in the police station, normality and sanity returned to me, I just have this sinking feeling in my stomach.

Now, out of the whirlwind of emotions of last night, it feels like a trap I just walked into, like he tricked me somehow. Trying to steal my independence from me right from under my nose. We’re already so far along—we’re already married, and now we can’t keep our hands off each other—and as soon as the town knows, everything I’ve worked for just becomes moot. I’m no longer the strong female sheriff. I’m just another wilting flower belonging to the man I’m attached to.

I just keep wondering, did he know? Did Rufus know how irresistible he was? Did he know how hard I was fighting my feelings for him—can the dragons sense that sort of thing? Or… or smell it? And if he did know, did he step that close into my personal space knowing how it was going to turn out? If he did know… a part of me never wants to forgive him. If one of us were going to know how this would go, it’d be him and the other dragons, and not me.

The longer I stew on it, the more it feels like he somehow tricked me, but that’s not a healthy way to look at things, I know.

I just… I don’t want to lose what I have…

I try to distract myself, staring at the paperwork I was trying to fill out. God, this statement is taking forever… It’s just a boring personal statement about a pedestrian thievery that’s going to turn out to be Roscoe—because it always is. It isn’t jobs like this that make me feel like I’m living the dream, exactly, but I welcome the distraction today.

A call comes through the radio:

“Sheriff?” It crackles, “Come in, Sheriff.”

Thank god, a better distraction. I press the button:

“Go ahead,” I answer.

“Check out the tracker—are you free to take job 63?” William says through the radio, “I know you were doing paperwork, but I’m still dealing with some trespassing kids.”

“Let me look,” I say.

I click on the tab of tracked phone calls to see what the 911 operator has written down, and I see job 63. The caller says that people are in her backyard. Apparently, she has not seen these people, only heard them.

I sigh lightly. That’s Roscoe, isn’t it?

That little scamp sure does get around… I can’t think who else it would be. Even the local kids don’t have a lot of interest in trespassing in old ladies’ gardens; it’s boring in there. Who else would be in a random person’s garden? But then my heart drops a little when I realize another option: wait, what if it’s Eclipse?

I don’t know why they would want to be in a civilian’s garden either, but after they kidnapped me, it doesn’t seem like anyone knows what they’re up to; Lena’s been very insistent I come round and spend time with her—very, very insistent. Subtlety has never been her strong suit, which tells me the dragon group is freaking out a little bit over what they did to me.

But I am a police officer first and foremost. If someone else is in danger, I need to go in and protect them.

So I click the button for the radio.

“Yep. Copy that, Will. I’ll attach myself to 63.”

“Copy that. Thanks, Sheriff.”

***

The call starts out as pedestrian as it can get; I arrive at the property on the call and knock on the door. It’s opened by a very frazzled old lady—a regular, in fact—and she worriedly explains about the strange noises she’s heard in her backyard. Usually, I’d tell Mrs. Harrison that I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about, but this time, I just nod somberly at her.

“I’ll check it out, Mrs. Harrison,” I assure her, “I promise.”

She gives me a grateful smile and lets me in her house. As I walk through her house, I get my cell phone out and get Lena’s phone number up. I don’t have any of the dragons on speed dial—which I realize is an idiotic move on my part—but I’m sure one of them is lurking nearby anyway, and calling Lena is as good as calling Cyrus nowadays, considering how they’re joined at the hip.

Once I have Lena’s phone number up, I draw my gun with my other hand. Then, I dare venture into the backyard.

It looks so ordinary—flower beds lining either side, an apple tree in the center. A marble statue that doubles up as a bird bath next to the tree. Honestly, there are not many places a human being can hide here; that eases a little of the adrenaline coursing through me. I’d be shocked if a human child was lurking somewhere around here, considering the space we’re working with, let alone one of those monstrous, hulking shifters.

That’s what I think, but then a snap nearby has me bristling again. Another light crack causes me to wheel around, my gun pointed at the sound.

“All right, come out slowly!” I order, “Police! I am armed—come out with your hands up!”

More rustling. I isolate the bush that it’s coming from and creep closer.

That can’t be a shifter… that can’t be Eclipse… there’s no way that’s a dragon…

I chant affirmations in my head, but my heart still hammers in my chest. I’m panting ever so lightly in a small panic.

I’m getting closer… I’m almost there…

Something rockets out of the bush at me. I step back. Aim my gun. Get ready to fire and—

I realize in time and groan.

“Oh, Roscoe! ” I sigh.

The trash panda lands ungracefully on the ground in front of me, waddling forward a few steps before sitting back on his haunches. He has something in his little teeth, and he starts fiddling with it as he sits back.

“What have you got there?” I ask gently.

I get to one knee, and I see what he’s chewing on; it’s a copper ring. An unusual one. It looks like an average engagement ring, except for where the diamond should be. Instead, it seems to be topped with more copper in the shape of a diamond.

When I see it, it doesn’t just look unusual; laying eyes on it, I get a certain jolt through my body. It feels unusual, like I can… sense something from it.

That seems crazy, but crazier things have happened lately, so I’m willing to take it as a sign of something.

A copper ring… Lena’s shop was robbed for some copper rings, wasn’t it? I remember that case; it made me angry that any bastard would dare come into town to aim for my best friend’s shop. But if these rings are special… Relics, even…

I know Rufus’s things are always getting stolen; it could be one of his. Or, the alternative is that it could be a new relic, which they’re looking for.

Roscoe puts the ring back in his mouth and starts sauntering off at an easy pace. He knows he has nothing to worry about from me, so the borderline chubby little animal starts waddling off without any rush in his step.

I ought to go back inside and tell Mrs. Harrison that her home is safe from the intruders she’s imagining, but I can’t lose Roscoe.

Sorry, Mrs. Harrison. I’ll be back to reassure you in a bit.

I follow Roscoe at an easy pace.

***

I think I have Kaius to thank primarily for Roscoe putting on enough weight to be easy to follow. I mean, he doesn’t feel any need to run from me, but he just pads off at an easy pace. I keep him in my line of sight but don’t follow him too closely. He walks all the way from Mrs. Harrison’s house to the edge of Merl’s property—quite a trek for a fat little raccoon. Once he gets close to Merl’s, he veers off toward the forest bordering the property, slowing down as he crunches through the thick snow. There’s several days’ worth of build-up, so it takes Roscoe a while to wade through the powdery snow. He stops sharply by a particular boulder, like he knows exactly where he is supposed to be stopping.

As soon as he stops there, he starts digging, holding the copper ring in his teeth as his little mittens scrape out the softened snow.

What is he doing? Has he just been burying his goodies under this rock the whole time?

If so, I should probably just dip in and reclaim everything he’s stolen back from now on.

But just as I’m wondering hard about it, Roscoe suddenly disappears. He just vanishes down into the ground, his little tail coiling as he goes.

Oh… that changes things.

I wait for a little while, watching the hole. My police boots resist the cold and wet, at least, but the snow sinks into the hems of my pants and starts chilling me to the bone. The snow is piled so high that it tries to slip into the tops of my boots. I’ve never liked how snow feels so cold and dry when it first hits me, becoming wetter the longer I have to sit in it. That’s probably because I have to sit in it more than the average person has to.

Eventually, Roscoe pokes his head out from the snow pile and starts padding off, sans ring. I see, so he does have a hidey hole where he puts everything.

After Roscoe walks back off toward the town, I approach his hidey hole. I soon spot it under the boulder now I’m looking for it, and stick my hand in it to reclaim the ring.

My hand goes in… my arm… soon I’m up to my shoulder, and I still haven’t found the bottom.

How deep is this hole? Did Roscoe dig this?

I pull my arm out and turn on the flashlight on my cell phone. When I shine the beam into the hole, it’s so much deeper than I imagined. It’s spelunking deep down there—but inside is a treasure’s trove worth of shine.

How many of these might be relics?

Well, clearly, I can’t investigate further on my own without any equipment. I think it’s about time I sat those dragons down and made those scaley bastards explain exactly what these relics are and how many might be stuck in this hole.