doing instead of asking him what he might want. Kenton laughed. Come on by the studio, and I’ll have an answer by the time you get here. Any details that I can tell him?
No. Not that we have much. She’s hurt but not critically. The car she was driving was hit from the side, and lucky for her there was a cop close by or there is no telling what they might have done to her when they got out of their SUV. He said he might have more questions than he had answers for, and Kenton told him he had a little too. Also, you might prepare him. She’s pretty rattled, Dragon said.
Jorden said he would handle it. Pulling the boy from him, he looked into his eyes. He was almost afraid to tell him that his mom had been hurt, but he also knew that he deserved to know it all. He was a good kid, smart, and if he only got part of what had happened, his mind would put in things that wasn’t there. So he told him that Kenton was coming to get them and why.
“Is she going to die?” Jorden told him what Kenton had said. “But it was someone trying to kill her, right? They’re after her still.”
“Yes. For whatever reason that we can’t get from the dragon, people want to stop her from coming here. Money could be a part of it. We know that there are groups trying to get all the pieces together before we do, but he said he knows very little.” Gavin nodded and asked if they were going there now. “Yes. I can go if you want me to, but—”
The hug was unexpected but powerful. Jorden hugged him back, feeling it all over his body and well into his heart. Gavin cried for five minutes, long enough for Kenton to come in the room then leave, giving him the privacy that the boy needed. When he seemed to have some control over his emotions, he told Jorden he was very sorry.
“There is no reason to be sorry, Gavin. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to my mom. And with the fact that you’ve had all this other shit going on too, it’s no wonder that you have a moment or two of pain.” Gavin asked him if he’d go too. “Yes. If you want. I would never assume anything.”
“She might be mouthy. I know I told you that before, but when she’s hurting, she has no filter.” He asked him how often she got hurt. “Not too much. But once when she was helping one of her clients move a pie safe in her house, Mom told her that she had it. But the lady wanted to help. Mom said that she felt she needed to, to be not thought of as old. Anyway, she shoved when Mom was too close, and she smashed her hand all up in the doorframe. Mrs. Dunlap, she sure did get red in the face when Mom started cursing. And she can do that like it’s her job.”
They were both laughing as they made their way out of the building. As he locked up, Jorden thought of the woman that he’d come to admire without meeting her. He wondered which of his brothers she’d be mated to, and was somewhat jealous. She might be a lot of fun to be with.
~~~
Jasmine tried her best not to scream when the nurse, a little bit of a girl, tried to stitch up her arm. Christ, were the meds never going to kick in? When the curtain was thrown back, Jasmine just knew it was the bad guys again and tensed up. But the cop standing there wasn’t much better. The prick had been talking to her like she was nothing but a hooker on the run for the last hour. Every time he opened his mouth, she wanted to shove something into it, like her fist.
“We got some more questions for you.” Jasmine just looked at the nurse and willed her not to leave her alone with the man. “You ready to tell me what I want to know, or are you gonna try that crap again about not knowing anything?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She was glad now that she’d put all her money in the locker she’d rented at the bus station. She was pretty sure that Joe Blow here, whatever his name really was, would have had a shit fit if he’d found it. A million in cash without any means of showing
Learning to Kill: Stories