She needed a distraction and one finally walked in the door. As she stared glumly at her computer screen, she heard the unmistakable jingle of a dog’s collar near the entrance. Alice, the pet shop owner next door, walked in with an exceedingly cute puppy. Wyntir was rather surprised to see the dog properly restrained by a leash. Normally, Alice’s menagerie ran rampant through the Wildridge offices, forcing the specialists to chase after whatever rogue animal had escaped. Strange to have order instead of chaos, especially when chaos would have been a nice distraction.
It didn’t help when Charlie hurried out of his office to greet Alice with a sweet embrace. For onlookers, it was as chaste as could be, but for Charlie, that kind of show of affection was a big deal. The fact he would show any public display of affection whatsoever was testament to how proud he was to be with Alice. Of course, now that they were together, there was no need for Alice to not-so-subtly sneak around and play wild goose chase just for a chance to see Charlie. Their romance was fully out in the open, and there was no more reason to hide.
Under usual circumstances, this would have warmed Wyntir’s heart, but at the moment, it just plunged the knife a little deeper. She watched them with equal parts cringe and swoon for a few minutes before deciding she really just needed a breath of fresh air to clear her clouded mind.
Wyntir slinked out of the office and into the stairwell, taking the steps to the roof. Once she stepped outside, the wind whipped her hair around her face and the breath caught in her throat. It was just the jolt she needed. She breathed in deeply, looking out over the cityscape around the office building. She was finally starting to find her center again when her phone rang. She toyed with the idea of ignoring it for a moment, but then, some kind of animal instinct kicked in.
“Hello?”
“Miss Wyntir!” gasped the sweet, panicked voice.
Wyntir pulled the phone back to look at the screen and her eyes went wide—Blaise. “Hey! I’m here, kiddo. What’s going on?”
“Wyntir, help me! She’s here,” he hissed into the phone.
Her heart beat triple time. “What? Who? Who’s there?”
“That weird pirate lady that likes my dad so much. She’s here at my school! I’m hiding in the band room. Please, Wyntir, I’m really freaked out. Come quick!”
Then the line went dead.
Chapter Eight
From the moment the line went dead, the world around Wyntir slammed to a full halt. The landscape of office buildings and tree-lined streets faded to the blinding whiteness of panic. All sounds—traffic, birds, the ever-present mechanical hum of industry and technology—fell silent. Wyntir heard only two things: the echo of Blaise’s voice as he pleaded for help and the frantic thump of her heart. It cut straight to her core, blazing a fiery path all the way. The moment of suspension lasted only a second before she burst back into reality.
Before she could even blink, the endorphins and instincts kicked into overdrive. The panic in her heart crystallized into a sharp, clear edge of fury. If anyone so much as rubbed one of Blaise’s freckles the wrong way, no one would be able to hold her back from committing unspeakable atrocities. Anger bubbled up fresh and hot, the dark emotion nearly overwhelming her. It no longer mattered that she wasn’t officially guarding him any longer. She was the one he called. And there was no way in hell she would let him down.
Bodyguard or not, she had to save him. There was no time for protocol and niceties, not when a child was in danger. She didn’t have time to run down and float the idea by Charlie. She had to act. Now. There was no telling what a stalker like Becca might be capable of, especially if she was willing to stalk a little boy. Wyntir needed to get to Benningford Academy before that sneaky bitch could lay a hand on Blaise. Wyntir wasn’t going to waste time in traffic when she could easily get where she needed to go by air.
Taking the stairs two at a time, she rushed to the locker room on the roof, where they all kept pre-packed go-bags ready in the event of an emergency. Now was that time. She didn’t even bother undressing, just grabbed the bag and bolted outside, the door banging open as she burst into the sunshine. Chomping down on the bag’s strap with her teeth, Wyntir spread her arms wide as she ran, allowing her innate magic to tingle over her flesh as her body grew and morphed, scales and wings replacing skin. She took to the sky with a running leap. Her wings stretched out and beat at their full extent as her taloned feet left the roof.
Wyntir wasted no time with grace or style. She tucked her head low and flattened out her body, straining hard to beat her wings as wide and fast as she could. This situation called for efficiency. She had to move quickly if there was to be any hope of rescuing Blaise from Becca. If that crazy lady was already on the premises…things were dire.
The city sped by at a blistering pace while she berated herself for not being there to protect Blaise. Despite Stark’s objections, she’d worried about the young woman’s obsession with him. She’d known the girl was trouble but backed down at his insistence. If anything happened to Blaise because Wyntir’s feelings were hurt over Stark’s behavior, she’d never forgive herself. Never!
Wyntir couldn’t help but flash back to the ride she had given him and the sweet moments they’d shared in the low-lying haze over the Bradford estate. He’d been so excited and yet so respectful of climbing around on her back. Even though she hadn’t known him for very long, she already knew in the secret recesses of her heart that she would die for him. Or, more likely, kill for him.
Morbid to think about while flying toward his school, but it was the truth. Grizz may not have worked at Wildridge for very long, but he was great. Smart, skilled, completely committed to the job, but…he didn’t care for the Bradford Boys the way she did.
Dammit!
She didn’t even want to admit that to herself, but she could no longer deny it. She had feelings for Stark and a bone-deep fondness for his son, neither of which could be remedied by simply switching assignments. How foolish to thing she could cut those ties so easily. Her heart wouldn’t allow it.
She burst through a cloud and spied the school campus below. Determination—or maybe it was closer to devotion—flooded her body and she tucked her wings against her sides to pick up as much momentum as possible. Pulling up a few dozen feet above the ground, Wyntir circled the property looking for any sign of trouble, but there was nothing. No terrified screams, no fearful kids running out of the school, no alarms or emergency vehicles. Nothing.
That didn’t make sense. Blaise had sounded so frightened on the phone that someone else must have noticed Becca’s unauthorized presence by now. Wyntir had to be overlooking something.
She landed in the middle of the deserted playground and dropped her bag just as her clawed feet touched the wood chip turf. Dust billowed up around her body, but onlooking humans would only see a dust eddy, thanks to the glamour she maintained. But once she shifted back to her human form, all bets were off, and a naked woman running around school grounds would definitely attract unwanted attention.
She managed to dive behind a nearby shrubbery the moment she transformed and dug in her bag for a set of replacement clothes. Damn, she’d forgotten that all she’d had when she packed it was slightly tacky pink sequined sweat suit. Not her normal style choice, but when you needed spare clothes, you took what you got. Besides, at least they were pink and sparkly.