Read Online Noah's Boy-eARC by Sarah A. Hoyt - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Sarah A. Hoyt
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hair with a rubber band.
“So,” he said, “I guess you don’t shift into something that flies.”
“I—” She started, then hesitated. “I…” And blushed. “Dragon actually. But…how did you know?”
“You smell shifter. You know?” His eyes widened. “No. You don’t know. I see. Dragon?” His eyes went up to the tower. “But then—”
“I…” She took a deep breath. “I don’t know. There was…there was…I woke up in there. It was on fire. And I couldn’t shift.”
“Oh?” Tom Ormson said, but didn’t press it. Instead, he said, “We’d best go around and you tell them you came down…the drainpipe or something. Dang. We should have tied some sheets together to make it seem more likely…”
“That we didn’t fly down?” she asked with a shaky smile, unexpectedly liking this man more than she’d expected to when she figured out he was the Great Sky Dragon’s candidate for her hand. “I don’t think it will matter. The way my door felt, the fire was just behind it—”
A loud crash-bang from the tower, and Bea looked up to see the roof cave in. A scream went up from the parking lot. Tom took a deep breath. “Well, that’s that,” he said.
He walked her around to the parking lot, where the firefighters were looking up at the tower with a look of the sheerest horror. That was when a matronly woman suddenly yelled, “Ms. Ryu!”
Bea was puzzled. She had no idea how this woman knew her name.
“You poor thing,” the woman said. “You’re confused and no wonder. Of course, when you checked in, you didn’t really spend much time talking to me. I’m Louise Carlson, the owner of the Spurs and Lace, of course.”
“Oh?” Bea said. “I checked in?” Zombie drugs. They must have given her zombie drugs.
“Oh dear. Well, of course you’ll be confused. You know, you were wearing those dark glasses, and I never realized how unusual your eyes are. I was thinking about you up there on the tower. I’m just glad you got out. How—”
“I…climbed down sheets,” she said. “Until I could get to the shed roof.”
Louise blinked, “I didn’t think we had that many sheets.”
“Er…closet. Ten.”
“Well, very glad to see you,” the nearest firefighter said. “We have a paramedic who—”
“No, I’m quite well,” Bea said.
“I’m just going to take her into the diner and get her some coffee,” Tom said, with a tone of quiet authority. His absolute calm—his absolute certainty—seemed to carry its own weight. One of the firefighters made a sound, but Louise pointed out that Ms. Ryu couldn’t be involved with starting the fire, after all, nor could she know anything about it, since it had started several floors below her, and then Tom Ormson was leading her to the back door of the diner.
As they entered, Bea was impressed by the fact that with the tragedy playing itself out back there in the parking lot, there was no one watching at the back door of the diner, or through the window that faced the fire. In fact, it seemed almost as if she’d just entered a classroom where kids had been very naughty and then became models of good behavior when the teacher came back. There was a strained “I’m being good, Ma” quality to the groups sitting around the tables, and even to the two employees behind the counter, one a young man manning a grill and fryer and the other a woman doing something to vegetables that included a lot of very fast chopping. Neither of them gave off the vibe of being the “teacher” figure.
And then Bea saw her. She was tall—taller than Tom Ormson—and, Bea thought dispassionately, she was also very beautiful with golden skin and long brown hair, the edge of it dyed in a way Bea wouldn’t mind imitating if she could figure out how.
Bea knew two things at once. One was that this was Tom Ormson’s girlfriend. And the other was that if she tried to steal this woman’s boyfriend she would be in for a hard, hard fall.
Not that
“So,” he said, “I guess you don’t shift into something that flies.”
“I—” She started, then hesitated. “I…” And blushed. “Dragon actually. But…how did you know?”
“You smell shifter. You know?” His eyes widened. “No. You don’t know. I see. Dragon?” His eyes went up to the tower. “But then—”
“I…” She took a deep breath. “I don’t know. There was…there was…I woke up in there. It was on fire. And I couldn’t shift.”
“Oh?” Tom Ormson said, but didn’t press it. Instead, he said, “We’d best go around and you tell them you came down…the drainpipe or something. Dang. We should have tied some sheets together to make it seem more likely…”
“That we didn’t fly down?” she asked with a shaky smile, unexpectedly liking this man more than she’d expected to when she figured out he was the Great Sky Dragon’s candidate for her hand. “I don’t think it will matter. The way my door felt, the fire was just behind it—”
A loud crash-bang from the tower, and Bea looked up to see the roof cave in. A scream went up from the parking lot. Tom took a deep breath. “Well, that’s that,” he said.
He walked her around to the parking lot, where the firefighters were looking up at the tower with a look of the sheerest horror. That was when a matronly woman suddenly yelled, “Ms. Ryu!”
Bea was puzzled. She had no idea how this woman knew her name.
“You poor thing,” the woman said. “You’re confused and no wonder. Of course, when you checked in, you didn’t really spend much time talking to me. I’m Louise Carlson, the owner of the Spurs and Lace, of course.”
“Oh?” Bea said. “I checked in?” Zombie drugs. They must have given her zombie drugs.
“Oh dear. Well, of course you’ll be confused. You know, you were wearing those dark glasses, and I never realized how unusual your eyes are. I was thinking about you up there on the tower. I’m just glad you got out. How—”
“I…climbed down sheets,” she said. “Until I could get to the shed roof.”
Louise blinked, “I didn’t think we had that many sheets.”
“Er…closet. Ten.”
“Well, very glad to see you,” the nearest firefighter said. “We have a paramedic who—”
“No, I’m quite well,” Bea said.
“I’m just going to take her into the diner and get her some coffee,” Tom said, with a tone of quiet authority. His absolute calm—his absolute certainty—seemed to carry its own weight. One of the firefighters made a sound, but Louise pointed out that Ms. Ryu couldn’t be involved with starting the fire, after all, nor could she know anything about it, since it had started several floors below her, and then Tom Ormson was leading her to the back door of the diner.
As they entered, Bea was impressed by the fact that with the tragedy playing itself out back there in the parking lot, there was no one watching at the back door of the diner, or through the window that faced the fire. In fact, it seemed almost as if she’d just entered a classroom where kids had been very naughty and then became models of good behavior when the teacher came back. There was a strained “I’m being good, Ma” quality to the groups sitting around the tables, and even to the two employees behind the counter, one a young man manning a grill and fryer and the other a woman doing something to vegetables that included a lot of very fast chopping. Neither of them gave off the vibe of being the “teacher” figure.
And then Bea saw her. She was tall—taller than Tom Ormson—and, Bea thought dispassionately, she was also very beautiful with golden skin and long brown hair, the edge of it dyed in a way Bea wouldn’t mind imitating if she could figure out how.
Bea knew two things at once. One was that this was Tom Ormson’s girlfriend. And the other was that if she tried to steal this woman’s boyfriend she would be in for a hard, hard fall.
Not that
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