Page 56 of Cats Never Fly

Oneof theAspenBayofficers—Icouldn’t remember which one was which—called his office to check if they’d foundWesleyyet.Theyhadn’t.

“We’llcome back and process the office, but let’s check out the rest of the building first.”

Onthe ground floor, where the lounge was, everything looked like whatIimagined any other pub or restaurant would look after hours.Chairswere up on the tables.Littlestoppers were in the keg taps.Glassesand liquor bottles were all lined up on the shelves.Exceptfor a guitar, mic, and amp, the stage area was empty.Seeingeverything tidy and clean calmedOgden.Hisscales slowly disappeared from his forearms.

Ogdenkept an apartment upstairs, so after we checkedTheDrunkenDrake, he led us up there.Atfirst glance, it looked normal.Butwhen he growled “that little fucker”and a puff of spark-filled smoke streamed out of his mouth,Iknew he didn’t agree.

“He’sbeen up here,”Odgensnarled.Thescales were back. “Inmy home.Usingmy things.”

“Let’snot jump to conclusions,”Vanwarned, butIdidn’t thinkOgdenheard him as he stomped through his apartment, going from space to space.

Theapartment was enormous, a much larger footprint thanTheDrunkenDrake.Ittook me a minute to figure out it must extend over all the businesses on the ground floor.Mostof the living space was open and airy, with an industrial edge.Aliving room, although that label didn’t seem quite right for a space like this, ran along the front of the building, with a kitchen and dining area toward the back.Onthe far side, there were a couple of doorways, which must lead to a bedroom and bathroom.Largewindows faced the street and light streamed through them, making the space warm and cozy.Enticingsquares of sunlight lit up the polished wood floors.

Whata great place for a nap.

ExceptIwasn’t here to nap.

Iforced myself to look away from the sunlight.Theexterior brick walls were all exposed, as were the shiny metal ducts overhead.Anornate spiral staircase in the corner led to the roof.Andthroughout the space were pieces of artIsuspected were as expensive as the ones inOgden’soffice.Butinstead of just paintings, there were sculptures and colorful glass pieces and bold tapestries and more in a profusion of color and texture and shapes and sizes of all kinds thatIwould never have thought would go together, but they did.Thespace was beautiful and chaoticand unexpectedly cozy all at once.Andthankfully, none showed any damage.

Iwanted to stop and look at everything—walk the perimeter of the room, maybe rub my scent on a couple of things—butOgdenwasn’t stopping, andIneeded to be with him.Hemarched through the living room and disappeared through a wide threshold.Idarted after him, as did the officers.

Itwas his bedroom.

Thebed linens were rumpled, but even in this state they looked expensive with fancy embroidered detailing and soft-looking fabrics—much nicer than the bed-in-a-bag setIhad on my bed.Isniffed, expecting a rush of his scent, but getting a whiff of… a stranger and sex and…Igrowled and the tiny hairs on the back of my neck lifted.

DidOgdenhave a lover?Hewould have said something, wouldn’t he?

Ilooked to him for answers and found him fuming, literally, as he stared at his bed.Hishands were fisted at his side and his skin rippled to show scales before receding back to human skin, only to ripple into scales again.

“Ogden,”Iwhispered asIapproached him. “We’llcatch him.”

Islowly reached out and wrapped my hands around his clenched one.Hiseyes snapped to mine.

“Wesleyslept in my fucking bed,Simon.Hefucked someone in my fucking bed.”Smokysteam and sparks blasted out of his mouth with each word.

Iswallowed.ShouldItell him we could cover the bird shifter’s scent with ours?ShouldItell him we could burn the bed and bedding and forget this ever happened?OrshouldIdrag him away from here and not stop until we were safely tucked in my bed, far away from this place?Ididn’t know, soIgave up on finding the right words and pulled him into my arms.

Hevibrated against me, but he let me hold him.ThenIdid everything my mama always did for me when my brothers were jerks to me.Ipetted his back in long, smooth strokes.Irubbed my chin on the top of his head, coating him with my scent.Ipushed myself to purr, to soothe away some of his anger.

Vanand the others kept back and let me calm him.Isupposed no one wanted an angry, out-of-control dragon on their hands.

Whenhe finally leaned into me and pushed his face into my neck,Isighed with relief.Westood that way for a few minutes beforeOgdenpatted me on the back, signaling he was ready to face everything again.Ibroke the hug, butIgrabbed his hand in mine.Heentwined our fingers, soIhoped that meant he was happy to have me there with him.

Hedidn’t look at the bed again.

Instead, he pulled me toward an opening in the corner of the room.Itled to his closet.Theroom was larger than my bedroom and lined with one of those expensive built-in closet organizersIthought only existed in show homes.WhenOgdensaw a small heap of clothing in the middle of the room, where it looked like clothes had been tried on and cast aside, he tightened his grip on my hand, but he didn’t stop or comment on it.

Whenwe reached the back wall, he glanced over his shoulder atVanandDillon, who’d trailed after us.

“Giveme a minute,” he said. “Ineed to check my hoard.”

Theynodded and left us alone in the closet.

“ShouldI…?”Ipointed to the door to the bedroom.

Ogdensqueezed my hand to the point of pain, andIguessed that was my answer.Iwasn’t going anywhere.Thenhe pulled open a drawer filled with folded lacy underwear arranged in a rainbow of colors.Myeyes bulged, andIglanced toward the bedroom.Imoved to block the view just in case anyone snuck a peek inside.Noway was anyone else seeing his underwear, not ifIcould help it.

Ogdenreached inside the drawer with his free hand.Ididn’t know what he did, but another panel swung open.Hefiddled with it to open another.Andthen another.Finally, whatever he’d done made something click on the corner cabinet.Ogdenled me toward the corner.