The stranger just stepped forward, adjusting his now-cracked sunglasses, which hung loosely over his face. The leader, deciding to take his chances, leapt at the stranger as if to tackle him to the ground.
But the stranger’s hand was on the guy’s throat in an instant, and he hoisted him off the ground as if he were weightless.
The thug’s legs dangled in the air, kicking and struggling as he attempted to pry himself free with complete futility.
“I’m nobody of importance to you,” the stranger said in a low voice. “Just keep your fucking hands off of women and children.” For the first time, Kelsie heard thinly veiled rage pierce through the stranger’s façade of polite calmness.
With a huff, he unceremoniously slammed the leader down onto the asphalt, making the ground shake so hard she felt like her feet lifted off for a fraction of a second, the young boy’s and his father’s eyes going wide with shock.
When the stranger stood back up again, he adjusted his cap and attempted to right his sunglasses, which were a sneeze away from shattering to pieces.
Kelsie was completely speechless. She could barely believe even her own eyes. All she could do was just watch, stupefied, as he leaned down to appraise the father and son.
“Are you both okay? Can you walk?” His voice was gentle once again.
For a second, Kelsie just saw similar shock to her own in the father’s face as his jaw hung open. Then he heaved himself off the ground, limping on one leg but helping his boy stand too. “I think so.”
“Good. There’s a twenty-four-hour clinic down past Ellsworth’s, just a block from here. If you can’t walk, take a cab.” As the stranger spoke, he reached into his back pocket, pulling out a surprisingly nice wallet. He pulled a few crisp bills from it and forced them into the father’s hand.
“We know the place,” the father replied with a nod, looking with confusion at the money in his palm. “But why are you helping us?”
“That was awesome!” The kid, who was currently helping prop up his father, was staring at the stranger like he was a real-life superhero.
Perhaps he was.
The stranger crouched on his haunches, still so much taller than the kid in spite of his best attempts at coming to his level. “Thanks. But can you promise not to tell anyone about this for me?”
“I swear,” the kid said solemnly.
The father gave the stranger a final, grateful nod and then took his son by the hand. They walked down the alley together, then disappeared.
The stranger, still hunched forward, heaved himself up with a grunt back to his formidable height.
In spite of his now-dusty, shapeless clothes, Kelsie got the impression of incredible muscles beneath the loose fabric. Muscles that only a moment ago she’d seen flexing and moving with such speed, such strength, it was staggering.
“Piece of shit wolves, always ruining everything,” the man muttered to himself as he folded his arms and glared down at the men strewn on the ground at his feet.
Wolves? Was that some kind of gang?
She decided it didn’t matter. She was much more interested in this stranger.
Who was he?
Suddenly, his gaze flicked to hers. Those bright-blue eyes shone through the cracked lenses of his glasses, locking her in place with their unnatural beauty. For an interminable moment, he just watched her, not blinking, not moving. Long lashes and thick, dark-blond brows pulled down in an intense expression only further accentuated the almost-glowing blue of his irises.
“As I said, nobody important,” he said, as if answering her silent question.
His handsome features caught the light of a passing car, and Kelsie felt her entire body drawn to him in some sort of inexplicable way.
Not because he saved her or because he was gorgeous, though both were true. But because of something else. Something… deeper.
But maybe that was just the incredible stress of the last few minutes wearing off on her in weird ways.
The stranger finally broke eye contact, a muscle in his jaw tight as he leaned over one of the men lying unconscious on the ground. To her surprise—and relief—he was still breathing.
But the stranger didn’t care either way, instead grabbing the man by one leg and dragging him deeper into the blackness of the alley, almost disappearing for a moment, then reappearing to repeat the same with another of the knocked-out thugs.
“Sorry about this whole thing,” the stranger said. “Go home. Get some sleep.”
Suddenly, the threat of never seeing this man again felt like a rock lodged in her chest, and Kelsie’s ability to form rational thoughts returned.
“Wait,” she said. “Don’t say sorry. I’m the one who should apologize or thank you or something.”
He raised an eyebrow at her, then turned to pick up the last of the thugs, hoisting him over one shoulder as he walked into the shadows. She heard a dull thud as he dropped the guy in a heap with the others.
They were next to a rusted dumpster, hidden well enough in the shadows.
The stranger dusted off his hands, then turned back to her, standing face to face. For a moment, his eyes appraised her from head to toe, and she felt a blush creep in her cheeks at his unabashed perusal.
“They didn’t hurt you, did they?” he asked solemnly.
Kelsie shook her head. “No, I’m fine.” Her voice was tight as though just being this close to him made it harder to breathe.
“Then you can thank me by forgetting this ever happened,” he said grimly, a sudden weight to his tone that hadn’t been there before. Like he’d been the one who had done something wrong.
Without saying more he walked past her, moving toward a small lump on the ground. He picked it up, and she recognized her backpack, which had been dropped in the struggle earlier.
Kelsie came over to his side, and he handed it over to her. “Thanks,” she said, unzipping it to quickly check to make sure that her camera was safe.
“Just get home safe. And quickly, okay?” he insisted.
“I will. I promise,” she replied as she rummaged past the other things to her camera. Externally, it seemed fine, but she popped the lens cap to make sure the glass hadn’t broken from the drop or anything. “By the way, my name’s Kelsie. What’s yours?”
There were so many questions she wanted to ask this guy. So many more things she yearned to know about him. Where was he from? Did he live here? Why did he wear sunglasses at night?
Would he maybe at least let her take his picture?
She put her things back in place and zipped the pack back up. But when she looked up to say something to the stranger, anything, he was gone.
Kelsie looked behind her, then out toward the street. He was nowhere.
Just… gone.
She didn’t even know his name.
Chapter 3
Tristan knew everything he’d just done was going to come back to bite him in the ass.
In fact, it already had.
He needed to be home. Needed to be out of sight. Needed to put this whole thing behind him before someone, somewhere caught wind of him being out in the open.
Before someone found out what he was and let the proverbial hounds loose on his trail.
The cheap plastic of his burner phone groaned against his grip as he struggled to decide what to do next. He paced a few times, trying his best to ignore the stench of garbage as he shot a glance at the limp bodies of the wolves lined up against the wall.
Thankfully, they’d been gracious enough to stay unconscious while he’d followed the nosy, beautiful woman in secret as she’d walked to the closest bus stop and taken it home.
Part of Tristan had wanted to hop onto the back of the bus and follow her, just to make absolutely sure she got back safely. But that was ludicrous.
Tristan had enough problems on his hands right now.
It had already taken every last ounce of sense left in him to leave the woman’s side while she’d checked her stuff, rather than
stick around just to read her thoughts and get to know her better.
Kelsie.
Damn, that was a pretty name.
Pretty like her, with her unruly brown curls that surrounded her face like a halo, her sparkling brown eyes, and her pretty, tawny skin.
As a particular type of dragon shifter, Tristan could read thoughts, though he didn’t usually care to. He spent as little time around humans as possible, and when he was around them, he didn’t want to hear their petty, mostly selfish concerns.
But he’d wanted to know everything about Kelsie.
Like why she’d tried to take on three huge wolf shifters (not that she’d known they were shifters) to help two complete strangers.
Tristan stared once more at the three wolves. Someone needed to take care of these guys. Get them off the streets.
But human law enforcement was about as good as useless when it came to shifter affairs.
Which meant Tristan’s only other option was handing them over to the proper authorities.
But the dragon pairs who policed this territory couldn’t know about someone like Tristan.
For a moment, he considered calling his brother. But Xander was literally the last person in the world to go for advice regarding discretion.
Tristan raised the burner phone above his head, ready to shatter it into pieces. But then Kelsie’s face flashed in his mind for the thousandth time in the past five minutes.
Only this time, it was the face of shock, of fear, of dread she felt when that bastard wolf’s hand had been on her, ready to do God knew what to her.
No, even if it meant the worst, he couldn’t let these wolves roam free to possibly harm anyone.
Even if “anyone,” in his mind, was only Kelsie.
Of course, that raised the question of why he suddenly cared so damn much about one single human in a world full of billions, but he’d already made his choice.
He clicked the buttons on the phone, struggling with the old-school number pad layout. Wolf shifters, near 45 S Elm. In alley behind dumpster. Need pickup.
When he was finished, he hit send.
The phone dinged that the message had been sent, and Tristan knew that someone would be here to take care of things.
Hopefully, there was nothing here that would trace anything back to him.
Tristan crushed the phone like a paper cup in his hand, then dropped the shattered bits and pieces in a trashcan as he exited the alley. When he reached the sidewalk, he glanced back toward the dark brick corridor as if she’d somehow still be there and he could see her face once more.
But obviously, she was still gone. She’d taken the 380 bus to, thankfully, a nicer part of town than this hellhole.
Somewhere deep within his soul, a giant red beast roared fire, pissed off at him for doing his duty. For doing the right thing by sending her away. But Tristan just ignored it.
He wasn’t a dragon anymore. Just an outcast.
And he had to move. They would be there soon.
Good-bye, Kelsie.
* * *
By the time brunch rolled around the next morning, Kelsie was still thinking about the stranger from the alley. Those blue eyes. That odd clothing.
The way he’d stepped in to help, even though he was clearly reluctant to fight.
“Earth to Kelsie,” Janet, her roommate, said from across the little booth.
Janet was pale and freckled, with red hair that was always up in a messy bun and glasses perched on her pointed nose. Her green eyes were speckled with brown and narrowed in concern as she studied Kelsie.
Kelsie took another sip of coffee, hoping it would help to clear her mind. “Sorry. Just thinking.”
“About that guy last night?” Janet asked, eyebrow raised as she took a bite of her toast.
“Yeah.” Kelsie wasn’t going to tell anyone else about what happened, but she felt her roommate deserved to know.
Especially because she’d been frantic when Kelsie got home late with her backpack messy and her clothing rumpled and dirty.
Plus, Janet worked in IT from home and didn’t interface with a lot of people, so the blue-eyed stranger’s secret should be safe.
“I don’t blame you for zoning out about it,” Janet said as she finished her bite. “You might be dead if he hadn’t shown up. I still think you should have called the police.”
“I should have,” Kelsie said. “But by the time I realized that, it was a little late.”
Janet waved a hand. “You need to give up this whole Astray thing. You’re not staying aware of your surroundings.”
“I’m aware of them,” Kelsie said. “But I can’t just walk away when something bad is happening.”
“You shouldn’t have been there in the first place. In that part of town. Alone.”
Kelsie shrugged. “It’s just the kind of spot where Astray would put a piece.”
“Exactly,” Janet said, shaking her head. “Like I say, you need to stop this obsession with him. It’s going to get you killed.”
“I don’t think so,” Kelsie said uncertainly. “I’ll be more careful from now on. I won’t go at night.”
Janet seemed to realize it was futile to argue with Kelsie on this subject.
Kelsie had been a fan of Astray from the first time she saw his work. She’d never liked street art before, but when it came to Astray, he elevated it to the type of art that should be inside a museum.
He also tended to buy locations or buildings with cash under a fake name, so no one minded when his art popped up.
He’d originated in New York, but then his pieces had stopped appearing there, and everyone had wondered where he’d gone.
Then Kelsie had somehow stumbled on one of his pieces while photographing street art in her area and realized something amazing.
Astray was in her city. And she was going to find, photograph, and catalog each piece he did before collectors descended like vultures to try and steal it for themselves.
As soon as his art drew too much notice, it disappeared overnight, as if in defiance of the commercial interests trying to capitalize on him.
Kelsie was determined to track down every single piece and photograph them before that happened.
Which was hard when she had to do it between working her day job and trying to make ends meet.
“Fine,” Janet said, taking a bite of her French toast as she shook her head. “I won’t harp on it, because we all have our things. Just try to be safer. It’s hard to find a good roommate in this town.”
Janet was teasing, but Kelsie appreciated her for trying to show care.
As Janet focused on her French toast again, Kelsie stared at the table, wondering why her obsession seemed to be more about the guy in the alley, rather than Astray, after last night.
She needed to stay focused.
“All right, I can tell something’s still bothering you. What’s up?” Janet asked, brushing her hands on a napkin.
“I just… have so many questions. About the guy last night, I mean.”
“Like what?”
“What was he doing with those guys he beat up? And why did he disappear? And how did he do… what he did to them, like he was a professional fighter or something?” Kelsie blurted out in a low whisper.
Janet just propped her chin in her palm, listening patiently.
“And why was he trying so hard to hide in the first place?” Kelsie asked. “I mean, those eyes, they seemed to almost glow.”
“They should have you on that show Unsolved Urban Mysteries. I can picture it now, the episode about the blue-eyed hunk, hero of the garbage patrol.” Janet spread her hands out in front of her, mimicking an invisible sign.
That finally got a laugh out of Kelsie, and she downed the rest of her coffee, finally calming down. “I guess that’s all he’ll be now. An urban legend.”
But her heart was a bit sad as she said it.
She finally had to admit to herself that she’d probably never cross paths with the ma
n again.
In a city of millions, one stranger, even one as remarkable as he had been, would be as hard to locate as a single blade of grass on a large lawn.
“So what are your plans today?” Janet asked, leaning back as she spoke.
“I only work for a few hours this afternoon. Then I’m going out to look for more art.”
Janet frowned. “Already? I thought you were going to be more careful. That’s pretty fast to go back out.”
“This time it’ll be during the daylight. No big deal.”
The frown didn’t let up.
Kelsie grinned. “Seriously, no more heroics or anything like that. Just me and my trusty camera.” She patted the backpack beside her in the booth.
“It’s the camera I don’t trust. It turns you into Indiana Jones or something,” Janet said. “And, Kelsie, you aren’t Indiana Jones. You barely walk down the street without falling.”
“I do not.”
“You do too,” Janet said. “Just be careful out there. And call me if you need anything.”
“I will,” Kelsie said. “I promise. But this is my big break. My one chance to capture something really awesome before anyone else even realizes there’s a world-renowned artist right here in our city. It’s my date with destiny!”
“I know, I know,” Janet said. “Just don’t let it be your last date.”
“I won’t.”
“Speaking of which, I still need to find someone at work to hook you up with. Keep you busy and off the streets.”
“You work from home.”
“So? I still have co-workers. I see them at meetings on Skype.”
“Thanks, but I don’t think so,” Kelsie said with a smile as she pulled her wallet out of her backpack to pay for the tab.
Janet shooed her away. “Nah, it’s on me. Call it a down payment on the fact that I want you alive and well so you can pay for next week’s brunch, okay?”
“It’s a deal,” Kelsie responded, shrugging her backpack on so she could walk to the cafe where she worked, a couple blocks down the street.
“Be careful!” Janet called out as the door dinged behind Kelsie.
In just a few more hours, she was going to find something new. Something special. Something that would make all these adventures worth it.
Dragon Next Door: Forgotten Dragons Book 1 Page 2
