Into The Dragon's World - Brittany White Page 0,43

his feelings for her.

I need to talk to Jazzy, she thought, turning away from the window. She picked up her phone to call her, but hesitated when she looked at the window again. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm. Would it really be that bad if she left the apartment to visit Jazzy? Brady wouldn’t like it, but she was starting to feel trapped inside. She missed being able to stretch her legs and walk in the sun, the way she had in Brady’s world. She missed having the freedom to go where she wanted, do what she wanted. Yes, Wallace was out there somewhere, but what were the chances he would be able to find her among the millions of people living in the city?

And Brady didn’t necessarily have to know, did he?

She decided instantly to do it. She wasn’t made of delicate glass. She wanted her life back the way it was before Evan Wallace decided to trespass in it. And as much as she loved Brady, she couldn’t let him make decisions for her.

She locked the door behind her when she left.

The sun was warm on her shoulders as she walked along the block. She felt as if she hadn’t been around actual, real people in years. It was a beautiful day, the kind of weather that makes New York feel like a movie set instead of a city. Jasmine’s apartment was a fairly long way away from Brady’s, but it felt good to stretch her legs a little.

She stopped at an intersection, waiting for the green light as a group of people assembled along with her. She heard a little girl crying to her mother because her balloon got away. Poor kid. Casey glanced up and saw the red balloon drifting away in the wind.

And as she turned back to look at the streetlight, she saw him.

Maybe. Maybe it was him. Maybe she was so keyed up that every man with dark hair looked like him. The man she saw had been tall, but she’d only seen a flash before the crowd swallowed him. The light changed and she was carried along with the others, heading straight towards Evan. She couldn’t stop, couldn’t turn around.

He wouldn’t do anything in broad daylight, would he? Not with so many witnesses around.

Would he?

She looked around as she stepped onto the curb, moving out of the stream of pedestrians to the doorway of a deli. He was gone. If he had truly been there, he was gone now.

Casey kept her head on a swivel as she continued to Jasmine’s apartment. Every dark alley made her tense up, ready to run if she had to. Every tall man with dark hair had the potential to be him. Confidence began to curdle into regret. This was a bad idea. She should have stayed at the apartment and asked Jasmine to come to her.

Too late now.

Casey walked as quickly as she dared, unable to shake the sense that she was being watched. As she approached Jasmine’s building, she thought she saw a man with dark hair dart into a bodega. You’re being ridiculous, she thought. It’s just your damn imagination.

Still, she was relieved when Jasmine opened her door.

“So, you haven’t told him yet?”

Casey shook her head and took a sip of tea. Jasmine was curled up on one end of her couch. Casey sat in an overstuffed armchair wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket. Being at Jasmine’s made her feel safe. It made it feel like her old self, before bear shifters and dragons had entered into her life.

“Not yet.” Casey half-smiled. “I can’t seem to get the timing right.”

“What timing? You walk up to him and say, ‘Hey, I’m knocked up. What are we gonna do about it?’” Jasmine smiled when Casey laughed. “I don’t think he’s going to have a bad reaction to it.”

Casey shrugged. “I know. It’s just…” She sighed. “I’m still getting used to the idea myself. I didn’t know shifters and humans could even reproduce. How does that work?”

“Well,” Jasmine said, “when a daddy shifter loves a mommy human very much…”

Casey threw a pillow at her and laughed. “Stop it!”

“Okay, okay…” Jasmine held her hands up in surrender. “The way I understand it, shifters and humans are compatible...when the shifter’s in human form. A shifter and a human will have a normal, human pregnancy. Two shifters will have whatever their species have: a litter, an egg, whatever.”

“An egg?” Casey said, raising her brows. “You’re telling me