at a gas station I stopped at earlier. See, when I get nervous, I like orange soda. I know. Don’t judge me. It comes from this whole thing that happened when I was a kid. Anyway, there were guys there, but they freaked me out. And then I only drank a little bit of the soda before I realized it would turn my tongue orange and that wouldn’t be a great first impression for you, Mr. Smith.”
Draco snorted. “Mr. Smith. Nice.”
“Shut up, Draco. Tell me about the guys at the gas station.”
“What? Oh, I mean, they probably drugged me. That’s the only thing that makes sense, you know? I was almost as scared of them as I was when the Viking got out of the truck. And, well, you’ve seen him.”
“I sure have,” Nick said with a leer.
“Gross,” Draco replied.
“Continue,” Nick said.
“Anyway, I got the fountain orange, because everyone knows fountain drinks taste better. I’m thinking they somehow slipped something in it because—” Toby waved his hands around. “They were definitely trying to distract me, but I tried to keep my drink safe. But anyway… all this. So they’re probably murdering me, but the drugs they slipped me allowed me to go into my imagination and create an awesome fantasy world that would protect my mind from the horrors being done to my body.”
Nick gave him a look. Toby wasn’t sure exactly what it meant, but it was definitely a look. “Jedrek! Puteri!”
The Viking emerged from the shadows, and fuck it all if Toby didn’t feel that same sharp stab of fear again. And then there was a popping noise and a little creature that looked like one of the house elves from Harry Potter appeared.
“Oh, I see what my brain did there. You compared Draco to the wizarding world, and now I’ve got house elves. Isn’t the mind an amazing thing?” Toby asked.
“Puteri is not an elf,” the house elf said.
And no, now that Toby looked at her, she totally wasn’t. “Please forgive my rudeness. You are a brownie, one of the most powerful creatures of the fae realm. It’s an honor to meet you,” Toby said. He bowed his head respectfully to her.
“Whoa. He’s good,” Draco said.
“Right?” Nick asked.
“You bellowed?” Jedrek asked.
“The guys at the gas station. Track ’em down. Take some of the vamps.”
Jedrek nodded and turned to Toby. “Do you remember which gas station it was?”
“N-no,” Toby stuttered.
The guy was really freaking him out. His eyes had gotten a little flamey. Toby’s imagination was working overtime. Jason could make an appearance any second now and save him. He would also settle for Liam Neeson. Or Jon Hamm. Not that Jon Hamm was an action hero, but Toby had heard rumors of what was in his pants and—
Viking cleared his throat.
Toby also had to clear his. “B-but I have the receipt in the center console thing. I threw it in there earlier with my wallet because I don’t like sitting on my wallet when I’m driving. It makes my hips crooked… and you don’t care about that.”
Jedrek had already jogged over to the car. He grabbed the receipt, scanned it, then opened a giant flaming circle in the air. The two guys who’d inspected his car emerged from the shadows once more, and they all stepped into the flames before disappearing.
“Puteri? Anything?”
The brownie stared at him but shook her head. “There is something. Puteri doesn’t understand. He feels like the Lady.”
Nick squeezed Toby’s shoulder. “Would you let him near the kids?”
Puteri looked Toby over once more, and he had a sneaking suspicion that whatever she said carried a lot of weight.
“I would,” Puteri said. “The Lady has blessed him.”
“Good enough for me. Come on, Toby. Let me show you around.”
“You want me to stay?” Draco asked.
“Nah. Go on home. And tell my brother he better get his ass over to visit soon.”
Draco grinned, and from one moment to the next, he’d returned to his dragon form. He flew up into the sky and then disappeared from view.
“This is a really crazy dream,” Toby said.
“Tell me about it,” Nick said. “And you ain’t seen nothing yet. Just don’t freak out and hit anyone again, okay? It was funny as hell that you socked Draco right in the nose, and man, am I going to love giving my brother-in-law hell about that for the next century, but I can’t have you hitting the others, you know?”
Toby understood, but honestly, he wasn’t willing to make any promises. “Giant dragon, sir.