Margo was right about one thing I was going to throw myself head long into work. And I was likely going to break down later. I’d had a rough few days and I could feel it in the cracks of my mind. There was going to be a hell of a downpour of everything at some point. But not now.

All of Naomi’s possessions were sitting on my bar like they belonged there. Someone from Dae’lin’s office dropped them off. I saw them earlier but I didn’t want to deal with it. But it was work. Her things were all neatly stored in a plastic storage bag. I took everything out as I searched for her cell phone. On it was a number of her contact. I only had to find it.

As I was putting her things back in the bag, the cell phone had sunk to the bottom and everything was neatly laid on the bar, there was a knock at my door. I waved my hand and the door opened. I didn’t turn to look, I new from the smell it was Dorian. He always smelled like cinnamon and vanilla. I felt the tears falling and Dorian came in and shut the door. His voice was soft as he wrapped his arms around me, “Margo told me.”

I closed my eyes and sank into the feeling of the man who was the closest thing I had to a father growing up. He held me and I cried. There was no thoughts, no self pity, no anxiety just safety in his arms. And he knew it so he held me.

I think we stayed like that for an hour before Dorian shifted uneasily. I sighed, “You can go. I’m okay. I know you have to get to work. So do I.”

“Are you sure?” He asked.

I nodded. “I have to go open a safe, and have to get IT to track the numbers on the phone so we know who’s on there.”

“Why don’t you go see Sage?” Dorian suggested.

I shook my head. “I can’t. If I ask him a favor, he’ll want something in return and I can’t. I can’t do anything right now Dorian.”

He nodded. “Alright. But IT will take forever you know this.”

“I know. I’m sure I’ll be able to figure something out. I can always call Jack.”

“I didn’t think you could do favors?” Dorian said.

“The good think about Cari’s favors is she likes to save them for when it’s necessary. Or I just feed Ant.”

Dorian shook his head. “You should call Anthony and Ryan and spend a few nights there.”

I shook my head. “No, that’s exactly what Alex expects I’ll do. Go running to my vampire boyfriend and let him help me through my shit. Because it’s all about me.” I took a deep breath and sighed. “I should let it go, but I can’t.”

Dorian chuckled, “You will Nox. You always do.”

“I didn’t with my Dad.” I confided.

“That’s different Nox. There is nothing to forgive, he didn’t know. You had to get over years of built up preconceptions. And Kai is a hard man to love. You’ve seen him with his other children, and you know how hard it is sometimes for my father to love the man.”

I laughed a little. I’d known Kai my whole life. He was like an Uncle to Dorian. And we’d had dinner many times when I was a child. He was the perfect hunter. My idol and my father. It was hard to get past the latter. But I was doing better, and so was Kai. we were working on it. Dorian gave me one last hug. “Call me if you need me, Nox. Any time.”

I nodded. “I will Dorian. Thank you again.”

“My pleasure son. Go follow your leads.” He said as he walked out the door. And I was alone again.

The world wanted to press in on me but I pushed back. Alex had accused me of not standing up for myself. He was wrong in that. I choose my battles carefully. There was only so much strength in me. I picked up the dragon’s cell phone and turned it on, thankful when I saw the logo of her provider flash on. At least it wasn’t dead. I didn’t have a charger for that type of phone. I hated when companies used proprietary plugs.

The wallpaper of Naomi’s phone was a picture of her son. He was flying a car through the air in Central Park. it made me smile. How was I ever going to take care of a kid, I couldn’t even take care of myself. I was such a mess.

I had to fight my own inner demons and push them away so i could focus. I pulled up her recent calls and scanned through them. I sighed as I recognized one of them fucking Val. At least I didn’t have to go to IT. Valentino Sprague was a werewolf who sold secrets for a price. He was shady and I disliked dealing with him. But I knew that if he was dealing with Dragons Dom didn’t know about it. And that was about to change.

I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and noticed that it was still on do not disturb from last night. A torrent of emotions flood my mind. All the feelings from the night before tied up in one small setting on my phone.

I couldn’t push it away. I didn’t want to. I wanted to feel it all even the pain. I just wanted to say I’m sorry again. Tell him I’d try harder. I wiped the tears that fell from my eyes and decided I’d have to call Dom after a shower. It’s not like 20 minutes was going to kill the lead. Val didn’t even know I knew he was selling secrets or himself to the dragons.

• Comfortably Numb (5/12/2018)
• A Day In the Life… (5/14/2018)
• Meeting Up with Friends (5/15/2018)
• Decision: Flit or Aspect? (5/16/2018)
• What’s Your Name? (5/17/2018)
• The Card (5/18/2018)
• The Ritual (5/19/2018)
• Vampires, Werewolves and Venatori, oh my! (5/20/2018)
• My Brother (5/21/2018)
• New Job (5/22/2018)
• Grocery Shopping (5/24/2018)
• Panic Attack (5/25/2018)
• Atlas (5/26/2018)
• Elevator (5/27/2018)
• Linner? Lupper? Hell Food (5/28/2018)
• Small Talk (5/29/2018)
• The Setting Sun (5/30/2018)
• Me v Anxiety (5/31/2018)
• A Puppet (6/1/2018)
• The Tattoo (6/2/2018)
• Dr. Silverman (6/3/2018)
• Hangouts (6/4/2018)
• Childhood Bully (6/5/2018)
• Getting Ready (6/6/2018)
• You’re Late (6/7/2018)
• Train Ride (6/8/2018)
• Friendly Game (6/9/2018)
• Grocery Shopping Round 2 (6/10/2018)
• Falling Apart (6/11/2018)
• Breakfast for Dinner (6/12/2018)
• Heavy Burdens (6/13/2018)
• Time For Work (6/14/2018)
• Ugly Dog Saloon (6/15/2018)
• Run Away Dragon (6/16/2018)
• City Tracking (6/17/2018)
• No Hope (6/19/2018)
• Lost Phones (6/20/2018)
• Over Coffee (6/21/2018)
• Chocolate Cake (6/22/2018)
• A Walk in the Park (6/23/2018)
• Young Novices (6/24/2018)
• The Dragon Boy (6/25/2018)
• Negotiations (6/26/2018)
• Nothing But the Truth (6/27/2018)
• Groceries Round Three (6/28/2018)
• Alex’s Place (6/29/2018)
• A Tour (6/29/2018)
• It’s Early (6/30/2018)
• The Next Morning (7/1/2018)
• What About Me? (7/2/2018)
• Breakfast at Bonnie’s (7/3/2018)
• Emergency Session (7/4/2018)
• Lead Number One (7/5/2018)
• Lead Number Two (7/6/2018)
• More Than I Was Looking For (7/7/2018)
• Manhattan Wolfpack (7/8/2018)
• Happy Reunion (7/9/2018)
• My Nephew, The Intern (7/10/2018)
• My Big Bad Bosses (7/11/2018)
• Testing My Dragon (7/12/2018)
• Downright Weird (7/13/2018)
• The Rune on My Door (7/14/2018)
• Packing My Things (7/15/2018)
• Dusk Arrived (7/16/2018)
• A Pep Talk (7/17/2018)
• The Favor (7/18/2018)
• Friendly Dinner (7/19/2018)
• Clearing My Head (7/20/2018)
• My New Place (7/21/2018)
• Relaxation (7/22/2018)
• All Growed Up (7/23/2018)
• Before the Party (7/24/2018)
• It’s My Party (7/25/2018)
• Family and Friends (7/26/2018)
• Joe, The Doorman (7/27/2018)
• Nightmares and Comfort Foods (7/28/2018)
• Breakfast with Family (7/29/2018)
• Well Done IT (7/30/2018)
• Safe Harbor (7/31/2018)
• Unlawful Entry (8/1/2018)
• Things that Go Boom! (8/2/2018)
• Cleaning Up Your Mess (8/3/2018)
• Hacking the System (8/4/2018)
• It’s Underground (8/5/2018)
• Vampire Negotiations (8/6/2018)
• Finding a Dragon (8/7/2018)
• I’ll Never Tell (8/8/2018)
• The Grand Plan (8/9/2018)
• Many Firsts (8/10/2018)
• Where Are You? (8/11/2018)
• Returning the Favor (8/12/2018)
• Desparate (8/13/2018)
• Ant’s Favor Returned (8/14/2018)
• Head Honcho Sucks (8/15/2018)
• Hacker v Hacker (8/16/2018)
• Finding a Hacker (8/17/2018)
• Negotiating with Lives (8/18/2018)
• New Old Players (8/19/2018)
• Hacking the Fishbowl (8/20/2018)
• Walker’s Prognosis (8/21/2018)