Rain started to fall as they strode out the front door and across the lawn. When they were far enough away from the house, Dragos shapeshifted, expanding in size rapidly until Pia shrank in his perspective to the size of a doll. The dragon bent his head to her. She touched his muzzle, a quick, affectionate gesture, and then he scooped her up to nestle her in a secure cage of his claws and launched into the air.

When they had decided to leave the city and move upstate, Dragos had learned every detail of the back and side roads of his new terrain. Well versed in the layout of the nearby town, he flew with exact precision to the street where Elizabeth Creedy had lived.

Once there, it took only a few moments to figure out the location of her street address. Within minutes the dragon touched down silently in the middle of the road in front of a small, well-kept craftsman-style house.

It was close to midnight, and the surrounding neighborhood was mostly dark and quiet. Streetlamps provided regular sparks of illumination that highlighted spitting rain and newly formed puddles on slick asphalt. A few lights shone in windows, but Dragos felt certain there weren’t any witnesses to their arrival. Setting Pia on her feet, he folded back his wings and shapeshifted back into his human form.

Pia gave him a mute glance. She was so obviously bracing herself to discover something grim and sad inside, he shook his head and plucked the Tupperware container out of her hand.

“You don’t have to do this.” He kept his voice quiet. “I can. Wait here.”

“As much as I love you, I have to say, you’re a scary sight to most people.” She spoke as quietly as he did. Her eyes were huge shadows in her pale face. “Imagine how scary you’ll be to one starving, scared dog.”

“At this point, it might be scared enough of anything and inclined to bite,” he told her. “I’ll take care of it.”

Plus, if the dog was in bad enough shape that it had to be put down, he could do that quickly without the added emotional distress it would cause Pia if she were present.

“Okay.” She twisted her hands together. “Be gentle.”

He nodded and strode up the walk to the dead woman’s house. As he crossed the porch to the front door, the boards underneath his boots creaked. Hysterical barking erupted from deep inside the house.

He glanced back at Pia. That answered the main question. The dog was in the house and still alive. And it was in decent enough shape to be energetic about intruders.