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her abilities more than her words or the force of her intention behind them.  But he was a warrior and she, quite obviously, was not.
    She stared at the boxes in the living room.  Since she hadn't known exactly how long they might stay, she'd bought large, economy sizes of everything she and the baby might need.  Her credit card was getting a real workout.
    All that would be left of this incredible adventure tomorrow would be the bills – and another realization that the world held more secrets than she'd thought.  She'd believed that she'd adjusted well to her new "gift," but with this additional information, she knew she hadn't.  Portals to other dimensions?  Just who on Earth knew about this?  Not anyone in any powerful government, she didn't think.  Otherwise they wouldn't be letting it just float around.  They'd have scientists trying to pin it down.
    There'd be wars over it.  More people killed.
    Her spine tingled up to her shoulder blades that she shifted, not liking the dread that touched her.
    As Dak frowned and moved his nephew from her lap to his own, she stood and unpacked a really cute blue onesie from the box, a few diapers, and an already loaded diaper bag "for Moms on the Go!"
    "All right.  Let's just make him look like a regular kid."
    Dak rubbed his nephew's back.  "He's not a goat."
    "Slang, Dak.  'Kid' is slang for child."
    He curled his lip, then shook his head and stood, picking up the car seat.  "He has the energy to transform into cub.  I could order him to do so, and we wouldn't need this contraption."  He shook the car seat hard enough that various bits clattered.
    Brandy crossed her arms.  "I am not driving around with a loose cub in the car."
    "I will hold him."
    She huffed a breath.  "If we get caught with a black jaguar cub in the car, we will certainly be arrested and he'll be taken from us."
    Dak's jaw set.  "I do not understand your words."
    "Dak, I am not a noble.  We have...guards...who enforce the rules.  One rule is that a baby must be in a car seat in the back of the car, for safety."  She spread her hands.  "Like I said before, as far as I know, there aren't any shapeshifters here on Earth.  That means that if a...patrolling...guard catches a glimpse of a black jaguar cub, a cub that is very unusual, he will investigate."
    Dak grunted.  "The best guards are curious."
    "Black jaguars are wild animals here.  They aren't native to this area, and they wouldn't be allowed to be free, no matter how small.  In fact, the guards would assume that I didn't know how to take care of one, or I was abusing him.  They'd be right in their first idea.  Believe me, being caught with a black jaguar cub would cause us an untold amount of problems."
    "He is a panther cub ."
    Brandy didn't say anything else.  Just waited.
    He sighed and shook his head.  "Very well, if it must be done."
    "It must."
    Standing, he pulled something from his pants pocket.  "You have purchased a great deal of food and items for us."
    She shrugged.  "That needed to be done, too.  You couldn't live on what I had to eat, and Favel needs human baby things.  It was sort of fun."
    "This is for you."  He held out his palm where a large link of gold lay on his hand, a good inch and a half long and maybe a quarter inch thick.
    "Wow.  Gold?"
    "Most places accept gold for trading."
    She hesitated, then thought of the bills, thought more of the pride she saw in his purple eyes.  He'd want to pay his own way and his nephew's.  Wasn't a sponger, and she'd known a couple of those.
    "Thank you."  Taking the gold, she went to the desk in the corner of her living room and put it in a secret drawer.
    When she turned back, he still stood, tall and serious and studying her with an intense gaze.
    "I just met you, Brandy Svensson, but I will miss you."  His voice was low, deep, rumbly, and caressing enough that she felt a searing of lust along her nerves.
    "I'll miss you, too, Dak of the Dark Panther Klatch."