Princess Lyrian: Dragon Breeze Compilation (Return of the Dragons Book 7)

by Rinelle Grey

  Chapter 15

  Lyrian was so excited about the possibility of finding Verrian, she wasn’t paying much attention to their surroundings as they pulled back into the pub parking lot.

  Until Brad said, “Why is that woman staring at me?”

  Lyrian leaned forwards to look and found herself staring straight into the silver eyes of a Trima dragon.

  Her heart skipped a beat, then started pounding painfully. They’d found her again. She’d thought they were safe in the human town, for a while at least. But apparently that wasn't the case.

  The dragon’s eyes narrowed, and a slow smile spread across her face.

  “We need to get out of here. That’s the dragon,” Lyrian said frantically, aware that her voice was high pitched and panicky, not even caring.

  “What?” Brad turned to stare at her.

  “Go. Drive. Get out of here.” What did it take to get the message through to him?

  Brad’s eyes widened.

  The Trima dragon looked hastily back over her shoulder, as though searching for someone. Was there more than one of them?

  There was no way Lyrian could fight two Trima dragons on her own. She’d barely managed one. “We need to move.”

  Luckily, Brad was already moving. He put the car into reverse and backed out of the parking lot, the tyres skidding on the gravel.

  The Trima dragon moved too. She scrambled from the passenger seat, where she’d been sitting, into the driver’s seat.

  Lyrian’s heart hammered in her chest, and she could barely breathe, let alone think clearly. One question filled her mind. How were they going to get away from her?

  Brad reversed rapidly back out onto the road, then swung around and drove off.

  Lyrian twisted around to stare back over her shoulder. Just before Brad turned the corner, the car with the Trima dragon burst out onto the road behind them.

  This wasn’t good. Sure, the Trima dragon was unlikely to blast them here in the middle of the town, but that didn’t matter. She could follow them relentlessly, and call backup at any moment. If there was another dragon with her, she could already have told them what was going on using dragon speech.

  There was no way they could go searching for Verrian with her around, even if they’d had the map Brad needed, which was still in their room in the pub. Lyrian didn’t know how long her brother had been awake, or if he was at full strength or not, so she couldn’t risk bringing trouble to him.

  They needed to lose the Trima dragon. Somehow.

  But with very little traffic on the deserted country roads, it was quite easy for the pursuing car to keep up with them. They almost lost her at one point, when Brad turned two corners in quick succession, but the Trima dragon’s car drove past slowly and caught sight of them again.

  Lyrian’s frustration grew with every corner they turned. She needed to do something, or this could go on for hours, but if she started using her dragon magic, it upped the chances of the Trima dragon doing the same thing.

  She hesitated, torn between a natural inclination to attack her enemy and a need to avoid conflict to protect her baby.

  Until clouds began rolling in overhead.

  A chill raised the hair on her arms. There shouldn’t be clouds here. It almost never rained in this area. And they were coming in far too fast to be natural.

  When a bolt of lightning hit the ground next to them, she knew it wasn’t an accident.

  The heavens opened up and the rain poured down, making a dull roar as it hit the car roof.

  Brad jumped at the lightning and then swore at the rain. He glanced in the rear view mirror.

  Lyrian answered his question before he asked it. “That has to have been her.”

  “Can you do anything like that?” Brad asked.

  Lyrian hesitated. The Trima dragon’s lightning bolt was a threat. If she was prepared to go that far, then there was nothing to stop her actually hitting them. The time for escape was over. It was time to fight.

  She twisted around in her seat, but the seat belt hindered her. She unclipped it.

  Brad glanced over, but he didn’t say anything.

  Now Lyrian could see more clearly. Clearly enough that the enemy dragon’s eyes bored into her. The slippery road had slowed Brad’s speed, the pursuing vehicle was close now. That would actually make things easier for Lyrian.

  She focused her magic, sending a wind diagonally across the road behind them, buffeting the Trima dragon’s car. She was close enough to see the woman’s eyes widen, and her hands tighten on the wheel as she fought to keep the car on the road.

  The car dropped back a little, but not far.

  Lyrian bit her lip and hit the car again, harder this time. Then again. And again, until she lost count. The following car swerved wildly, but the Trima dragon was determined. Very determined.

  The constant barrage of wind was stopping her being able to concentrate to use her own magic, but it wasn’t enough to help them escape. Lyrian was being too careful. Too restrained. She summoned all her strength and hit the following car as hard as she could, hard enough to send it careering off the road into a ditch.

  Even then, the Trima dragon jumped out of the car and ran out into the middle of the road after them, shouting something that Lyrian couldn’t hear over the sound of rain pounding on the car roof.

  She sank back down into her seat, her arms and legs shaking. “I think we lost her.”

  Brad glanced over at her for a split second. “Are you okay?”

  Lyrian nodded, trying to ignore the fact that her legs felt like rubber and her heartbeat was painfully fast. “I will be, just keep driving.”

  She wanted as much distance between her and the Trima dragon as she could get. Only when she was sure the enemy dragon was gone would she feel safe going searching for Verrian. If they even could without the map.

  Brad kept driving as instructed, and they quickly left the localised storm behind. The houses on either side of the road gave way, and soon they were out on the open plains. Lyrian couldn’t help feeling better.

  Of course, that was probably silly, fewer houses meant fewer places to hide. But it wasn't like being in the town had protected them. The Trima dragon had found them anyway.

  And being out in the countryside felt a lot better to her. More familiar.

  In fact, she knew where they were. Lyrian sat up, and stared around. “Go that way,” she said, pointing.

  Brad stared in the direction she pointed. “There’s no road,” he said, slowing the car down.

  Lyrian didn’t care. “See that dip in the plains there? It’s a dried up creek bed, and there’s a cave nearby.”

  Or at least, she hoped there was. It had been three hundred years, maybe it had changed.

  Brad eased the car to a stop, and stared, frowning.

  Didn’t he believe her? Or maybe he was objecting to staying in a cave? He was used to hotels and comfort. Lyrian frowned. “Look, it’s our best bet right now. We need somewhere to hide out until we’re certain we’ve lost them.”

  Brad shook his head. “I know. But if we go off road, our tyre tracks are going to show anyone following exactly where we’ve gone.”

  He had a good point. Lyrian had been able to tell a lot from the tyre tracks outside Verrian’s Mesmer chamber. These would lead anyone trying to follow them straight to their hideaway.

  Luckily, she could fix it easily.

  “I’ll blow them away as we go,” she assured Brad.

  He looked at her, his expression admiring. “Great idea.” He turned the wheel and headed off road. “Let me know if I’m going too fast.”

  Lyrian nodded, feeling a little silly that he thought her abilities were so amazing. Covering a few tracks with a gentle breeze was child’s play. Nothing hard at all.

  She undid her seatbelt and leaned out the window to get a better view, glad that Brad drove very slowly on the bumpy surface.

  They made it to the dried creek bed without incident and Lyrian direct
ed Brad to the north. It took about ten minutes to find the cave she remembered. Luckily it was still there.

  More of an overhang than a true cave, a huge, flat rock jutted out partially over the dried up river bed. Big enough that Brad could even drive the ute up under one side, hiding it from any dragons that might fly overhead.

  Lyrian heaved a sigh when Brad eased the car to a stop.

  For the first time in two days, she finally felt like she could take a deep breath without fear strangling it.

  Chapter 16

  Brad climbed out of the ute, trying to hide the fact that even his legs were shaking now.

  He’d never been so scared in his life as he had been in the last twenty-four hours. And he’d never felt so out of control.

  He did have an excuse though. How could anyone be in control around creatures who could do the things these dragons could? He’d just been chased by a dragon in the middle of a magical dragon storm, while Lyrian… well, he wasn’t too sure what she’d done. He hadn’t been able to see any signs of her doing anything, but the other dragon’s car had run off the road into a ditch. He was pretty sure she was responsible for that.

  As if that wasn’t enough, Lyrian had used some sort of dragon magic yet again to cover their tracks.

  It all just served to remind him that he was way out of his depth. As soon as he started to think he had this figured out, that he had a plan that could solve this, it was ripped out from underneath him. He was in the middle of nowhere with no phone, and not even the map they needed to find Lyrian’s brothers.

  How was he going to get them out of this?

  Right now they seemed to have escaped the immediate danger, but would they be safe here?

  He was a little nervous about being so far away from the town. At the pub they at least had a landline phone and people he could ask for assistance. He hadn’t intended to call the police, but it felt a lot better knowing he could if he needed to. Out here, he couldn’t do anything to stop the two dragons throwing magic at each other indiscriminately.

  Not that being in the middle of the town had stopped them much.

  He tensed his body automatically when he remembered the sound of the lightning hitting the ground near the car, along with the blinding flash of light. Lyrian had said the other dragon had done that. If it had hit them... He shuddered at the thought.

  Hopefully the other dragon didn’t find them here. Just in case, he reached under the seat of the ute and pulled out the shotgun. It might not do much, but it made him feel a little more in control. He needed that desperately right now, even though he was pretty sure it was an illusion.

  Lyrian lifted Anarian out of the carseat. When she moved her, the baby woke up and started crying.

  Her cries made Brad feel guilty. He couldn’t help thinking of all the things he didn’t have to care for her. No diapers. No clothes. Nowhere comfortable to sleep.

  He and Lyrian would cope with the discomforts, they understood what was going on. But the little baby had no idea. She deserved better than this.

  When they sorted all this out, he’d make it up to her. Somehow.

  Right now, he needed to take stock of their situation. He stared around the cave. It was lucky Lyrian had known it was here. Hopefully they could hide until…

  Until what? They couldn’t just stay here permanently. In fact, staying even for a short while was problematic. They had no food, nowhere to sleep, nothing.

  For the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to do.

  Lyrian didn’t seem fazed at all. She settled herself down on a rock, leaned her back against the rocky wall, and attached Anarian to the breast. Brad spared a moment to be glad they didn’t need bottles and formula.

  Lyrian heaved a sigh of relief. “At least we’re safe here,” she said.

  Brad wished he could be so certain. “What if that dragon follows us, like she followed you to Henry’s house?”

  “If she does, I can deal with her. Just so long as she’s alone.” Lyrian’s voice was confident. Certain.

  Brad wished he could be so sure.

  He also wished, even though he felt a little foolish for doing so, that he didn’t have to be relying on Lyrian to fight for him.

  He should be defending her and Anarian, not hiding behind her.

  Trouble was, he had no experience fighting dragons. And he was pretty sure the internet wouldn’t help him with this one, even if he had access right now.

  “What if she isn’t alone?” he probed. That was his worst fear. One dragon, they might be able to handle, between the shotgun and Lyrian’s magic. But two? Or even worse, more?

  Lyrian’s face fell at that. But only for a moment. “Then we run, back to the town,” she said firmly. “They won’t attack us there. Not seriously. And if worst comes to worst, we go to where Verrian might be anyway, even if we do risk leading the dragons to him.”

  So that attack wasn’t serious? He was pretty sure he didn’t want to see serious, if that was the case.

  Finding her brother was a good plan, but it wasn’t going to be that easy. “We don’t have the map. How can we find him without that?”

  Lyrian’s face fell at that. But then she stared at him stubbornly. “Then tomorrow morning we go back and get it. If we’re ready for the Trima dragon, we can get in and out without her seeing us, I’m sure.”

  Brad stared at her. She sounded so certain.

  How could she sound so confident when everything was so out of control?

  Brad had thought he could find a solution for anything. Until a few days ago, he’d never found a situation where he didn’t know exactly what to do, or a problem he couldn't solve. Well, except for the first time Lyrian had shut him out. He hadn’t known what to do then.

  Well, that wasn’t quite true. What he hadn’t known was how to convince her to talk to him.

  He’d still solved the problem. By leaving.

  It had been a valid solution, even if it hadn’t been his preferred one.

  That was nothing compared to this though. He struggled to even think of possible ways to deal with the dragon if it came after them again.

  Lyrian though, didn’t falter. She was far more inventive than he was. More courageous too.

  Then again, maybe these were normal decision for her, like deciding what to do if a man’s heart stopped was simple and logical for him.

  “Hopefully she won’t find us here.” This time, Lyrian’s voice wavered a little, and the look in her eyes wasn’t certainty and strength, it was fear and nervousness.

  She was no more certain of what to do than he was.

  For some reason, that made Brad feel a little better. Not quite so helpless. There was something he could do. He could help Lyrian feel better.

  With that aim in mind, he sat down on a rock beside her and said, “You ran her into a ditch, I bet she’ll be thinking twice about coming after you.”

  Lyrian shook her head. “That was nothing. We’re just lucky that my magic is less obvious than hers. If we hadn’t been in the middle of the human town, she would have used her lightning magic. I can blow away a lot of things, but not lightning.”

  Brad’s heart sank. He hadn’t helped at all. In fact, he’d made things worse. Before he’d started talking, she’d seemed confident that she could defeat the other dragon. Now she seemed as helpless as he felt.

  That wasn't going to help either of them.

  “I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” he said, his voice firm. “You seem to have known exactly what to do every time we’ve dealt with her so far. You’ve kept us and Anarian safe. I’m sure you can do it again.”

  He was rewarded with a weak smile. “So far, yes.” Lyrian agreed. “That’s what a princess does.”

  Brad stared at her, frowning. His heart beat a little faster. Had he heard right? “Princess?”

  She’d said she was a dragon earlier. Now she was a princess?

  To his surprise, Lyrian blushed and shrugged her shoulders a little. �
��Yeah, I’m… kind of a dragon princess. I’m supposed to know what to do to protect my people. Unfortunately, I failed. We all failed.”

  Brad couldn’t help staring. He knew that he shouldn’t feel so stunned by her revelation. Or at least that he shouldn’t be stuck on it. They had far bigger problems to deal with. It really made no difference that she was a dragon princess.

  Except it did.

  He suddenly wasn’t just protecting the woman he loved and his baby.

  He was protecting a princess.

  That idea stirred a vein of nobility somewhere deep inside him, probably one that stemmed back to some knight ancestor or something.

  For a moment, a vision of the future flashed in front of his eyes. He could stand next to his princess and support and care for her. He could be her protector. That would be a worthy job. One worth giving up his career for. Wouldn’t it?

  But somehow, it didn’t feel right.

  He wasn’t bothered by the fact that she was more powerful than he was. He’d never felt threatened by a woman in power. In fact, they’d always kind of turned him on. The way they always seemed so in control…

  Trouble was, Lyrian wasn’t in control. She was as out of control as he was. Sure, she always seemed to save the day, but that was more good luck than good management.

  And, it was one thing to like a strong, independent woman while he was confident and secure in his own job. It was quite another to feel comfortable if he walked away from that. It wasn’t like he was even any good at protecting Lyrian. She did a much better job than he did. No, he couldn’t add anything useful to her life. He'd just be a dead weight.

  He couldn’t do this. No matter how much he wanted to be her protector, he was going to fail. He couldn’t go up against a clan of enemy dragons with just a shotgun.

  The only way he could help Lyrian was to find her brothers. That needed to be his mission, much as he wanted to jump in and save her, it wasn’t the practical solution, the sensible one.

  Boring as they were, practical and sensible were necessary too. He looked over at Lyrian, the dejected expression on her face melting his heart. He might not be able to face down a dragon with a sword for her, but maybe there were other things he could do.