by Rinelle Grey
Typical. Rita just wanted the story. Lisa bit down the sarcastic retort that rose to her lips. This was exactly what they needed right now.
“Sure,” she agreed. “And I have another juicy detail for you, and for the police.”
“What?” Rita demanded, her voice excited.
“I have the location to the dragon’s lair.”
There was silence on the other end of the line. Then, “I’m not sure I want to go anywhere near that dragon again, even if it would be the best scoop ever.”
At least she had a healthy dose of caution.
“You don’t need to go there,” Lisa assured her. “We just want you to release the information.”
“Ahh.” Rita gave a laugh. “Not your dragon’s lair then, the other guy. Dragon war getting serious huh? Sure, I can do that.”
“We can’t talk for long, remember,” Verrian’s voice in her head intruded on her conversation. “The police will be here as quickly as they can.”
Lisa bit her lip. She strained her ears, but could hear no hint of sirens.
Not that a lack of sirens was any guarantee. The police were probably keeping them off to avoid spooking her. “Sure,” Lisa said quickly. She gave Rita the location of Ultrima’s lair, in a far distant mountain, then ended the call.
Then she turned to Verrian with a smile. “Let’s get out of here.”
He smiled back, his eyes glowing slightly in the darkness. It was kind of nice, being just the two of them again. Even the thrill of danger only added to the moment.
Danger followed Verrian wherever he went, but to her surprise, Lisa was starting to get used to it. At least this danger wasn’t likely to be a dragon attacking them. Funny how the police seemed far less threatening when you compared them to a dragon throwing lightning bolts.
She could feel the connection to Verrian in the back of her mind. The awareness of his presence never left her, even when they were in different rooms back at Raven’s.
Somehow, it stopped her being afraid.
She wasn’t alone. She’d never be alone again.
That thought was more comforting than she’d ever expected it to be.
She’d have to save marvelling over that fact for later though, right now, they needed to get out of here. She pulled on the helmet and threw her leg over the bike.
Verrian climbed on behind her and put his arms around her waist. His presence was comforting as they drove off into the night.
The city was eerily quiet. The roar of the bike engine sounded abnormally loud in the absence of other traffic. Lisa winced. “So much for going undetected,” she said to Verrian, the mind to mind speaking having no trouble communicating itself over the roar.
“I can fix that.” Verrian’s arms tightened around her waist for a second, then suddenly the engine roar was muted. A few moments later, it disappeared altogether.
Of course. Sound dragon. Why hadn’t it occurred to Lisa he could do something about that? She still hadn’t gotten used to the fact that he could change sound like that. “Much better,” she said approvingly.
Now they were as silent as the dark streets they were travelling through. Lisa didn’t feel so exposed and detectable. Much more comfortable.
They drove east for about thirty minutes, leaving the phone booth where they’d made the call far behind. Hopefully, if the police traced the call, they’d focus their search to the west.
As they neared the outskirts of the city, Lisa slowed, paying more attention to their surroundings. Every car made her tense up, just in case it was the police. Luckily, they only encountered a few of them, but even so, she was a bundle of nerves by the time they reached the edge of the state forest.
Once they were off the sealed roads and onto the dirt tracks stretching between the tall plantation pines, she felt a lot better. Surely no one would be looking for them here?
Verrian stared around them. “What is this place?”
“State forest,” Lisa told him. “They grow pine trees for wood and paper. But because it’s state land, you can travel through it.”
“Are you sure we aren’t going to get lost?” Verrian asked doubtfully. “If I were flying over the top, it would be easy to find our way, but down here we can’t see anything but trees.”
He’d hit on the one possible issue. Lisa tried to sound confident. “I’ve been through this area a couple of times. I went out with this guy who liked to go four wheel driving here once.”
She felt rather than heard Verrian’s mental growl. “You’re my mate now.”
Seriously? He was choosing this moment to get all alpha on her? “It’s not like he’s going to show up and tell us the way,” she said back flatly. “And right now, if he did, I’d be saying thanks.”
“That’s the bit I’m worried about.” There was still an undercurrent of a growl to Verrian’s words.
“Look, I slept with you to save your life,” Lisa snapped. “Telling me who I can and can’t see, WHEN THEY’RE NOT EVEN HERE, is a pointless waste of our time when we’re still running for our lives.”
Verrian was silent this time, but somehow, Lisa could still feel his annoyance.
No, not annoyance. More, a self-righteous feeling that he owned her.
Like hell he did.
But right now wasn’t the time to tell him that. Right now, they needed to find their way through this forest, and that was going to take all of Lisa’s wits. She needed to clear her mind, and ignore Verrian’s stupid, pig-headed, male pride.
The task in front of her, navigating miles of unmarked and unsigned dirt forest roads, was more than enough to keep her busy. It wasn’t like she had the GPS on her phone, or even a compass, to help her.
Lisa sped through the tall trees, the eerie silence of the bike just making the experience seem even more surreal.
How had her life come to this?
Not that her life had been perfect, but she’d managed pretty well for herself. She’d found herself a decent job, rented a nice apartment, and she certainly hadn’t had a bad social life.
Then she’d met Verrian and all that had gone out the window. Her apartment was probably swarming with police, her workmates being questioned, and certainly the only thing her friends would be asking her if she ever saw them again was, ‘Was that really a dragon?’
And now, he had the gall to tell her she was his mate and act as though that meant she could never talk to another man.
She hadn’t signed up for that. None of this had been planned. She’d slept with him to help him, not because she was making a promise to be his for the rest of her life. Yes, she’d known about the bond, but that didn’t mean she belonged to him.
Not that she had the least interest in any other guys. And despite Karla’s warnings, that had nothing to do with the bond. She hadn’t even thought of anyone else since the moment she’d first slept with him.
But that didn’t mean she was going to sit down and let him dictate her life to her.
Lisa bit back a sigh.
Not the time. She’d told Verrian that earlier and she needed to remember it herself.
Light almost blinded her as car headlights swept across the road in front of her. Lisa swerved, panic hitting her. But the car wasn’t on their road. In her distraction, she’d gone too close to the highway. Anyone could see them. They may have muffled the engine’s sound, but there was no way they could drive without the headlights on, especially not in the intense darkness under the pine forest.
Lisa cut back into the trees, her heart hammering in her chest.
Had that been a police car? It hadn’t had flashing lights or a siren, and was too dark to see if it had markings. It could have been anyone. Hopefully they hadn’t even seen her.
She needed to stay alert though, not let her mind wander.
If she didn’t pay attention, she and Verrian might not have a future to argue over.
Chapter 48
Verrian had to fight not to let his arms tighten around Lisa’s waist as she
swerved back into the trees. He listened, but the car continued to drive. It had no interest in them.
Once the vehicle was out of earshot, Verrian lost interest in it.
His mind was still reeling from Lisa’s comments.
How could she even think that it wasn’t his right to object to her seeing someone else when they were mated?
The trouble was, he couldn’t argue with her reasoning. She’d made the ultimate sacrifice for him. He couldn’t fault her for that. She hadn’t mated him for love, or even for prestige or power. She’d only done it to save his life.
He’d thought, when they talked before they’d done it, that she might have loved him. She’d sounded like she did. That’s why he’d given in.
A huge error in judgement. That was what came of being in a rush. His clan always said that to rush into a mating was a mistake, and he’d always taken that seriously. He’d kept his distance so many times, and then the one time he should have stayed strong, he’d let himself be fooled.
His heart ached. The truth was, he did want to spend the rest of his life with her. She was funny, clever, quick witted, and yet still sensitive and caring. She was perfect for him.
Pity she didn’t feel the same way.
It wasn’t her fault that he desperately wanted the mating to mean something more than she did.
And it wasn’t right for him to demand that of her. She’d already given him so much, he had no right to expect more.
Trouble was, he wasn’t sure he could keep his distance. Every time he tried to think about doing so, his stomach tied itself in knots and every fibre of his body protested.
Verrian bit back a sigh. So what was he supposed to do?
Maybe when he got back to his clan, Taurian might be able to advise him.
He gave a short laugh at the thought of his hot headed younger brother giving him advice, but Taurian had been mated while Verrian was still asleep. Surely that must have given him some wisdom?
If not, the clan must have some elders, one of them would surely be able to offer him some useful suggestions.
They just had to get back there first.
Thick tree trunks whizzed past Verrian’s head. They were moving far faster between the trees than he’d dare fly. He hoped Lisa knew what she was doing and where they were going. He couldn’t help from the ground.
Not with driving anyway. What he should be doing was listening out for anyone that might see them. Their vehicle wasn’t making any noise, but others who passed nearby would be.
Verrian focused on the sounds around them. The whistle of the wind as they passed close to trees, the hoot of a nearby owl, the sound of a car, passing somewhere to the left of them. None of those noises seemed a threat.
Verrian relaxed a little. Lisa’s plan was sound. Yet another of her brilliant ideas that would get them out of this. He wished he had ideas like that. Then maybe he’d do okay when she left him.
Verrian gave himself a shake. Not thinking about that. He was listening.
Something moved to the right of them. Verrian strained his ears. Was it an enemy? It moved suddenly, soft thumps followed by the thud of a tail. A mob of kangaroos. Nothing to worry about.
Another sound intruded into his thoughts. A far away thudding, more continuous and rhythmic than the kangaroo’s departure. It was so distant that at first Verrian wasn’t sure he was even hearing it. But slowly the sound came closer, grew more persistent.
He wasn’t sure what it was, but it couldn’t be good. “Something’s coming,” he informed Lisa.
“What?” she asked sharply.
If only he knew. “It sounds like this.” He mimicked the sound into Lisa’s mind.
She swore, out loud, but under her breath. She pulled over into the trees and immediately killed the motorbike engine and its headlights. “It’s a helicopter. Probably looking for us. We need to hide in the trees and hope they don’t see us.”
Verrian’s heart constricted. A helicopter. He’d seen the human’s flying contraptions on the television. Their high vantage point would give the humans the advantage he didn’t have right now. Would it see them from up there in the sky? He knew he could spot prey, but his eyes were better than the human’s. He’d already noticed that. “Will they be able to see us?”
“If we’re in the dark, I don’t know. I hope not. But we have a better chance than with the headlights on.”
Maybe Lisa was right and the helicopter would pass them by in the dark. She’d been right about everything else.
They waited as the sound came closer and closer, their frantic heartbeats loud in the silence of the forest.
Lisa’s hand reached for his in the darkness and held it. The simple gesture eased a little of the fear in Verrian’s heart.
Even if she didn’t love him, surely she cared a little? Maybe there was some way, once this danger was past and they were safe back in the lair with his family, that they could nurture this connection they obviously had.
Maybe if he did something spectacular enough, he could win her love.
Then the helicopter was overhead and any thoughts of doing spectacular things were blown away in the wind from its… whatever it was it used to fly. It wasn’t wings flapping, they wouldn’t make that kind of noise nor produce the kind of wind that blew the trees around so crazily.
It hovered above them, its forward momentum stopped. Had it seen them somehow?
Was there any other excuse for it stopping right here?
But how? Could it somehow see in the darkness and trees?
Verrian held his breath.
Lisa’s hand squeezed his. She was barely breathing too.
Then suddenly a spotlight came on, directed straight at them, its beam shining through the branches and illuminating the spot where they stood. An unnaturally loud voice said, “This is the police. Please step out of the trees.”
“Crap,” Lisa’s panicked voice said in Verrian’s head. “They’ve found us.”
“We need to run. Maybe even fly,” Verrian said back.
“No.” Lisa shook her head. “Not fly. They’ll be able to keep up. Then they’ll know you’re a dragon. No flying.”
He hadn’t listened to her last time. Instead, he’d convinced her that flying was the best option, and it had led them into this mess. This time, he was going to listen. “What do we do then?”
Lisa was silent for a second. She took a couple of deep breaths, and her heartrate slowed a little. “They’ll have backup here soon, we need to move now. There isn’t room for them to land here. We have to lose them somehow. Maybe, if they can’t hear the bike, we can lose them in the trees.”
There was only one flaw in her plan. “They will be able to see the headlights,” Verrian pointed out. “And you said you couldn’t drive without them.”
Lisa’s shoulders slumped. “What are we going to do then? Surrender?”
That wasn’t even an option. Verrian would fly up there and attack the helicopter before he’d surrender.
Somehow, he didn’t think Lisa would approve of that plan.
“I’ll drive,” he said. “My dragon eyes can see better in the dark than your human ones.”
Lisa looked at him doubtfully. “You don’t know how.”
“Show me, quickly.”
Their mental conversation was far faster than a physical one would have been, but they were still running out of time. There was no time to argue.
Lisa quickly explained the bike’s controls. Not too confusing. Verrian threw his leg over the bike, and Lisa climbed on behind him.
For a minute, Verrian was frozen with uncertainty. He’d tried many examples of the human’s technology in the last few days, and managed them well enough. But this was different. This motorbike wasn’t like the computer or the TV or the fridge. It wasn’t going to just sit there and wait for him to bumble his way around.
It was a powerful machine, and it needed to be handled with confidence and certainty. If he hesitated, then the bike would w
in.
He did have one experience that mirrored that almost exactly.
Every time he spread his wings and took off, it was exactly the same. One wrong move, and he could come crashing down to the ground. But he never had.
Verrian grasped hold of that confidence, and used it.
The helicopter hovered over their heads, the sound loud enough that Verrian wasn’t even sure they could hear the bike engine over it. As he started it up, he covered it anyway.
“Step out of the trees, a police car will be here soon. You are directed to wait until they arrive,” the loud voice from the helicopter said again.
It was as though it knew what they were planning on doing.
In the distance, Verrian could hear a siren. They were coming.
Panic filled him. This was bad. Very bad.
What if he never saw his brothers and sisters again? What if he never saw his clan again? What if they took him away from Lisa?
He couldn’t bear that.
He needed to do something about that helicopter. Since Lisa had vetoed flying, he couldn’t fly up there and attack it. He’d have to do it from the ground.
At the same time as riding the bike. No pressure.
He kicked the bike into gear and they started forwards through the trees, Verrian had a clear view of the aircraft, shining its light directly into his eyes, blinding him.
Verrian focused down on the ground, away from the lights. He didn’t need to see it, the sound told him exactly where it was.
Verrian sent a directed burst of sound directly at the whirring craft. He was pretty sure he could knock it out of the air with his sound blast, but that wasn’t what he was aiming for. If the helicopter fell to the ground, he didn’t think the humans would survive the fall, and he didn’t want to kill them. Not if he had another choice.
This blast was designed to deafen the pilots, just for long enough to disorient them.
It must have done something, because the light suddenly dipped. It took Verrian’s eyes a few seconds to adjust to the darkness enough to be able to tell where he should drive. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping to hurry the adjustment.