“Dima, it’s time to go,” Elaina said kindly as she put her hand on my shoulder.
“Where are we going?” I asked as I watched the sun begin to rise.
“We have compounds all over the world, but we’re going to the one in Upstate New York. It puts us close enough to the King yet far away enough to make our plans,” she explained as she extended her hand to Essie in greeting.
“It’s strangely nice to meet you,” Essie said as she took Elaina’s hand.
“You’re the Wolf who can slay a Dragon, aren’t you?” she asked Essie with fascinated interest.
“Yes, I am. I’d prefer not to do it again anytime soon, so please take good care of my friend Dima. You seem very nice, but I wouldn’t hesitate to remove your head if I had to.”
“Your loyalty is noted,” Elaina said with a warm smile. “Dima’s mother would be very happy indeed to know she has friends like you.”
Her mention of my mother again, made my gut clench in pain. I wondered how much she knew of my mother’s death. I kept my smile plastered on my face and hugged my friends good bye.
“I’ll keep you posted on our project,” Junior said cryptically as he lifted me into a bear hug and almost broke my ribs.
“We’ll let you know how Dwayne’s vacation is going as well,” Essie added with a wink as she kissed my cheek.
With a sharp glance to Seth, I wondered if he’d broken his promise and revealed Daniel’s existence to his family. I’d find out soon enough. At least I knew my baby was safe for the moment.
“You will call us or we will come after you,” Hank said loud enough for the Dragons to hear.
“She’s not our prisoner,” Nicolai said flippantly. “She’s free to do as she pleases. If it pleases her Highness to call her unlikely friends, she will not be stopped.”
“Thanks, jackass,” I said much to Nicolai’s displeasure.
If he was going to refer to me as a royal, I would refer to him with all sorts of names in combo with the word ass. Two could play his game…and I would win.
“Are we going to fly in the daylight?” I asked wondering if I’d be stuck in a car with Mr. Asshead for twenty hours.
“No,” Boring Coat Taker Guy said as he spoke for the first time since he’d arrived. “I can put a shield around us that will render us invisible.”
“What in the hell are you?” Junior asked wildly impressed.
Coat Guy shrugged and smiled. “A Dragon Warlock—everyone’s worst nightmare.”
I swallowed hard and really looked at him. I’d not paid much attention the first time we’d met. He was the stuff of myths. As a child I’d heard stories about the rare Dragon Warlocks, but I never believed them to be true. He was handsome in a very non-descript way. He would easily blend in with a crowd and not be noticed at all. However, a Dragon like him was a dangerous adversary. I wondered how they’d found him. I’d always heard my father kept one prisoner, but I’d pushed that fairy tale aside. Now I wondered…
“Do you have a name, Dragon Warlock?” I asked, still staring at the myth come to life.
“I go by Lenny,” he replied easily.
“That’s not what I asked,” I shot back equally as smooth.
“This is true,” he agreed. “But at the moment it’s all you will get. Possibly in the future you will receive more, but for now you haven’t earned it.”
“Whatever,” I said dismissively. “In the future I won’t even want it.”
“Don’t be hasty, child. No one knows what the future will bring and what we will want or need to know.”
Lenny turned his back on me and walked to the edge of the ocean. If I didn’t know he was real, I would have thought he’d turned into a statue.
Nicolai, Elaina and Seth watched the exchange with open-mouthed wonder.
“Dear God, I’ve never heard him string so many words together in my life,” Seth said as he stared at me strangely.
Elaina nodded and laughed. “He must like you.”
“He’s an idiot,” Nicolai muttered rudely.
“At least he’s not an assbucket,” I said sweetly.
“Enough,” Elaina said to us as if we were children, not centuries old killing machines. “We must leave at once.”
With one last smile at my friends, I shifted into my Dragon. The flow was seamless and my weak human form became my beautiful, powerful, sparkling golden Dragon. The gasps of everyone, including Nicolai filled my ears, but I ignored them.
I was free to be myself. With no clue how long my freedom would last I launched myself into the air and turned somersaults of happiness. The only thing that would make this moment perfect was if my child was flying with me. But everything I was about to do would make that precious moment possible.
Essie stood on the beach with Hank and Junior, laughing and waving. Elaina, Seth and Lenny shifted and joined me. Their Dragon forms were beautiful, but no one was as gorgeous and fierce as the man who hated me.
Nicolai’s Dragon was huge, sleek and jet-black with glittering silver markings. His wing- span was twice mine, but I knew my smaller form would make me faster and more agile in the air—or at least I hoped it would.
Lenny huffed and blew an enormous cloud of purple smoke that rendered us invisible to my friends on the beach below. I was amazed at his skill and wondered how he did it. I’m sure they were all curious how I’d transported out of Chicago, but no one had mentioned it yet. I was sure an interrogation was coming, but they would learn nothing. My gift was mine and I wouldn’t share its origin or its giver. Some secrets were meant to be kept.