Dragos Takes A Holiday

Chapter Ten

Liam was starting to feel sorry for himself.

It had been a strange and interesting day, and he had learned a lot. He had flown! Well, a little bit, anyway. And lizard’s tails were delicious. A man had given him his jacket, and had taken him on a car ride. Now he was on a boat. The man took his jacket back only to shove him quickly into a cage and slam and lock the door.

Liam sat and waited for something else to happen. Maybe Mommy and Daddy were on this boat, and they would come get him.

Nothing happened. Mommy and Daddy didn’t come, and the cage smelled like dog. The boat’s engine ran for a while then stopped, and they rocked with the waves.

Nobody came to play with him or bring him food. He had woken up hungry, and he only grew hungrier. And more thirsty.

After a while he looked around the cage. No blanket. No food. No bunny.

He heaved a big sigh and pushed at the door of the cage. When the lock sprang open, he walked out.

He explored the room. It was filled with interesting things like rope, metal tanks, boxes and tarps. Still nothing to eat or drink. He left the room and padded down a short hall. Voices sounded from another room. One of them was the man with the jacket. Liam didn’t know the other one.

Smoke wafted out of the room. His nose wrinkled. He didn’t want to visit with them anymore. He wanted Mommy.

There were stairs at the end of the hall. He climbed up, found himself on a deck and looked around. There were two more strange men in a cabin. He didn’t want to visit with them either, and shore looked awfully small. He eyed it doubtfully. It was much too far for him to fly. He started to realize just how far away Mommy might be.

His eyes filled. That was the saddest thing he had ever thought in his whole life.

Then another thought occurred to him. He had flown the farthest when he had been the highest—from the window of his room. Maybe if he climbed up to the top of the boat he could fly to shore.

He hopped and flapped and climbed. The boat had a motor, but it also had sails. He swarmed up the sail to the very top of the mast, and there he perched. He looked from the boat to land, and back to the boat.

Now he was very high in the air, but the shore still seemed awfully far away—too far away for him to fly. The boat rocked, and he flapped his wings to keep his balance on his small perch. He did not want to climb down and visit the men again. He couldn’t fly away.

He wasn’t sure because he’d only heard the word once before, but he thought he might be in a quandary.

While Hugh flew farther out to sea, Dragos swung to the nearest pier and dove low over each boat. Pia could feel the dragon’s body straining to move as fast as he could while still covering every boat thoroughly before he moved on to the next pier or the next boat that moved at a leisurely pace over the water. They caught wafts of scents from each one—people, alcohol, cooking food, and occasionally cigarette smoke, which was particularly odorous. Dragos always banked and swung around to double-check each boat that smelled like smoke.

She clenched her fists. This search was an excruciating gamble, but the alternative was to do nothing and wait, and that was unthinkable.

Eva sat behind her. “Pia, I don’t know what to say,” she said, her voice low and shaken. “I am so desperately sorry this happened. We did everything we usually do. Hugh swore he checked the room when he put Liam down for a nap, even though nobody had been in there since you got him up this morning. I swear to you, the house was locked up tight.”

Locked.

Pia’s head came up. “Oh, shit.”

“What?” Dragos asked sharply.

“I was just wondering yesterday what talents or attributes he might have gotten from me.” She pressed her fists against her temples. “No lock can hold him. He did it himself. He climbed out the window, and he must have flown to the road.”

Dragos turned so sharply, both women rocked in their seats. In a burst of power, he drove away from the boats they had been circling and hammered through the air. “I see him.”

Pia’s heart leaped. Maybe there was a way out of this nightmare after all. “You see him—where?”

“He’s perched at the top of a mast, half a mile ahead.” A strange mélange of emotions threaded Dragos’s voice.

She shaded her eyes, squinting against the bright light. His predator’s eyes were much sharper than hers. She couldn’t see him.

“A quarter mile away now,” said Dragos. “Dead ahead.”

Then she caught sight of him. He was a small, white figure and from this distance looked very much like a large seagull, flapping his wings every once in a while as the boat rocked. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Oh, thank you, God.”

Thank you, thank you.

“Quiet now,” Dragos ordered. “We don’t have him yet.”

He slowed as he approached the boat, spread his wings and coasted. As they passed overhead like a mammoth ghost, he reached out with one forepaw and scooped Liam up with unerring accuracy. Pia caught a whiff of cigarette smoke as they passed.

Dragos put on a burst of speed. “Got him!”

The unbearable tension broke. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

“Hold on,” Dragos murmured gently. She wasn’t sure if he was talking to her, or to Liam. “We’re almost there.”

He flew straight to shore and landed on a nearby promontory. Pia fell off his back before he came to a full stop, and she landed jarringly on her hands and knees. She ignored the pain and shoved to her feet, turning to face Dragos as he opened up his paw.

Liam exploded out in a flurry of white wings. He arrowed straight toward her and slammed into her chest. She sprawled on the ground with the breath knocked out of her. She didn’t care. She didn’t need to breathe. She clenched him to her.

Hard, strong arms lifted her up, and Dragos held them both tight against his chest, his head bent over them. Liam lifted his snout and licked his father’s face with frantic enthusiasm.

The moment was too painful to be a happy one, too full of the terror of the last few hours, and she embraced it with her whole heart. She stroked Liam’s head, soothing him, and he voluntarily shapeshifted back into his human form and clutched her shirt with both hands.

After a few moments, Dragos lifted his head. His haggard face was damp. “I have a promise to keep.”

“Go,” she said. “Do it.”

He turned a murderous expression toward the boat, stood and walked away. Eva joined her as he shapeshifted into the dragon again and took off. The women watched the sun gleam off his powerful form.

Eva gripped her shoulder. “He isn’t cloaking himself. He wants them to see him coming.”

They were too far away to hear any shouts or cries, but the sound of gunshots cracked across the water. Even though she knew that bullets couldn’t penetrate the dragon’s thick, tough hide, Pia twitched at every one.

Dragos reached the boat, slammed into the mast, took hold of it in both forepaws and snapped it in two. Small, faraway figures leaped into the water as he tore the boat to shreds with a savagery that took Pia’s breath. As the pieces sank under foaming waves, he rose to hover in the air and turn his attention to the men who swam away.

“Nobody threatens my family and lives.” The dragon’s deep voice rolled over the waves like thunder. “Nobody.”

He plummeted down.

Pia turned her attention to Liam’s wide-eyed, round little face. “Don’t look, my love,” she said gently. She put a hand over his eyes and turned away from the sight.

Liam was clingy when they got back to the house. Pia didn’t blame him. She felt clingy too. He whined and indicated he was hungry. Dragos pulled a roast chicken from the fridge and set it on the kitchen floor so he could eat. She and Dragos sat on the floor beside him, while Eva and Hugh stood in the doorway and watched.

He gorged until his belly was visibly distended. Then he climbed into Pia’s lap. She pored over every inch of his slender, white body to make sure he hadn’t been injured in any way, and she pressed careful fingers against his rib cage and legs. He didn’t evidence any sign of pain or discomfort. Instead he stretched under her touch, sighing with pleasure, and fell deeply, instantly asleep.

“The young are incredibly resilient,” Dragos murmured. He put a hand lightly on top of Liam’s head.

“For which I’m very grateful,” Pia said. “I wonder if he’s too young to remember what happened.”

His gold gaze flashed up to hers. “I hope he remembers everything. I hope it scared him. He’s got dangerous abilities, and he going to grow up in a world full of enemies. He has to learn discipline early and to not go off by himself.”

“That sounds so hard,” she whispered.

“It is hard, but I have faith in him,” Dragos said. “He may be small, but he’s already proven that he has a big soul. He can handle it. And in the meantime, we’ll put bars on his bedroom windows.”

“I want them installed before we get home.” She rubbed dry, tired eyes. The thought of him possibly getting loose outside the penthouse, so high off the ground, made her feel physically ill.

“They will be. I’ll make the call in a few minutes.”

“My lord.” Hugh spoke hesitantly.

Both Pia and Dragos turned to the other man who knelt in front of him. Hugh’s plain, bony face bore an anguished expression. As he opened his mouth to speak, Dragos told him in a weary voice, “Just don’t. It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t Eva’s fault.”

“If anything, it was our fault,” Pia said. “Liam’s evolving so fast, we haven’t seen in time all the implications of what that might mean. We have to start thinking faster and planning better.”

Hugh didn’t appear convinced, but at least he fell silent.

“Open up a bottle of wine,” Dragos told him. “We’ve all earned a drink.”

The other man’s expression lightened somewhat, and he rose to his feet.

Dragos turned to Pia. He asked telepathically, How are you doing?

I’m tired. She looked down at Liam and stroked his back. And so grateful. And you?

The same. He paused. Do you want to go home?

Her head came up. Hell, no. We are, by God, going to have our vacation. We had a really bad, bad day, but it’s over with now. They were dumb jerks, and I will not let them be that important. Unless, of course, you want to go home.

He smiled. Hell, no.

She suddenly remembered and said out loud, “There’s a motorboat floating around with a fortune in treasure on it.”

“And more sitting on the ocean floor,” Dragos added.

Hugh handed them each a glass of wine. Pia clinked her glass against Dragos. “You’ve got your work cut out for you tomorrow.”