While the others were happy to agree with him, I shook my head. "You're crazy. If we run, they'll find us. If we just beg for mercy-"
"You run or you go to prison."
It was hard to argue with that. He glanced at the windows again, then back at me. He twitched his head in that direction, as if I hadn't taken a wild guess what he wanted. Maybe he was going to pull the fire alarm. Was there a fire escape outside? I couldn't remember if there was, my mind racing a mile a minute.
"Three," he said with no warning whatsoever.
Had I been fully in control of myself, I may have debated obeying. As it was, my terror had me a full leap and bound ahead of the others. I ran for all I was worth, the glass drawing closer. Whatever Eskal was going to do, he had better-
A deafening roar thundered through a room that was too small for it. I slowed to a stop and stared as a creature from millions of years ago walked across the carpet and stooped to get his head near the window. The dragon was as black as night, with silvery-white spots picked out across his hide. A smiling crescent moon sat upon his brow and his wings, which had to be the span of an 18-wheeler, were tucked close to his sides.
He looked at me and I recognized those amber eyes. They'd winked at me once before.
Iyadre and Nariti threw themselves on his back. Four eggs sat in a ridge between protruding scales along his back. The men reached for me and I offered the last egg, but they grabbed me by the wrists and dragged me out, too.
As I mounted the dragon, I spun around to watch the guards, their mouths open in shock.
The glass shattered with another roar and out the window we went.
Chapter 11
Olivia
Flying was wonderful.
I grabbed the scales around me for any purchase I could manage. Holding low to the enormous body, I clung to him and breathed the fresh, clean air of a couple hundred feet in the sky.
The truck was likely a loss. Though there had been another vehicle or two nearby, I doubted that the local authorities would allow it to remain until it was safe to head back to the museum and retrieve it. But the five eggs, all clustered together and held tightly by Iyadre, were worth it.
Below us, the city slept without knowing that a dragon flew over it for the first time in probably hundreds of years. I watched as the lights twinkled past, sometimes a blur right after Eskal flapped his wings. If I'd had any doubts left, they were gone in a glorious rush of flight.
Nariti and Iyadre were close enough together that they could whisper to one another. I tried to lean in but nearly lost my balance when I did so. They could inform me of what was going on when I was on the ground. I was a nervous flier to begin with, but this was incredible.
Storm clouds hid the moon once again, misting us as we flew through a few low-lying ones. I shivered and pressed myself against the inferno beneath me. Eskal's skin wasn't just warm; it was hotter than I'd expected, sitting just on the edge of comfort for someone like me.
But it was all over too fast. Far too fast, for my taste. We descended toward the earth, slicing through clouds that would be fog in a few hours. All of them were drenching, completely soaking my clothing, but at least the cold shower woke me up.
We landed on the dig site, probably one of the few private areas available for an animal the size of Eskal to manage the landing. He jogged a few steps to slow down once his paws were on the ground, then crouched and lowered a wing to let us slide off. Iyadre went first, then me. Nariti slid the eggs down to us one by one, careful not to tip them too much. Together, we piled those precious eggs with one another.
And Eskal transformed back to his human self, for all he was naked. I coughed and looked away, the blush creeping up my neck. I tried to think of anything but the strong, hung man making his way toward me, but a life of romantic movie subplots wormed its way into my mind and wouldn't let me think of anything else.
God, how embarrassing. It wasn't like I'd never seen a naked guy before; who hadn't by my age? I mean, everyone had the internet these days. Even if you weren't lucky enough to get with a hot man, or whatever your preference was, you'd probably still seen sexy pinups. You know?
"You decide to take the human for a flight in the middle of the city and you have the gall to think that we're not going to call you on it?"
The voice came from the open door of the trailer. Lights popped on inside it and people emerged, one by one. I recognized the Fontaines immediately, though not the woman who was with them. She smiled at me and came down the stairs, walking around the men. "Sadie Fontaine. You must be the witch that Eskal's been so interested in. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Uh, Olivia," I answered, as suave and cool as anyone could be when they were half frozen.
She frowned and ran her hand up my arm. Her palms were rough enough that I assumed she'd done some hard work in her life, but not enough that they'd been calloused to the point of no return. She clucked a moment later. "Gabe, can you get her a coat? The poor
