Dragos Takes a Holiday (Elder Races #6.5)(26)

Liam yawned, fell asleep and woke some time later.

Fresh air sounded nice—fresh air and wind, and flying.

Daddy had said No, but that had happened quite a while ago. Surely by now No had turned into a Yes.

In fact, he was all but certain of it.

He was a very helpful peanut. Mommy and Daddy were busy on a boat, so he would take himself out to practice flying.

He shapeshifted, crawled out of the crib and climbed the curtains to the closed window. He tugged at the handle.

Over his head, the latch clicked and the window slid open.

Pleased, he climbed onto the sill. Each day his balance got better. He looked out happily at the hot, sunny day. Aunt Eva walked by underneath. He watched her curiously, then she went around the corner of the house, and he forgot about her.

A flicker of movement caught his eye, and his head snapped around. A bright green lizard wandered down the road on the other side of the hedge.

Hm, hungry now. That lizard looked tasty.

He spread his wings and leaped into the air. Flapping as hard as he could, he half-flew, half-coasted to the other side of the hedge and landed in a tumble on the gravel shoulder beside the road. It startled the lizard into running alongside a row of parked cars.

Instinct kicked in. Liam rolled onto his feet and ran after the lizard. When he flapped his wings again, he rose into the air and flew several yards. Excited, he ran some more, jumped and flew several more yards. They ran down the road like that until, in a final lunge, he managed to grab the lizard’s tail.

The lizard struggled as he dragged it toward him. To his immense surprise, it pulled away from its tail and ran away again. Confused, he looked down at the tail he still held in one forepaw. Then he ate it. Um, delicious.

Now he really wanted the rest of that lizard. Where had it gone? He walked, looking around and peering under cars, but the lizard was nowhere in sight.

A car door opened a few feet away, and a man stepped out to walk toward him. He was a human with a long, dark ponytail, and he stank like cigarette smoke.

“Well, well, well,” said the man in a friendly voice. He shrugged out of a jean jacket and held it in front of him as he drew closer. “What have we got here? Why, you look just like a baby dragon.”

Liam sat back on his haunches and smiled at him.

The man recoiled. “Christos!”

The man threw the jacket at Liam. Darkness descended as it settled over his head. He struggled to get free of the heavy material, but the man scooped him up in his arms and held on tight. Then they were bouncing—the man was running.

Liam growled. He didn’t like this game.

“Shut up.” The man no longer sounded friendly.

A car door opened. The world shifted and swayed, and the man held him on his lap. The car door shut again. They were in a car. It accelerated.

“What have you got wrapped in your jacket?” It was another man’s voice.

“It looks like a small dragon,” said his captor. “I think it’s his kid.”

***

Pia and Dragos decided to take the boat out for a couple of hours, so they didn’t bother to pack any food, just plenty of drinking water. While Pia watched the changing landscape, Dragos piloted the boat skillfully between all the other traffic on the water. It didn’t take them long to leave land behind altogether.

The boat was a much slower method of transportation than Dragos in flight, but he knew where he was going so he could take them directly to the spot.

When they reached the area, Dragos killed the motor, and Pia turned in a circle, marveling in the sight of water all around her without any sight of land. He told her, “The anchor won’t do any good out here. You’re going to drift, but don’t worry about it. You won’t go far.”

“Okay.” She grinned at him. “Go on, don’t worry about me.”

He nodded. “See you soon.”

They had brought one of their emptied suitcases along. He tossed it into the water, leaped overboard and swam far enough away so that he could shapeshift without capsizing the boat. Then the dragon appeared and gave her a huge wink as it hooked the handle of the suitcase in one talon. With a great splash, he dove.

How long would it take him to find the wreck? She had no way to know, so she relaxed in one of the seats and watched the waves.

The endless vista of sparkling ocean was remarkably hypnotic, and the sight had lulled her half asleep when she heard a great splash. She jerked upright and swiveled around to see the dragon swimming toward her with the suitcase clutched in one paw.

As he drew near, he shimmered into a change and became the man. The boat rocked as he grabbed the short ladder toward the rear on the port side. He held on, gasping. She hovered nearby. “Can I help?”

He shook his head. “It’s really heavy. Watch out.”

She stepped back, and he climbed up the ladder with the suitcase dangling from one hand. He heaved it into the boat, and it landed with spray of cold water and a solid thud. Then he knelt beside the case, unzipped it and flipped the lid back.

Gold winked at them. There were also blackened objects that Pia couldn’t identify, possibly tarnished silver items. There were coins, and a small chest, and something that looked mechanical and felt magical.

“Wow. Just, wow.” She pointed to it. “Is that a sextant?”

He nodded, still breathing hard. He fingered a coin as he said, “This stuff was half buried and in leather bags that deteriorated when I tried to pick them up. There’s probably enough to fill two more suitcases down below. Tatiana wanted to find a new land badly, and she was willing to pay for it.”