Page 86 of Ensnared

It’s a long way from Clear Lake to the George R. Brown Convention Center on the back of a dragon that slithers like a snake, even when he’s really booking. Actually, it feels scarier when he’s moving quickly. Even with the saddle, I nearly slide off a few times. It gives me more appreciation for Sammy, but that thought makes me sad.

I may never see him again.

And that’s my best-case scenario.

It’s immediately obvious when we’re getting close by the sheer number of dragons heading to the same place. They’re on all sides of us now—blue, teal, green, yellow, brown, and reddish-brown. They’re running, loping, and slithering down the streets of downtown Houston, leaving one another space, but not nervous about their proximity, either. When I turn my head, silver flashes dip in and out of the clouds above.

More than a few of the dragons, brown, blue, green, and silver, have eyed me strangely, possibly due to the saddle, or more probably because they know that earth dragons can’t bond humans, so my presence on his back is bizarre at a baseline.

Watching these dragons moving through the city streets has to be the strangest—and possibly coolest—sight I’ve ever beheld.

“How many dragons are coming?”

A little more than ten thousand blessed came to your earth. We’ve all been summoned.

“And how many have died since your arrival?” I cringe a little asking that, because I’m secretly hoping the number’s high.

Less than twenty, last I heard.

Well, that’s disappointing. “I’m sorry.”

Only three were friends of mine, and you’re the one who killed them.

Awkward.

We may have trouble getting closer. Can you call Axel from here?

Oh, boy. How do I say no without cluing Gordon in that I don’t actually want Axel to know that I’m here? I push tentatively toward the connection in my brain, which I usually leave alone, because it scares me.

He’s close.

Very close, actually, but I don’t see him anywhere.

“I can definitely call him over—he’s really close right now. In fact, if you want to drop me off right here?—”

Gordon’s head whips around, his eyes wide. Leave you? I would never do that. You’re surrounded by. . . His eyes narrow. You want me to leave you here? Why?

“I just don’t want to cause any problems.” I shrug. “I saw how those other dragons were looking at me. I only wanted to be close enough that if Axel has problems, I can help.”

Gordon snorts. Then stay put and keep quiet. If you’re too nervous to summon Axel, you shouldn’t have come at all. He sighs heartily. I shouldn’t have brought you. Now I’m stuck babysitting.

Before he can say anything else, Azar rockets over our heads and flies straight up into the air. Just when I think he’s going to disappear into the atmosphere, he freezes in the sky.

And then he plummets down again.

For a moment, I’m terrified he’s not going to stop—what would happen if he hit the Convention Center? At the last second, his wings whip outward, and he practically stops mid-air again. A wall of air from his full stop practically knocks me off Gordon’s back.

He drops like a rock then, and nearly crash lands on the center of the front of the convention center, overlooking the park where most of the dragons are gathered.

I’ve been lenient since our arrival, because I was grateful that all of you chose to join me in our search for the heart.

The force of the words is very different than any other telepathic communications I’ve experienced. It’s almost aggressive with its projection, as if he’s unabashedly displaying the magnitude of his anger by the strength of his words.

Yesterday, a group of blessed gathered without my permission to take action against the ensnared of my dear friend, Axel.

I didn’t realize there could be telepathic murmurs, but it turns out, there can be. It’s strange to hear snatches of the communications of the dragons nearby.

Water dragon voices sound like the murmuring of brooks or the crashing of waves. Earth dragons are more rasping, like leaves crackling under boots in the fall. The electro dragons’ voices are clear, like the ringing of a bell, even when they’re keeping things quiet.