Page 35 of Lahaina Noon (Modern Legends of Dragons & Shadows #1)
Chapter 35
L iam jumped to his feet, and using his teeth, grabbed the back of Siobhan’s shirt and threw her on his back. She landed as if they had practiced this maneuver before, which they likely had, and faced the town. She waved her hands in a complicated series of gestures and then threw them up like a barrier.
Alarms shut off, and fog rolled between the town and the lookout point where they were standing.
“Everyone, behind us,” she called. They all hurried behind the green dragon.
Bridget realized Siobhan and Liam were using their warding magic to shield them from view. They needed to get going before anyone wandered down to investigate. With any luck, the people in the homes nearby would think it was an earthquake or something.
Vaughn rumbled at the other dragons; Liam gave him a low growl. Vaughn chuffed in reply.
Bridget laughed. Vaughn had apologized, but Liam was still pissed and chastising him.
The plan was for Gabe and Bridget to ride on Drake, Siobhan would go with Liam, Davis had volunteered to carry Jack, and Shepard would take Jorrie. Liam kept eyeing Shepard as he assisted Jorrie to mount his back. Bridget saw a puff of smoke from Liam’s nostrils as Shepard licked Jorrie’s leg playfully and she squealed. Siobhan kicked her brother, saying unflattering things about his tail; he growled at her and nipped at her leg.
Siblings , Bridget repeated Vaughn’s earlier words back to him. They shared a quiet laugh together.
Ivan would be riderless, so he was going to carry all the gear and packs. An easy task but a way for him to help.
Drake was so large he could easily accommodate the extra weight of Gabe. Since the boy was also his mate’s son, he didn’t mind at all. In fact, when this was over, he was going to take the boy flying without his mother. They just maybe wouldn’t tell her.
Once everyone was situated, Drake took the lead, running down the pier and launching into the air. Bridget laughed as Gabe whooped in joy.
Liam followed next and glided up behind them. He was so excited to be flying again that he barrel-rolled, almost throwing Siobhan into the ocean below. When they were upright again, Bridget could hear her cursing a blue streak and threatening parts of Liam’s anatomy. That girl had a mouth on her that put Bridget’s to shame.
Davis joined them, moving to the left of Drake as Liam flew to the right. Jack looked like he had a death grip on one of Davis’ spikes, but the grin on his face made Bridget smile .
She heard a quick scream followed by a shout of joy and knew Shepard had taken off. Jorrie was now beside her. She turned her head and saw her friend’s curls flying crazily in the wind.
Ivan soon followed, bringing up the rear to guard from any threats that might come from behind. The island wasn’t visible yet, but they would be there soon enough. Now, the concern was where to land this many large creatures?
They’d been flying for a while when Bridget noticed Gabe shiver. The night air was cool, and as high as they were, there was little warmth to be had. Bridget thought, Drake, do you mind, and she felt him rumble in agreement. Soon, he was radiating heat up to them, and they were toasty again.
“Wicked,” she heard Gabe say.
Drake must have passed the message on to the other dragons because she soon heard Jorrie thanking Shepard and Jack saying something indecent to Davis. She was glad she hadn’t heard the rest over the wind.
She had a feeling Jack was going to get over Darren with help from a certain blue dragon. Those two had been circling each other from the minute they met, like cats in heat. She was happy for him. He needed someone that truly cared about him, someone that understood this world.
To her right, Siobhan was carrying on a conversation with Liam. On her left, Jorrie was talking softly to Shepard, and he was chuffing in response. Gabe had fallen silent after a while, and she realized he had dozed off. That kid could seriously sleep anywhere.
They drew close to the island, and Bridget could just make out its dark shape on the horizon in the weak moonlight. She was relieved as flying over the water in the dark made her nervous. Suddenly, she heard the dragons making noises at each other and some low growling. What was going on?
We’ve got company, Drake told her. Tell the others to sit low. Ivan’s going to check it out.
Bridget used their signal system to tell the others, relieved when they all complied. Leaning down over their dragons’ necks to reduce their silhouette, they all remained silent. Ivan peeled away from the squad and flew left.
Bridget watched as he picked up speed to intercept whoever or whatever was coming at them. She was grateful for their extraordinary senses then, as she couldn’t hear anything other than the wind and the occasional flap of wings.
A few minutes later, Ivan took up position again and Drake signaled all clear. The others sat up in relief.
Apparently, a brown dragon was out for a night flight nearby and spotted the unknown squad. She was coming to say hello and didn’t mean to startle them. She knew a great place for them to land and would show them. Drake had agreed, and soon a petite brown dragon, the color of freshly turned earth, joined the squad, flying slightly ahead of Drake. They nodded to each other, and she angled right, flying down towards the island.
Bridget could smell the ocean and lush tropical flowers as they flew lower. She was relieved to be over the land again and was looking forward to standing on her own two feet. Flying with Drake was fun, but his scales weren’t exactly posh Italian leather. She wondered how he’d feel about a saddle. She grinned to herself but decided against mentioning that idea to him.
The little dragon circled a large field with a few torches on the side to mark the boundaries. She made a hooting sound, indicating they could land. The squad glided towards the grass below and landed gently, although the draft from their wings blew out the light. The ones nearest the now extinguished torches blew gentle streams of fire to relight them. The passengers slid to the ground, stretching their legs and chattering in excitement about the amazing experience.
The dragons milled about while the humans gathered the bags and moved them to the side, getting out the clothes they needed when they changed back. The small brown dragon landed with a little hop and bounded over to the group. She must be very young, Bridget decided.
She hooted at the bigger male dragons, and they chuffed back at her. She gave another of her cute hops and shimmered into a young woman. The others took their cue and changed as well.
While they were dressing, the young lady had dashed off to grab her own clothes. She ran back over once she was properly attired and introduced herself as Emberly, but they could call her Em. Introductions went around, and they thanked her for the use of the field.
She was excited to meet them as she didn’t get a chance to mingle much with other dragons. Most of them stayed away due to the Council and her dad being kind of protective. She looked around as if she was half expecting him to pop out of a bush and scold her.
Jorrie nudged Bridget and motioned for her to look at Gabe. He was staring at the black-haired, brown-eyed girl as if she’d hung the moon. Bridget shook her head; she guessed the crush on Siobhan was officially over.
Vaughn asked Em if she knew how to get to the hotel; thankfully, she did. She gave them directions which was fortunately an easy walking distance. They gathered their belongings and were about to depart, thanking Em again for her kindness when she offered to walk with them. She was smiling shyly at Gabe.
Jack gave Bridget a conciliatory hug.