Hatshepsut's Collar (The Artifact Hunters #2) (35 page)

“We have to move!” A voice yelled from between the trees.

The dragon gave a squawk of fright and leapt into Cara’s arms, putting himself between her and the unknown predator.

Loki appeared, bundled up like a grizzly bear. “The aethergram lit up. Nolton finally dislodged a mooring pile that somehow got jammed in his bridge and left St. Petersburg to search for us. We don’t want them anywhere near this stretch of forest. We need to get airborne for the plan to work.”

The dragon glared at the intruder. The females hid behind the bulk of Sergei, two triangular heads peeking out behind his knees. Cara stood and stroked the agitated bundle in her arms. “Easy little fellow, it’s only Loki.”

His eyes widened on seeing the unorthodox guard dog. “They hatched then?”

The dragon trilled at Cara and hissed at Loki.

“You can’t go jumping on me when you’re as big as an elephant you know, you’ll squash me.”

“We have to go. Now.” He gestured over his shoulder.

Cara placed the dragon on the ground and then threw herself at Sergei, who enveloped her in a bear hug.

“I will keep them safe. One day you will be back, but now, go.” He handed a sack to Nate containing pieces of the male’s egg.

The little fire dragon butted her legs and she leaned down for one last scratch of his head. He cooed and pressed his small head into her hand before Nate took her other hand.

“We have to go, Cara.” Urgency lay in his tone. He drew her away from the hatchlings and guided her through the trees back to the airship. Her gaze never wavered from the dreamlike vision of the dragons standing in the snow, cawing their goodbyes.

Only when they vanished from her sight, hidden behind the dense forest, did she focus her attention to the path in front. A thought whizzed to the front of her mind. “Shit! Nate, I lost the ring.”

Nate shot her a look and patted his pocket. “We’ll continue that discussion later. I believe you owe me an answer.”

“Will we make it to the West Siberian Plain before Nolton intercepts us?” she asked as they moved through the heavy snow back to the grounded Hellcat.

“We’ll angle off south west at top speed. Put as much distance between us and Sergei as possible. We should get a clear hundred miles or so before we will show up on their radar.”

Cara scampered up the gangplank, Nate close behind. Loki’s feet were still planted on the swaying bridge as his men hauled it up. At the last moment he jumped clear to the walkway. He barked brisk orders before following them into the warm interior. Cara braced a hand against the rich timber wall, prepared for the lurch when the vessel broke free from the Earth’s embrace and returned to her natural habitat amongst the clouds.

Dumping her cumbersome jacket and snow boots in the small cabin, she padded to the bridge. The navigator leaned over the large face of the radar reader, ready to raise the alert as soon as he spotted the much larger Aurora.

Cara leaned over his shoulder. “Where is the spot we just came from?”

“Here,” he said, resting his finger to one side. She looked at the green dots that moved and circled his digit.

“What are those?”

“I don’t know.” He frowned and lifted his finger. “But they’re big.”

A smile touched her lips and she counted.
Six of them. My little dragons have six large protectors.

Cara helped herself to the coffee pot and took a scorching brew to go lean on the window ledge, letting the caffeine heat her insides.

Loki kept the airship’s wheel in a firm grasp, making minute changes to compensate for air currents as they held their course. His near black eyes fixed on the horizon. Cara watched him handle the ship with confidence in complete charge of his crew. His gaze flicked from miles in front, down to her.

“What are you grinning about?”

She took a sip of coffee to hide the smile that crept up on her. “I was just thinking that you really are quite the dashing pirate.”

His grin widened into something heated and inviting. “I’m glad you’re finally seeing my obvious charms.”

“You better not be showing her your obvious charms.” Nate entered the bridge and crossed to look over the shoulder of the navigator. He concentrated on the large circular panel. Everyone waited for sign of the military airship in pursuit. The more time that elapsed, the further away they moved from the dragons hiding place.

Lunch passed, and the Western Siberian Plain rolled underneath them when the navigator gave a cry. “Got her!”

“Hold on everyone.” Loki issued orders, his fingers tightened around the helm. “We need them to find us on the ground.”

Cara turned and took hold of the brass rail running under the window as Loki took the Hellcat in steep. Small objects along the windowsill scuttled along the ledge to pool in one corner.

Nate and Loki scanned the thick larch forest, searching for a break in the dense greenery. Spotting a small clearing, he threw the Hellcat into a rapid descent, landing her nestled in the embrace of surrounding trees.

“How long do we wait?” she asked.

“Well, that is the hard part. We have to stay on the ground long enough for them to lock on to our position, but we don’t want them jumping us from behind.” Loki answered.

“And the shell?” Her gaze fell to bag containing the pieces, sitting in one corner of the bridge like broken crockery in a dustbin.

Nate stretched out a hand to her. “Care to come for a walk and lay a false trail? We’ll find somewhere to drop the shards, so it looks like the hatchling is loose around these parts.”

Once bundled up, Nate picked up the large pieces of shell and they walked amongst the conifers trees. They came to a small circle of trunks with surrounding wooden guards.

“This is a sheltered spot,” Nate said.

They made a gentle depression in the snow at the base of a tree as though the egg had rested there. Cara arranged the shards to look like they had fallen apart and hoped it was sufficient to catch the attention of any searchers.

Golden movement flickered amongst the branches overhead. Cara looked up, her brain trying to decipher what her eyes saw.

The scream of a klaxon broke the silence. “Nolton’s found us sooner than expected!” Nate yelled over the warning noise. “Back to the Hellcat. Run!”

The yellow undercarriage of the Aurora passing above the green canopy had drawn Cara’s attention. She made her legs move as fast as the thick snow would allow back to where the Hellcat lay. Shadows swooped and spun amongst the thick greenery, accompanied by a high pitched whine. Risking another upward glance, Cara froze. Heavy boots followed by insulated trousers appeared amongst the boughs as soldiers rappelled from the airship above and dropped to the ground.

Oh damn.
She eyed a path between two men and ran the best she could in deep snow, hoping Nate was close behind her. Her arm trailed over a tree and she cried out as fire ripped through her flesh and she couldn’t run any further, forward progress arrested. Turning, she saw a crossbow bolt protruding from her upper arm, pinning her to the tree. Winching against the pain, she gave a tug. His aim was off, the bolt nicked her skin, but the sleeve of her insulated jacket took the worse hit. Either way, the projectile held her captive, pinned to the trunk.

The shooter pulled back the hood of his jacket and Cara stared at a grinning Nolton. He tossed the crossbow to a soldier and drew a pistol as he advanced on her. Stopping next to the tree, he pressed the barrel of the gun to Cara’s forehead.

“I do believe you owe me a dragon.”

“Terribly sorry, I appear to have misplaced it.”

He pushed the barrel deeper into her skin, causing her to wince.

“Let her go,” Nate’s voice was low, but carried on the crisp still air.

Nolton kept his pale gaze fixed on Cara. “Now why would I do that? I haven’t finished playing with her.” He trailed the gun down the side of her face and along her cheek.

“You don’t want her, Nolton. You want me.”

“What I
want
is my dragon,” he spat out.

“You’re too late.”

Nolton’s head swung. Nate held the broken egg shell in his hands; he must have retrieved the shards when he realised the Aurora had found them. Once he held the duke’s attention, he threw the pieces on the ground.

The duke’s gaze narrowed and flicked from Cara to empty shell. “When?”

“Two days ago, he hatched on the Hellcat and caused a bit of upset. We put down here and tried to bond with him, but he disappeared into the forest. We’ve been trying to find him. I heard they are attracted to the odour of their shell, we hoped to use it to trap him.”

Nolton sneered. “You’re useless. I’ll find it. Mark these co-ordinates,” he barked over his shoulder. “Once I have England under my command, I will send soldiers back to find my errant pet. I’ll have to contend myself with taking you back.”

Cara stared at Nate, standing still, letting Nolton’s soldiers circle him. Dread chilled her system and she shook her head. “No, Nate, not without a fight. Don’t do this again.”

Click.
The hammer pulled back, cold metal dug into Cara’s temple.

“Yes, Nate. Fight. Go on, I dare you.” Part taunt, part tease.

“Now is not the time, Cara.” He held Nolton’s attention, trying to draw him away from the tree.

Anger rose in her throat. “Yes, it is. This is the point where you fight the bad guy.”

“Argumentative thing, isn’t she?” He moved the pistol to gesture at Nate. “Bring him.”

Soldiers closed in behind, grabbing his shoulders and elbows.

“Victoria is expecting you and I’d hate to disappoint her.” Nolton cast a glance at Cara that froze the blood in her veins.

“No!” Cara yelled. “Fight! Don’t let them take you.” She pulled at her arm, tears welled up in her eyes as she ripped the bolt through a strip of flesh, but the thick clothing still held her tight. She clawed with her left hand, but didn’t have sufficient leverage to pull the bolt loose.

Attached lines were winched skyward and Nolton, soldiers, and Nate disappeared through the canopy and then were swallowed by the stomach of the British airship.

Cara screwed her eyes up tight and let loose a scream of frustration.

Shouts echoed around her, opening her eyes she found Loki, Miguel, and two crewmen.

“That man is really starting to piss me off,” she screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Nolton?” Loki inquired, stopping several feet from Cara.

“Nate. I’m not going to be his wife, I’m going to be his damn widow!”

The men paused several feet back and exchanged glances.

She blew out a long breathe. “That’s the second time he’s done this.”

“Done what?” Loki held his ground, not venturing any closer.

“Tugged his forelock and walked away meekly with his enemy. Why won’t he fight?”

Miguel turned familiar hazel eyes her way. “Because of you.”

“Excuse me?” Her words dripped with as much ice as the surrounding trees.

“Good going, lad,” Loki murmured. “She didn’t look angry enough, so why don’t you poke her with a stick.”

Miguel ignored Loki and stepped closer to Cara. “He doesn’t want you to get hurt, so he won’t fight.”

“Are you telling me I have turned the notorious Lyons into a neutered pussy cat?”

The men looked to one another. Eyes shifted back and forth in some unspoken male game of chicken, but no one picked up the gauntlet. No one spoke. No one dared.

“Fine. Don’t tell me,” she muttered. “But somebody better unstick me from this damn tree. I am bleeding under my jacket you know. And in case no one has noticed the Aurora is getting away with Nate.”

“We’ll catch them. But we’ll only unpin you if you promise not to grab the bolt and shove it through whoever releases you. You do look rather angry at the moment.” Loki pushed Miguel forward. “You do it; you think of her as family, and she might not hurt you as bad.”

Miguel pulled a long knife from the sheath attached to his thigh. He approached Cara and eyed up the bolt. “Ready?”

She gave a quick nod and he used the knife tip to dig the arrow free of the tree’s secure hold.

Her arm dropped. She screwed up her nose as a wave of pain shot down to her fingers and up to her shoulder.

“Are you ok?” Miguel asked.

“Yes.” Cara waved him away. “I’m pretty sure it’s just a flesh wound. He’s a lousy shot.” Another thought occurred to her, now she was free. “How the hell did he get the jump on us? They nearly repelled right on top of me.”

Loki took a deep breath, pushing down anger at his failings. “Our sonar doesn’t work when we’re grounded and surrounded by trees, and theirs must have a greater range than we thought. We were relying on a visual, but they came in low and the trees blocked them until they were pretty close.”

Cara stuck a finger through the hole in her jacket and examined the tear. Blood stained the edges, but the frigid temperature stopped the flow. “Well, let’s debate that later, time we got moving.”

“Yeah, another slight problem there.” Loki said as they trudged back to the Hellcat. “We also have two hundred feet of squirrel home pinning us to the ground.”

She looked up to meet his black gaze. “We’re trapped by squirrels?”

“They felled a fucking enormous tree on top of our air bladder.” He ran a hand through his hair. “They came in fast and lassoed a tree, dropping it on top of us as they passed over. We’re not going anywhere until we cut it off and check for damage.”

She couldn’t understand the pirate being caught so easily. “Why didn’t you take off? Before they closed in?”

“I wasn’t going to leave you and Nate out here.”

“Well, plenty of time to check out this scratch, then.” In silence they made their way back to the trapped Hellcat. Cara sympathised with the vessel; she knew what it was like to be pinned in the forest.