Love of the Dragon (Her Dragon's Bane 4) (9 page)

“There you are.” Tara had found her. For a moment, she panicked. Surely, Tara had seen what had happened. Her visions were so accurate. Then she remembered how that side of her powers had stopped working.

“I waited for you in the hall but I couldn’t find you.”

“Too many people,” Tara said, sounding unimpressed by the revellers in the stronghold. “I don’t know why I thought this was a good idea.”

“Connor thought Dòmhnall wanted to open the stronghold up.”

“He did. A new era of working together. It sounded rather like a corporate slogan.”

Charlotte began to relax. The dragon was still against her chest, content now that it was close to Charlotte. All they had to do now was deal with Tara and leave. Normally, she would have confided in Tara, but it was obvious this must be her handiwork. What else would she do to win over Dòmhnall’s affection?

“Anyway. Your present.” Tara passed her a small packet.

“What is it?”

“I’m not going to tell you.”

“You want me to open it?”

“Not here.”

“Am I going to hate it that much?”

“No. Not when all the rest of the pieces fall into place.”

“What?” Charlotte asked. Did Tara know that she'd taken the dragon?

“I’m not going to say anymore. It has to play out in its own way. I only know what’s in there will make sense to you. But I won’t tell.”

“Won’t tell what?”

“Where you’re going.”

“Tara, for goodness sake stop talking riddles.”

“When you decide what to do, open the envelope. Not before. This has to be your decision.” She placed her hand on the envelope. “This will just make it easier than you stealing from your sister.”

“Tara!”

“We will meet again. Have courage, Charlotte. You will need it.” She embraced Charlotte, who stood dumbstruck. As she pushed her away, Tara said, “Now I will tell everyone the punch was too strong and you went home early feeling sick. Serena will say I told you so, of course, but you won't be here to hear it.”

“You still have your gift?”

She winked. “Go, Charlotte.”

Clutching her parcels, because she didn’t know what else to do with them, she headed out of the stronghold. Ducking her head down, she simply kept walking, not daring to look up in case she saw Serena. She wouldn’t be able to lie to her sister. Funny. At that moment, she didn’t know what was the truth and what was a lie.

Grateful for the dark, she ran from the Stronghold. Once she hit the forest, she headed back along the path to Serena’s house, hoping she didn’t lose her way. This was not how she had anticipated the evening ending. Drunk and feeling sick? Yes. On the run from something she didn’t understand? No.

The only thing that made the evening real was the small creature tucked inside her dress and the packet in her hand. All the rest, what Tara had said, was a jumble of disconnected thoughts in her head.

What was she doing? Where was she going? As she spilled into the house and dropped the gifts onto the table, she realised she had no idea. The packet begged to be opened, for the contents to give her some clue. Above all else, she believed in Tara. Her gift worked in the strangest ways, and the path it led them down had never been easy. Yet, it had saved them all before.

Mindlessly, she switched the kettle on. Coffee might help clear her thoughts. While it boiled, she carefully pulled the little dragon out and placed him down onto the counter top. He hopped towards her and flapped his wings until he took off into the air. He swooped around her head once before crash-landing onto the counter again.

“You haven’t flown much, have you?” She looked at him closely. He was a perfect replica of Zoah. Could it be that this was her soul mate? As he moved she watched him closely; he didn’t shimmer like Zoah. As perfect as he looked from a distance, he wasn’t the real thing.

“Then what are you?”

When the kettle switched off, she made coffee. All the time the dragon took test flights around the kitchen. Once or twice, he lost control and ended up knocking things over. Charlotte picked them up, trying to keep the kitchen clean. If Connor and Serena returned to find her gone and the place a mess, they would assume she had been kidnapped. Charlotte didn’t want them to worry.

The clock ticked on and she knew she had to leave. Once they noticed she had left the party and Tara gave the excuse that Charlotte was ill, they would likely return. She needed to be gone before then. Only, she still had no idea where she was going.

Wherever she was supposed to go, she would need to pack. She went up to her room, the little dragon never staying more than three or feet away from her. It was as though they were linked. Or was he just attached to her because she had been the one who rescued him?

In her room, he became fascinated with her mirror. She took the opportunity of packing while he was amused. At least while he looked at his reflection and tried to chase himself, he wasn’t in the way.

She put an assortment of clothes into her backpack. She still didn’t know what she was supposed to do. Why hadn’t Tara told her where to go? What difference did it make if Tara told her the right destination or she chose it herself?

Then she went back over all the times Tara had been forced to do things she would rather not. Simply to get the outcome right. She had stood by and watched Samuel abuse Serena. Tara had known it was the only way Serena and Connor would find each other and be happy.

Then there was the fact that, over the last few months, Tara had made everyone think she had lost her power. She had even convinced Charlotte, until tonight. That had all been done for a reason.

Of course. She would be able to deny all knowledge of Charlotte’s running away. If she no longer had her power, she wouldn’t be expected to know. Or be pressured into telling her secrets. Charlotte’s destination would remain a mystery.

The realisation of what she was about to do hit her. She sat down on the edge of the bed trembling. Did she trust Tara that much?

A fluttering against her skin made her turn to look at the little dragon. “What are you?” she asked. He looked back at her with his tiny eyes, unable to give anything away. Holding out her hand, she watched him settle on it. His azure scales shimmering in the light.

She stared at him, her mind almost trancelike. He was the reason she was here. She didn't know what exactly he was, but there was some reason they had him captive. Should she go back and risk everything by confronting Dòmhnall?

She couldn’t do that to Serena. She couldn’t spoil the life they had here. Not when she had another baby on the way.

Her only alternative was to put some distance between them and think things over. Figure out what the blue dragon was. As her eyes lost their focus, all she saw was his body blurring in front of her eyes. Azure like the sky.

She came back to consciousness. Of course. That was where she would go. She would be safe there. Packing the rest of her things, she headed downstairs with the dragon whizzing around her. He couldn’t bear to be apart from her, which was going to make things tricky.

Retrieving the packet from amongst her other gifts, she opened it. Although she knew what was inside it. She needed to confirm that she had made the right decision. Tearing it open, she found one plane ticket and a wad of cash. Looking at the ticket, she sighed with relief. Her trust in Tara returned.

“Come on, Azure. We have a plane to catch.”

He lay still on the ground. Every muscle ached and his nerves were raw. Slowly he flexed his fingers, feeling the stiffness there. This was not good. Whatever had happened to him, he knew he was lucky to be alive, but he also knew he was only just alive.

Struggling to sit up, he had to muster all his courage and strength. Any movement burned like a thousand fires but he couldn't risk crying out. He had landed outside of the mountains. His clifftop sanctuary was now out of his reach. This injured body would never climb those sheer cliffs. And his dragon had deserted him.

Nervous exhaustion consumed her, but her journey wasn’t over yet. The warm air lifted her spirits and she left the airport to find a taxi. She promised herself she would be able to sleep soon. All she had to do was get herself into a taxi, but with so many people to-ing and fro-ing, it was not as easy as she hoped.

The backpack grew heavier and her body refused to move quickly enough. Instead, she was buffeted along with a crowd of tourists heading for their bus. Somehow, she got caught up with them. For once, she got lucky. They were heading for Knossos. That would do just fine.

Hoping she wouldn’t be caught, she slipped on with another family, finding a seat and closing her eyes to feign sleep. It worked. She could save her money for another day.

The bus started up and before they hit the main road, she really was asleep, oblivious to the woman who was sat next to her. She was on her way to safety. Although she wasn’t sure of the reaction she would get from her host. But he had always been kind to her. In fact, she was sure he loved her visits. She would ask him to tell her the history of his home.

Some of it was gory; his younger days were most bloody. Now, he lived a quiet life. His labyrinth had fallen out of knowledge to the people of Crete, so the Minotaur had no visitors. Unless someone strayed into his home accidentally. She wasn’t sure if they lived to tell the tale, she had never had the courage to ask.

“Miss. Miss.”

Charlotte opened her eyes, unable to comprehend where she was. The sun was beating through the bus window onto her head and the sudden awakening made her feel woozy. She squinted up at the woman in front of her. Smartly dressed with a scarf tied around her throat. A badge told Charlotte the woman's name was Maria and she was from the holiday company.

“Yes.” She rubbed her head, feeling unwell.

“This is my last drop-off. And you are still on the bus.” The voice was unmistakably tetchy.

“Really? I must have missed my hotel.”

“No. I counted everyone off. You are not on my list.”

Charlotte tried not to panic. What could this woman do to her anyway? “You must have made a mistake.”

“No mistake.” Internally, Marie was tutting.

“But my mom told me to get on this bus. I felt unwell and she said to sit on the bus while they got the luggage.” Charlotte decided to go for being the victim. After all, at eighteen she was entitled to be the victim. “Why didn’t you count everyone onto the bus, then I would have known I was on the wrong one?”

“I...” Marie was suddenly worried.

Charlotte leaned forward and made a point of looking at Marie’s name badge. “My mom will not be happy about this, Marie.”

“Let’s get you off the bus and into the hotel here. I’ll get you a complimentary drink and then we can try to sort out this mess.” Marie’s face told Charlotte that she was tired of stupid tourists. Why couldn’t they do something as simple as getting on the right bus?

She stood back and indicated to Charlotte to get up and move down the aisle. Hitching her bag on her shoulder, she did just that, getting off the bus while Marie stopped to talk to the driver. At that point, Charlotte took the opportunity to slip away into the crowd.

Not wanting to draw too much attention to herself, she didn’t run. Soon she was lost in amongst the other tourists and felt safer. However, she wanted to put some distance between her and Marie, who might be feeling rather mad at being duped. It wasn’t something Charlotte felt proud of. It certainly wasn’t something she would normally do. However, things had stopped been normal when she first found out dragons were real. So she stopped beating herself up over it.

Her stomach rumbled; she needed to eat. It would lift her flagging energy levels and give her something to do until sun down. It would be too risky to go to the entrance to the Minotaur Labyrinth in daylight. It was concealed, but if anyone curious saw her, then they might be inclined to follow her. Something she didn’t want. Not only for his sake but for hers, too.

She had come here to escape people, not to become involved in an archaeological discovery. If it was ever found, the labyrinth would be crawled over by archaeologists and the Minotaur would have to leave. She knew she would make the dragons take him in. However, she doubted the English climate would go down well with a beast who had lived a thousand of years in sunny Crete.

She found a restaurant that wasn’t too busy and settled herself down for a couple of hours. Eating made her feel better. The only problem was Azure. He had been so patient, content to sit in her shirt during the flight. Now he was anxious to stretch his wings, constantly creeping up to peer out from the neck of her shirt. Luckily, she had seated herself in the corner of the courtyard garden. No one took any notice of the pale English girl eating alone. A good job when a miniature blue dragon kept poking his head out.

It would be much easier when she reached the Labyrinth. He could fly free around her. There would be no one to see him and think him a miracle. She hoped once they were settled she could train him to some extent. He had already learned a few phrases, although “stay” was never going to be easy for him.

It had made security at the airport a little fraught. She had reluctantly placed him in a paper bag, and then dropped it into the trash. Heading straight for security praying the queue wasn’t too long. She only hoped she had delayed him long enough.

Once she had walked through the body scanner, she collected her bag and went to wait for him to escape. After ten minutes, she wondered if she had really messed up. What if they had emptied the trash? Or maybe he wasn’t as strong as she thought and he couldn’t rip his way out of the bag?

She couldn’t go back. Looking anxiously at her watch, she knew she was running out of time. What would happen if she boarded her flight without him? She could just imagine him appearing at her window on the plane. There would be no keeping him a secret.

Then she saw him. Her heart stopped beating as he fluttered into a group of people heading to security. For a moment he rested, or was he caught, on someone’s hat. Damn, if he were still there when they went through security it would create a commotion.