Izzy awoke the next morning to bright sunlight and the sound of birds chirping in the trees. Beside her, Noah was still sleeping. They had shared a bed last night, but hadn’t touched each other again after their post-dinner kiss. Noah had decided that guard shifts were unnecessary, but had insisted that they should sleep near each other in case of an attack. If they had to fight at a moment’s notice, it was better for them to be together instead of in separate rooms, or, worse, separate cabins.
Izzy had been happy enough to agree to this sleeping arrangement, although she’d half-expected Noah to make some sort of move on her in the middle of the night. She didn’t know whether to feel relieved or disappointed that he hadn’t, and she didn’t want to think too deeply about it. If she sat here any longer, staring at Noah’s gorgeous face as he slept, she was going to give in to the temptation to make a move on him. With a barely perceptible sigh, she slipped quietly from the bed and crept out to the front room of the cabin.
She peered out the front window, scanning the landscape for any sign of enemies. Everything was still, however. The leaves on the trees occasionally rustled in the wind, but other than that, nothing moved. In the morning light, Izzy could see that the damage to the cabins was even worse than it had seemed last night. Most of the windows were shattered, and several cabins were missing doors. Here and there, the walls of the cabins themselves looked like someone had randomly taken an axe to them. Izzy shook her head in disgust. She’d been forced to work with several of Saul’s soldiers up in Montana, and she knew all too well how they loved to destroy things just for the sake of destroying them. She couldn’t understand how people could take pleasure in ruining perfectly good cabins, but then, there were quite a few things in this war that she didn’t understand.
Satisfied that, at least for the moment, no enemies were around, Izzy turned to the kitchen to search for a way to make coffee. She found a coffeepot in the cabinet under the sink, and, after a bit more searching, she found a bag of coffee grounds. The grounds were likely a bit stale, but she couldn’t exactly hop down to the local market and get more. This camp was in the middle of nowhere.
Tentatively, she reached to turn on the tap, and was relieved to see water coming out. At least the pipes had remained intact. She filled the coffeepot with water and grounds and pushed the brew button. The power was still working as well, at least in this cabin. Out here, the electricity came from the solar panels on the roofs of the cabins. Many of the cabins had suffered severe damage to their roofs, but this one seemed to have survived quite well.
Before the coffee had even finished brewing, Noah was sticking his head out of the bedroom. “Mmm, smells good,” he said. “I could use some caffeine.”
Izzy smiled. “Me too. I’ve just woken up and I already feel tired.”
“Agreed. We have a long day ahead of us, though. We need to do one more check for enemies, go check the artifact vaults to make sure they haven’t been disturbed, and then send a message to Falcon Cross if all is well.”
Izzy nodded. “The sooner we get going, the better. Let’s eat a quick breakfast and then head out.”
After munching on the remaining cheese and crackers, and finishing the whole pot of coffee between the two of them, Izzy and Noah made their way out to inspect the Redwoods Base Camp. It didn’t take long for them to determine that the place was completely deserted. Saul had only cared enough about the place to leave the monster behind to guard things, it seemed.
“Let’s check the vaults,” Noah said. “Either Saul raided them already and that’s why he abandoned this post, or he wasn’t able to find them and gave up. I’m really hoping for the latter option.”
Izzy followed Noah without comment as he started walking into the woods. She knew from various mission briefings that there were five vaults near the Redwood Base Camp, all containing powerful artifacts that would assist in the war effort. The vaults were protected by state-of-the art fingerprint sensors, as well as protective magic spells. They were also supposedly quite hard to find if you didn’t know what you were looking for.
Noah knew what he was looking for.
They spent the next several hours looking through vaults that contained hundreds, if not thousands, of old spears, jewels, swords, helmets, and armor. Everything glittered and shone when the vault doors were opened and the sunshine streamed in. Izzy could have stood and stared at the treasures for hours, but Noah wasn’t wasting time on sightseeing. After the first three vaults, he was satisfied that Saul had not been able to find the old artifacts.
“Let’s get back to the cabins and tell Falcon Cross to send over some wizards,” he said, his voice laced with excitement. Izzy felt excited, too. Their mission had been a resounding success. Now if only the rest of the wizards could get here in time to arm themselves for the imminent battle with Saul.
Noah and Izzy didn’t waste time walking back to camp. They flew, he in dragon form and she on her broomstick. Izzy felt free and happy as the wind whipped across her face. She admired Noah’s dragon form as she flew behind him, forgetting for a few brief moments that there was a war going on, and just enjoying the open air and spectacular view. For as far as she could see, the earth was filled with gently sloping hills of redwoods, and the sky was blue and cloudless. Despite the circumstances, life felt pretty good in that moment.
All too soon the flight came to an end, and Noah shifted back into human form in front of the cabin where they’d stayed the night before. Izzy looked shyly away from his nakedness. She’d seen plenty of naked dragon shifters, since every time they shifted back into human form they had no clothes on. But somehow, looking at Noah now felt different. They’d kissed. They’d shared a life or death experience together. There was some sort of chemistry in the air between them. Izzy didn’t dare to look at Noah’s naked body. She felt she might explode with desire if she did. She knew it was ridiculous to be thinking about things like that right now, but she couldn’t help herself. Noah had kindled a fire in her that refused to be quenched.
“You alright?” Noah asked, breaking into Izzy’s confused thoughts. She looked up at him, startled, and nodded. Who knows what kind of crazy expression she’d had on her face, or how long she’d been standing there frowning like an idiot. Noah was fully dressed now, and was standing in the doorway of the cabin, his military-issued handheld computer in hand.
“I’m good,” Izzy said. “Just, uh, a lot on my mind.”
Noah stared at her in that way that was becoming so familiar—that way that made Izzy feel like his intense green eyes were seeing straight into her soul. She wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. He was holding her captive. Drawing her in. She took a deep, shuddering breath, and wished that she could think of something clever to say right then to break the moment. But she was at a loss for words, and Noah was the one to speak next.
“We’re in agreement, then, that it’s safe to send the transmission?” he asked, his voice suddenly businesslike.
Izzy nodded, grateful for the chance to focus on something other than her flip-flopping stomach. “Yes. There aren’t any enemies here as far as I can see, and the vaults appear to be untouched. The protective spells on each of the vaults we checked were holding up well. I’d say we’re ready to bring in the army.”
Noah smiled. “Good. I’ll send the transmission now.”
He powered on the small tablet, and furrowed his brow as he swiped at the screen several times. A small series of beeps erupted from the tablet, and then all was silent. Noah powered off the device.
“Alright,” he said. “That’s done. Now we wait.”
“Now we wait,” Izzy agreed. “It’ll take them a half day to get here, at least. Maybe more, depending on where they are right now.”
Noah grinned. “Enough time for me to show you some of my favorite places around here. Come on.”
Izzy was surprised at how boyish his face appeared. He looked so happy in that moment that it made her heart hurt. She knew he’d grown up here, and, for a brief moment, she imagined him as a young boy, running through the forests, climbing trees, and causing havoc with his clanmates. Then she let her mind run further, wondering what it would be like to have a young dragon shifter son of her own running through these woods. She coughed loudly, startled by the thought and worried that somehow Noah would guess what she was thinking. What the hell was wrong with her? She was here to work, and so far their mission had been wildly successful. She needed to keep focusing on the tasks at hand and not on Noah.
The only problem, of course, was that there wasn’t exactly an urgent task at hand. Noah was right: the only thing to do at the moment was wait. And it was hard not to fantasize about a life with Noah when he was standing right in front of her, smiling from ear to ear with sunshine lighting up his hair and face. Izzy had all but forgotten how angrily he’d scowled at her just a day ago. He seemed to have forgotten his anger as well. Now, he held out his hand to her, a gorgeous gentleman wanting to take her on an adventure. Izzy reached out and grabbed his hand.
Soon, she forgot to feel guilty or guarded. She laughed along with Noah as they ran through the forest, which felt downright magical. He showed her the best spots to find banana slugs, and where the deer liked to hide. He took her to a giant, hollowed-out tree trunk that was big enough for ten grown man to stand inside. She looked up in awe at the trees that had been standing there for thousands of years, silently watching as countless generations of men came and went. And she squealed with laughter and ran away when he threatened to toss her into his favorite swimming hole, clothes and all. Much too soon, the shadows grew long, and Noah glanced up at the sky with a concerned expression.
“We should head back,” he said. “I’m almost certain these woods are deserted right now, but on the off chance that they aren’t…”
“It’s better for us to be safely in a cabin than out in the open,” Izzy said, finishing his thought for him. He nodded, and they both reluctantly turned back toward the cabins. Izzy’s disappointment was mollified somewhat by the fact that, as they fell into step next to each other, Noah once again reached over to grab her hand.